Doctor’s orders
From provocative poster campaigns to pill boxes, graphic design is good for you, reflects a new London show
Life-saving graphic design in London
There isn’t a catch-all response to the question posed by the Wellcome Collection’s new exhibition, ‘Can Graphic Design Save Your Life?’ The answer, as curator Lucienne Roberts has discovered after several years of sifting through the archives, is contradictory to say the least. As co-founder, with Rebecca Wright, of Graphicdesign&, a publishing house that explores graphic design’s social role, Roberts has long been interested in ‘demonstrating the value’ of the discipline. ‘There are very few subjects that are as essential as health,’ she says. ‘We knew the pharmaceutical industry was a really rich area to explore. It lends itself to quite a minimal, abstract approach.’
Drawing on Wellcome’s own massive collection, as well as loans from companies and individuals, Roberts worked with Jason Holley and Satoshi Isono of Universal Design Studio to shape the exhibition. ‘We looked at it as a graphic space,’ says Holley, ‘using composition, architecture, colour and iconography.’ From the (freshly fashionable) hospital pastel colour scheme to a sprinkling of supergraphics and a clutch of totemic forms (cigarette, cross, warning triangle and question mark), the stage is set for hundreds of items that chart our relationship with the desires, demands and dictates of buying, selling and applying healthcare.
The exhibition begins with the cross, crescent and crystal, the three symbols of the International Red Cross movement. ‘These are powerful emblems,’ says Roberts, ‘so it’s a good way of introducing graphic design to a non-graphic audience.’ The juxtaposition with Raymond Loewy’s Lucky Strike cigarette packaging is stark; the show’s ‘Persuasion’ section