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Meet our tutors
Student Stories
Events
Exhibition
Accessibility Statement
http://arts.ac.uk
  • Courses
  • Meet our tutors
  • Student Stories
  • Events
  • Exhibition
  • Accessibility Statement
CSM Short Courses Blog

Meet Our Tutors: We Made This, An Interview With Alistair Hall

December 4, 2018by Sid BlackNo Comments
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

Want to see more work from Alistair? Visit his design brand’s website here, or follow him on Instagram or Twitter. If you’re feeling inspired why not see our full list of available courses on our website.

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