Typography is an Art According to Students
Image from City of Glasgow College Gallery
By Ally Collingham
Students at City of Glasgow college have exhibited their typography posters inspired by quotes. The exhibition runs from 1 Dec – 12 Dec 2025, titled “Creative Quotes” at the Gallery at The City of Glasgow College.
Having never been an avid fan of modernist art or the likes of Jackson Pollok, this exhibition oddly excited me. This is because it managed to truly capture the differences, we as individuals have as artists. Despite having started off with a similar quote, all the designers involved have managed to create something unique and visually persuasive. Brooke Allan a Graphic Designer, explains: “Modernist design can be exciting when done right.” And here it is.
Image of student graphic designer Anastazja Kozela
Anastazja Kozela a Graphic Designer exhibits her typographic poster.
Kozela said: “Typography needs to be felt; typography needs to be experienced ...typography is an art.”
And she is right, because as I looked at one poster using the silver colour behind the font quote about modernism, I found myself thinking about the repetitive modern silver buildings such as the Armadillo that they seem to be throwing up next to nearly every river in every major UK city and pondering “is modernist design boring but fast?”
Image of student graphic designer Elise Britton
Elise Britton – Graphic Designer
The posters both individually and combined create their own space within the gallery to portray how “modernist design [may be] boring, but it is so much faster.” And they do this as graphic designer Elise Britton explains by “embracing the difference in size, style, weight and capitalisation of the typeface.”
Image of student graphic designer Alicia Hartley
Alicia Hartley – Graphic Designer
Hartley chose a different quote. She said: “Typography needs to be audible, typography needs to be felt, typography needs to be experienced.” Hartley wanted to “show how our senses combine together to create our experiences and how they layer with each other.”
Overall, I found the exhibition fascinating on my first visit and have found myself revisiting it and will continue to do so this week. There is also a video which explains the working progress of the exhibition from beginning to exhibit and this allows the viewer to experience the artists in a more personal way and feels slightly immersive. As art enthusiast Mason Paterson said: “These creative interrelations show clear expressions of each designer, and their own personal touches.”