Dezeen School Shows: a book with a typeface designed to celebrate the Welsh language is among graphic communication projects from the University of Southampton.

Also featured is a project exploring the dual use of English and Chinese letterforms in graphic design and a risograph-printed book investigating violence against women.

University of Southampton

Institution: University of Southampton
Course: BA Graphic Communication

School statement:

"The BA Graphic Communication programme invites students to explore how design influences the way we see, understand and shape the world around us. Through creative experimentation, critical thinking and collaboration, students learn to craft powerful visual narratives that respond to contemporary social, cultural and global challenges.

"Rooted in studio practice, the course blends traditional and emerging media, encouraging students to develop a personal visual language while building strong conceptual and technical foundations.

"Whether working in typography, branding, editorial, digital or motion design, students are equipped to navigate the shifting landscape of the creative industries.

"Graphic communication is more than visual aesthetics – it's a tool for connection, impact and transformation. Our students explore the social, ethical and political dimensions of design, learning how to use their creativity to provoke dialogue, foster inclusivity and imagine better futures.

"Taught by expert practitioners and supported by outstanding facilities, the course offers opportunities for industry engagement, live briefs and collaborations with creative partners.

"Students have received international recognition from leading organisations, including: International Society of Typographic Designers, Design and Art Direction Awards and the Gianni De Conno Silent Book Award.

"We champion an inclusive, forward-thinking approach to design education that empowers students to become agile, independent thinkers ready to lead in a rapidly evolving visual world."

Zero One by Jacob Johnson

"My final major project, Zero One, shifts this lens toward the environmental toll of technology – specifically asking what the Apple brand leaves behind in its push for constant innovation.

"Striking a balance between digital aesthetics and tactile nuance, the work draws from code, early dot matrix printing and space-age typography to form a series of outcomes that question the ethos of perpetual digital upgrades.

"At its centre is a publication powered by a javascript algorithm that generates a randomised data visualisation of the iPhone product line's emissions.

"The result is a living, evolving language formed by circles – abstracting environmental impact over time.

"This same system informs a custom typeface derived from the publication's body typography – merging soft circular forms with the sharper edge of digital structure.

"The letterforms feel simultaneously mechanical and human. The outcomes aim to establish a clinical, almost instructional tone, delivered through a spiral-bound book and paired with an ironically functional website that reflects on the emissions created by the web itself."

Student: Jacob Johnson
Course: BA Graphic Communication

Untitled by Sophie Struthers

"My final major project focuses on violence against women and girls, and how the growing popularity of the manosphere and misogynistic male influencers is changing men's (especially young boy's) attitudes and behaviour towards women.

"From the early research into the topic, I found a lot of designs focused on similar topics that produced books or posters only using bright pinks and black.

"This influenced my colour scheme and the printing of the publication. To achieve the bright pink colour, I have printed my outcome on the risograph printer.

"Selina Kehuan Wu's publication, 'Solitude of Self', heavily influenced the visuals within my publication."

Student: Sophie Struthers
Course: BA Graphic Communication

Untitled by Jas Jones

"My final major project presents the idea that typefaces can be viewed as gendered, which reinforces negative gender stereotypes that impact society.

"Over time people have associated feminine or masculine products with certain type characteristics. My book highlights these characteristics and provides examples and descriptions to show their gender connotations.

"In addition to this, my digital website presents an interactive scaling system showcasing how stereotypes dynamically change typefaces. The aim of this project was to bring awareness to designers about gender stereotypes to help guide design into a more gender-neutral future.

"The main outcomes of this project were a physical book and an interactive digital website. The book analyses a large selection of typefaces alongside large blown-up characters. This encourages the audience to analyse the typeface themselves and spot the characteristics within each one.

"Each page has a carefully selected colour that matches the gender stereotype of the typeface, giving visual reinforcement.

"The website provides an interactive way to visualise the changes that happen to the typeface as it becomes more masculine or feminine over the years.

"This dynamic adjustment places emphasise on the stereotypes in a way where designers can actively check the typeface they may want to use and the effects it may have on their work."

Student: Jas Jones
Course: BA Graphic Communication

Untitled by Ella Moody

"This project is about mental health, memory and spaces. There's a lot of recent research suggesting how spaces and connections between them and memory is an integral part of processing trauma and adversities.

"I felt this was a good project as it tackles ideas about mental health and expands impressions of who may struggle with trauma (aka anyone and everyone at some point in life). This is a massively stigmatised topic and I wanted to face it head on and approach it with empathy and sensitivity.

"I also included another misunderstood topic which is art psychotherapy and using the arts as means of healing or helping you through these tough times.

"I decided to make a workbook as I wanted it to be an educational tool as much as a beautiful piece to find interesting.

"I didn't want to follow my usual style of hyperrealism and decided collage, texture and colour were more important to the topics I was presenting.

"I used a lot of research in this project not only creative practitioners but scientific and survey led research as well as my own knowledge myself as a working mental health practitioner."

Student: Ella Moody
Course: BA Graphic Communication

In Plain Sight by Holly Connelly

"My final major project is a visual representation of misogynistic themes seen in romance films. By unpicking the quotes and actions seen in my chosen films, I was able to create layouts that displayed this content in a data-related way.

"My main influence for this publication was Lange Liste by Christian Lange, as I liked the listed structure of the pages. I experimented with a four-column grid, which came from my research into film scripts and how they are formatted.

"As much of my process was screen based, I chose to experiment with letterpress early into the project, which developed into my publication cover.

"I looked at Alan Kitching for letterpress information and liked how he formatted the type for his designs. I tried to be more abstract with my own letterpress compositions.

"I feel that my publication is heavily reliant on its colour scheme – the pink representing the film quotes and the black and white representing the actions and their outdated attitudes."

Student: Holly Connelly
Course: BA Graphic Communication

Untitled by Lydia Waite

"My final major project explores the pressures that the toxic beauty standard creates for young women in Western societies.

"The publication is an editorial take on how we can expose the truth of how young women are being affected by the damaging expectations that society wants us to fall into.

"To influence this project, I researched multiple people's perspectives on beauty standards and what they perceive to be beautiful.

"I conducted primary research through interviewing five subjects who feature in my magazine and gave their perceptions."

Student: Lydia Waite
Course: BA Graphic Communication

Journeys Beyond the Commute by Chenxin Chen

"My work explores the theme of imagination as an escape from reality, particularly within the context of commuting.

"For my final project, Journeys Beyond the Commute, I created three graphic novels/comic books  that visually contrasts the grey mundanity of commuter life with vibrant, surreal imaginative experiences.

"The use of digital media allowed for controlled experimentation with colour and texture to emphasise this contrast, while still integrating painterly effects from traditional processes.

"My approach was informed by a range of visual and narrative sources: Rosie Barker's emotionally resonant compositions, Thomas Hedger's bold use of shape and abstraction and Hollie Fuller's minimal but expressive figures helped shape my stylistic direction.

"I also drew inspiration from graphic narratives like Anna by Mia Oberländer, which explores inner life through layered visuals and Small in the City by Sydney Smith, whose use of perspective and atmosphere deeply influenced my visual storytelling and thematic framing.

"Earlier works exploring fantasy (like Attic and Lantern Fairy) also helped shape my approach."

Student: Chenxin Chen
Course: BA Graphic Communication

Do this, don't do that, try this by Kaera Floro

"Getting caught in an echo chamber of self-help advice, whether online or in a book, has resulted in feelings of uncertainty and falling behind, particularly among those in their 20s.

"Trying to conform to societal expectations and timelines has put pressure on the next generation's transition to adulthood, which is why I wanted to address these issues in a campaign aimed at 19 to 25-year-olds, focusing on self-help awareness and guidance for young people.

"This campaign features a motion-based short film about the inner turmoil of a 20-year-old, combining mixed media techniques and VFX to demonstrate how words on screen or paper may affect people in the long term, as well as a website and other promotional content."

Student: Kaera Floro
Course: BA Graphic Communication

The Childhood That Never Existed by Shan Jiajie

"My project is about childhood healing through photographic images. The three main phrases are childhood healing, idealised childhood and displaced memories.

"Society often idealises childhood, making it seem like a carefree and happy time. But in reality, childhood often comes with feelings of loneliness, confusion and unexpressed wounds.

"When we look back on these memories, as adults, we can't release these emotions in the same way we could when we were children.

"My media is my photobook. I'm trying to create a healing space through photography. I chose a nighttime amusement park as the theme and used a dreamy, slightly surreal aesthetic to build a memory that feels out of place.

"I want to take the viewers into the most lonely memories of childhood and help them, as adults, embrace their inner child.

"The healing theory of childhood in psychology has a significant influence on this body of work, which allows me to focus on and excavate the neglected or repressed emotions in childhood memories and is the theoretical source of this body of work. In terms of visual aesthetics, the 'dreamcore' style provides me with a lot of inspiration.

"Its blurred, surreal and slightly lonely visual language fits the theme of childhood memories and psychological repair that I want to express."

Student: Shan Jiajie
Course: BA Graphic Communication

The Welsh Language by Katy Davies

"My project is about the Welsh language. It was influenced by the Cymraeg 2050 strategy. The idea was to make the language more visible, accessible and celebrated.

"I have produced several outcomes that span different media with this aiding the idea of making it accessible. The main publication is strongly influenced by dictionary layouts like 'England in particular' and how they deal with bulky content and breaking that down.

"The publication looks at history, identity, different ways of communicating and learning the basics. Information is broken down as much as possible – even paper stock indicates change of info.

"I was interested in how typography could help and developed a custom typeface influenced by features of early Welsh manuscripts.

"This portrays Welsh identity helping the idea of it being a celebration but also adds to the idea of hierarchy in the book with its two weights. Welsh is prioritised throughout, making clear navigation but also to acknowledge the centuries of suppression the Welsh language has undergone to English.

"I then read about how kinetic typography is used in schools to help learn basics. This developed into the idea of having the motion triggers in the book, making it more immersive but also breaking down information even more and helping pronunciation – a poster also does this.

"Portraying a strong sense of Welsh identity was important to the idea of celebration and visibility which is why all colours of the Welsh flag can be seen utilised in all outcomes."

Student: Katy Davies
Course: BA Graphic Communication

Problems in English, Chinese Bilingual Typography by Duye Li

"As a Chinese graphic designer and typographer, I frequently work on bilingual designs involving both Chinese and English.

"The structural differences between the two systems makes achieving typographic harmony inherently challenging. English is alphabetic and phonetic, while Chinese is logographic with roots in hieroglyphs.

"While English typography benefits from a long-established body of theory and tools, many of these do not translate effectively to the Chinese context.

"This publication highlights these fundamental differences and explores why bilingual typography often falls short.

"It raises awareness of the challenges designers face in striving for visual coherence across both languages."

Student: Duye Li
Course: BA Graphic Communication

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the University of Southampton. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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