Designer Profile:
The National Grid.
Key People:
Luke Wood & Jonty Valentine
Location:
Lyttelton (LW) & Auckland (JV)
Bio/Company History:
The National Grid is a speculative and idealistic publication for graphic design, operating loosely in grey areas between academia and professional practice, and between art and design. The project was initiated in 2005 and the first issue was published in March 2006. The National Grid is published twice a year. It is independently published in New Zealand and is distributed internationally. As yet The National Grid has not needed to carry any advertising. The National Grid has received funding from Creative New Zealand.
What drives you:
The National Grid was initially set up to provide a platform and point of distribution for certain sorts of projects and writing that were considered to be untenable within our peculiar national context. The hope was—and still is—that New Zealand graphic design might achieve a greater sense of literacy. In this sense it has been important for The National Grid to operate within a broader international context—while always trying to maintain a sort of girl-next-door status at home.
What inspires you:
The National Grid is inspired by the slowly evolving community that has grown up around the publication by way of contributions and readership.
What are you doing when you don’t do this?
Luke Wood works as freelance designer and is currently employed as Lecturer in design at the University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts. Jonty Valentine is a journeyman designer who also works as a Lecturer in graphic design at AUT University, Auckland
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Recent Media:
The first four issues of The National Grid were reviewed by Stevie Kaye in Real Groove issue #169, April 2008.
The National Grid publication was included in Christoph Keller’s touring exhibition;
"Beyond Kiosk: A Selection of The Kiosk Archive", showing at:
The ICA Philadelphia U.S.A. 18 Jan – 30 March 2008.
Bonner Kunstverein Germany 1 April – 8 May 2008.
Bucharest Biennial Romania 23 May – 21 June 2008.
Under the aegis of The National Grid, Luke Wood and Jonty Valentine were invited to curate a selection of New Zealand publications for the reading room component of the exhibition; "Forms of Inquiry: The Critical Architecture of Graphic Design".
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