Department of Typography & Graphic Communication honoured by HM the Queen

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Sue Walker Professor of Typography; Vice-Chancellor, Sir David Bell; Chancellor, Sir John Madejski receive the QueenÔÇÖs Anniversary Prize

Her Majesty the Queen presented the University's Department of Typography & Graphic Communication with the distinguished Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education at Buckingham Palace on Friday 24 February.

Reading is the first institution to win a Queen's Anniversary Prize focused on typographic research. The Department was awarded a silver gilt medal and certificate signed personally by Her Majesty the Queen.

Members of staff and students attended the special ceremony to receive the award for the Department's world-wide excellence for research and teaching and learning in what can be broadly summarised as ‘design for reading'. They included, Chancellor Sir John Madejski, Vice-Chancellor Sir David Bell, Head of the Department Professor Paul Luna and Professor Sue Walker.

The Prizes are the most prestigious form of national recognition open to a UK academic or vocational institution, recognising and celebrating the outstanding work and impact of higher and further education institutions. This is the fourth Queen's Anniversary Prize the University of Reading has received.

Reading's Department of Typography & Graphic Communication is a world-leading centre of typographic teaching and research and recognised as one of the outstanding departments of its kind.

It conducts research through history, theory and practice in information design, book design and typeface design and works closely with, and informs, industry, government and business. The Department has pioneered research in the history of graphic communication and in so doing has raised the profile of its exceptional Lettering, Printing and Graphic Design collections that in turn underpin a pioneering hands-on approach to teaching and learning.

By providing an outstanding student experience (100% overall satisfaction ratings from students graduating in 2011) the Department produces highly employable graduates who benefit from an integral work experience scheme and integration of historical and theoretical aspects of the discipline into the practice of design. This model of design education has been influential in many overseas institutions including in Brazil, Canada, Israel, Norway and Hong Kong.

The Department's work has a global impact. The BBC adopted a student-designed web typeface for its Arabic and Farsi websites, and a knowledge transfer project has resulted in typefaces for use on mobile phones in India. The Department welcomes colleagues from national museums and galleries, and members of the public to its programme of short courses and symposia.

Head of the Department Professor Paul Luna commented: "We are very proud to have won a Queen's Anniversary Prize. Our submission, ‘Design for reading: teaching and research in typography and graphic communication', was awarded the Prize in recognition of the excellence and world-wide reputation of our research and teaching and learning. The Design & Print Studio's unique work with students was also part of our submission."

The University has won a Queen's Anniversary Prize on three previous occasions. In 1998 Reading received a prize for its work on the dynamics of theatre performance in Shakespeare's time, done collaboratively with the Globe Theatre in London. In 2005, the Department of Meteorology was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for its training and research in weather, climate and physical oceanography. In 2009 the Department of Archaeology was awarded the Prize for uniquely combining ground-breaking research, enterprise and teaching in the field.

Watch a video of Professor Paul Luna explaining about the Award >>>