Creating Craigavon is a research project completed by the now defunct PLACE for the Craigavon Borough Council. It explores the city planning of a new city for Northern Ireland in the 70s – its successes, failures, and the people who now live in Craigavon.
A comprehensive look at life, past and present, in Northern Ireland’s best known 20th Century new town. Comprising archival materials, stunning photography, academic reflection, and first person accounts, this collection provides a thorough portrait of a fascinating place.
Researched, compiled and edited over three years by PLACE, working closely with museum archivists and the community.
Rinky Design, the design firm of Ryan O’Reilly, did the branding and design work for the series: comprising three separate books that came together in a slipcase – as well as T-shirts, stickers, and totes that were also made.
O’Reilly used a variety of typefaces and colors to convey the stories of people involved in Craigavon. Compacta and Profil are used as part of the project identity in an urban way, surrounded by industrial elements and starkly contrasted to the schemes pastel palette. Inside headers in some of the books use Europa Grotesk.
Some of the older maps within the project are set in all-caps Helvetica, which shows the universal popularity of the font at the time.
