Art and design blog

Let's have a look at some of our books on gaming design:

• Bang (2016) Picture this: how pictures work
• Barker, Smith and Attwood (2021) Watching Game of Thrones: how audiences engage with dark television
• Galuzin (2016) Preproduction blueprint: how to plan game environments and level designs
• Lemarchand (2021) A playful production process: for game designers (and everyone)
• Lengyel (2016) Foundations of game engine development. Volume 1 - Mathematics
• Lengyel (2019) Foundations of game engine development. Volume 2 - Rendering
• Rogers (2019) Understanding esports: an introduction to the global phenomenon

Our Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries Creative Lives talks offer many examples of how creative professionals live, work and thrive in the arts and creative industries. You will gain an insight into the creative process and career routes through a series of talks from local and nationally-renowned practitioners at different career stages, many of whom are University of Sunderland alumni. You’ll hear from artists, designers, makers, photographers, curators, filmmakers, and much more.

These online talks are open to all students and staff in the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries, as well as other member of the university and the general public. There’s no need to book individual places, just join online on the day - Tuesdays at 4pm online.

• 30th January - Paul Raymond
• 6th February - Jill McKnight
• 13th February - Sophie Buxton
• 20th February - Ross Millard
• 27th February - Mark Duffy
• 5th March - Vicky Higginson
• 12th March - Dominic Wilcox
• 16th April - Laura Brewis

Please join us via this link – Click here to join the meetings.

The Library has an excellent collection of exhibition catalogues from many major galleries and are a great resource to help you discover artists and their work.

Catalogues often include an artist statement where you can read about how it speaks about their work and how the artist makes their work. Exploring the catalogues enable you to see what work artists have exhibited and how they have exhibited, which could provide inspiration for your own exhibitions.

We have art and design catalogues by past and present university staff including:

• Bodman, Virginia (2000) Between: drawing from the landscape
• Collier, Mike (2015) Ghosts of the restless shore: space, place and memory of the Sefton Coast
• Graham, Beryl (1996) Serious games: art, interaction and technology
• Hutchinson, James (no date) New mapping at the University of Sunderland Vardy Gallery 
• Ling, Manny (2018) Crossing boundaries: the calligraphic work of Manny Ling

The exhibition catalogues are located on the upper level of the St Peter's Library (shelved at 700) allowing you to browse the shelves by artist name. Use our Library Search to locate them, refining your search results by Exhibition Catalogues. You can search by the artist, gallery, title of the exhibition or by keyword (e.g. David Hockney, Tate Gallery or Sensation: young British artists from the Saatchi Collection).

Watch our short video to find out more.

Would you like to recommend an exhibition catalogue for the library to order? Please contact Suzie Williams, the Academic Liaison Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries.

Located on the lower level of the Library@Murray, the Secure Collection is made up of precious resources including artists books, special editions, rare art books and signed copies.

Items can be used for reference in the library during staffed hours and can be found using Library Search. 

If you see reference to ‘Secure Collection’ in the item record, that resource will be kept in this collection (see screenshot in this blog post).

The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle is currently exhibiting work that showcases the ground-breaking work of 20th century British photographer Yevonde with work on loan from the National Portrait Gallery - Yevonde: life and colour.

The exhibition runs until 20th April 2024 and is the largest showcase of the artist's work with over 150 works. 

In the University Library we have the accompanying Exhibition Catalogue which brings to life this brilliant exhibition and enables you to see Yevonde's work up close and personal without having to travel.