Alistair Hall is a former Central Saint Martins student, current CSM Short Courses tutor, Graphic Designer at We Made This, and Co-Founder of Hoxton Street Monster Supplies. We caught up with the incredibly busy Alistair to find out more from the Graphics Summer School tutor.
© Alistair Hall
What are you most passionate about?
With graphic design, communicating clearly, engagingly, and simply.
I also get unduly excited about street nameplates.
© Alistair Hall
How did you come to work in your field / discipline?
I was working in production on TV commercials and realised I wanted to do something else. I read a book that detailed the working weeks of various people in the British film industry. One of them, a producer, wrote about going to meet the designers creating the posters for her latest film. I immediately realised that that was what I wanted to do – make posters!
I went on the Graphics Summer School to check that it was something I was suited for, which I was, and then went on to study on the BA Graphic Design course.
© Alistair Hall
Could you tell us a little about your work?
My work is largely typographic, and I always try to focus on the materiality of a design – using the tactile nature of a piece of print to enhance whatever is being communicated.
What courses do you teach?
I teach on the Graphic Design Summer School each year.
© Alistair Hall
Name a favourite book, film and song that you would recommend.
Book: A Monster Calls, written by Patrick Ness, and illustrated by Jim Kay. It’s a stunning book, and it makes me cry whenever I read it.
Film: Trust by Hal Hartley. An independent American movie from 1990, with a very theatrical vibe to it.
Song: I Promise, by Radiohead. From the 2017 re-release of their 1997 album OK Computer.
© Alistair Hall
What/where is your favourite London discovery?
Hoxton Street Monster Supplies – Bespoke and Everyday Items for the Living, Dead and Undead. A fantastical store that hides a children’s writing centre, the Ministry of Stories, behind its shelves. No.1 Kids’ Shop in London according to Time Out magazine.
(Full disclosure – I’m one of the co-founders, and Art Director, of both the charity and the shop.)
©Alistair Hall
What advice would you give to aspiring creatives?
Make things better.
© Alistair Hall
