Since 2006 Luke Wood and Jonty Valentine have been working together to produce The National Grid, an independent graphic design periodical published in New Zealand and distributed internationally. The National Grid has been reviewed by Rick Poynor and Teal Triggs, and has been included in exhibitions of independent publishing in New York, London, Amsterdam, and Madrid. Jonty and Luke will each reflect on their own particular interests and concerns with the project...

"What is design?" Jonty Valentine's talk will reconsider this question from a contemporary (and also more personal)point of view and question whether we can define NZ graphic design as distinct from other design or visual art spheres. 

Given the setting and venue for this talk, and following up on a joke (half true) made in the editorial to issue #1 - "all our best students are unemployable" - Luke Wood's talk will address The National Grid as a research project and Wood's concern that we are, perhaps, over-educating our students.