Posts Tagged
history by design

Bittersweet

Once again joining forces as History by Design, New Meadow Media’s Ben Locker and Barry Lowenhoff created a poignant exhibition on the links between slavery, food and Wales on behalf of the Gateway Gardens Trust. Ben was responsible for researching the material in conjunction with GGT, and then writing it to a visually logical format. Barry Lowenhoff was the creative force behind the exhibition design.

The exhibition was launched to great acclaim in October 2008. Gateway Gardens Trust Chairman Bettina Harden was thrilled with the response it generated:

The Chairman of HLF said he never expected [the exhibition] to be as good, look so great and relate such difficult issues to people’s everyday lives. [Dr] Chris Evans LOVED it and is really looking forward to having it at the University of Glamorgan Library over the winter… we will feature in the Big Issue with some of our ex-homeless guests on the visit from Dragon Arts — and their response was so enthusiastic. Finally, the Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council wants to get it on the Vale’s website, so tremendously positive all round.

Ben and Barry are looking forward to working with the Gateway Gardens Trust over the course of the Bittersweet project, and are already thinking about how best to do its final exhibition.

Posted by: North Meadow Media
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 1:00 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: bittersweet, copywriting, education resources, exhibitions, ggt, heritage, history by design, wales
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Barbican History

Ben Locker wrote a teachers’ resource to accompany the Barbican’s prestigious In the Face of History photographic exhibition. The pack was aimed at secondary history teachers, but was crammed with cross-curricular links and activities, as well as ideas for follow-up work in the classroom.

“Ben worked with me to produce a teachers’ resource for the Barbican Art Gallery exhibition In the Face of History. His writing was excellent, he followed the brief carefully and had obviously spent a great deal of time preparing and considering the best way to approach the project. He worked according to a fairly tight schedule, produced work on time and was always easy to communicate with.” Anna Dent, Barbican Education Officer

You can download a copy of the resource here.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 12:39 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: barbican, barbican art gallery, copywriting, education resources, heritage, history by design, key stage 2, key stage 3, photography, publications
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Gateway Gazette

The Gateway Gazette is a 21st-Century take on what newspapers might have contained in 1792. Based on authentic newspaper sources, the Gazette was commissioned by the Gateway Gardens Trust for its Heritage Lottery Fund supported slavery and sugar project, Bittersweet. The publication was designed by Barry Lowenhoff and written by Ben Locker, teaming up in their heritage consultancy History by Design.

Barry and Ben created two versions of the newspaper: one for adults visiting historic gardens in Wales, and another for children. The children’s version is pictured above.

Feedback from trialling the adult edition of the Gateway Gazette in July 2008 was extremely positive and proved how valuable professionally-produced resources can be for learners.

“Fantastic and Brilliant. Really informative with catchy articles that have held peoples attention.”

“Loved the adverts. Fascinating to see what was available then.”

“It should be in libraries, so more people get the opportunity to read it.”

“It doesn’t try to be too authentic, the coloured pictures make it more alive. If it was too realistic the print would have to be much smaller and just in black. Then it would be boring and it’s not!!”

Barry and Ben followed up the Gateway Gazette with a prestigious exhibition that explored the links between slavery, Wales and the food we eat. More information about this project can be found here.

Posted by: North Meadow Media
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 12:25 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: copywriting, education resources, gateway gazette, ggt, heritage, history by design, publications, wales
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Making It

Northampton Museums needed a teachers’ resource at short notice to accompany Making It, a brilliant comic-book resource that explores themes of fashion, conformity, identity and belonging. Ben Locker wrote a pack full of activities that help both primary and secondary teachers use Making It across the curriculum, from citizenship to history, French to art.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 11th November, 2008 at 2:00 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: copywriting, education resources, heritage, history by design, publications, young people
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