Niala Crampton
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Hi, I'm Niala Crampton, and I'm a graphic designer from the North. I'm a self-proclaimed type nerd; I love creating and breaking type within my work to create exciting brand identities.
My fascination with Women’s role in the type industry comes to life within my 'Womxn In Type' project. In which, I researched female type designers and how they express empowerment, identity, and inclusivity within their type design. Speaking with female designers enhanced my love for the discipline and my enthusiasm for progressing my practice as a northern female designer. This project was fundamental to the understanding of my own identity as I head into the design world. My interest in northern identity inspired me when creating my typeface, Brain Machine - a display typeface inspired by the brutalist Roger Stevens Building in Leeds. I used Brain Machine to brand Brutal Mooch events, which include tours and weekend visits to Northern cities to explore and celebrate the modernist brutalist architecture of Yorkshire. Northern sayings and phrases are used throughout the promotion to further link to the northern identity.
Researching the history of graphic design disciplines is something I find interesting and this played a pivotal role in my Typographic Research Unit project. I created a variable logo which is generated from a grid system, informed by the layout of letterpress draws. My logo is a subtle nod to the letterpress as it holds a huge place within the history of typography.
Going forward I hope to continue my practice with type, as this has led me to my internship with the Northern-based design studio, Split, which holds the Guinness World Record for creating the biggest letterpress in the world.
