If You Could & Hidden In Plain View exhibitions at the independent gallery VANE – photography by Marysia Angus

My first time to the intimate setting of the VANE gallery, the brainchild of Paul Stone and Christopher Yeats – and their first foray into the realm of design.

Having been a fan of “If You Could” throughout their various projects over the past year I was interested to see what creations would be on offer in Design Event 2008. This time they pondered the question ‘If you could do anything in the North, what would it be?’ in turn answered by past and present Illustration & Design graduates of Sunderland, Teeside and Northumbria University.

Hidden in Plain View offered some interesting concepts on postcards, describing ideas of ‘home’ by innovative graphic designers from across Northern Europe. The exhibition drew on the cultures, landscapes and people of Northern Europe, referencing the Scandinavian tradition of communicating secret message through the medium of the postcard.

We were impressed by the overall calibre of work, some of our favourites being: Catalogtree, Thorbjørn Ankerstjerne, Colin Davies, Pixelgarten, Sue Doeksen and Edward McGowan.

If You Could and Hidden In Plain View saw this years Design Event branch out further into the North East arts community and, with over 800 visited the exhibition in it’s duration, they must be doing something right!

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