Join Abbey Barlow and George Hajian as they talk through their typographic projects, share their journey through the undergrad programme at AUT and discuss the potential of type and typography in developing high-quality student projects.

This lunchtime talk is presented during TDC69 Aotearoa: The World's Best Typography.

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Abbey Barlow recently completed her Postgraduate degree in Communication Design, with a minor in experimental surface design, at Auckland University of Technology. In 2023, she won a prestigious Young Ones TDC award for her typographic work ‘AB3D’.

Abbey explores colour, texture, and 3D objects in her work, consistently returning to the tactile experience of designing physical items. Her passion lies at the intersection of various design disciplines, including industrial and spatial design. She enjoys experimenting with both new and traditional fabrication techniques, blending them with her graphic design background.

Other achievements include a Bronze Best Award for her publication ‘D.O.S.D’ and a Silver Award for ‘AB3D’. Abbey currently works as a Junior Designer at advertising agency Tuckshop, in Tāmaki Makaurau.

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George Haijan is a designer/artist/educator based in Tāmaki Makaurau. He was born in Beirut (Lebanon) with Armenian ancestry and emigrated to Aotearoa in 2001. After finishing his Postgraduate Diploma in Graphic Design at Massey University, he moved to Tāmaki Makaurau for his MFA and Doctorate in Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts.

George has a diverse working background in the design and publishing industry in New Zealand and Lebanon. He regularly collaborates with historian Brent Coutts to publish the limited-edition Queer Art Narratives publication series. His main artistic output involves collage and screen-printing, where he uses found printed materials from popular print culture to disrupt signifiers of power and embodiment, and to subvert their significance.

George is a Senior Lecturer at Auckland University of Technology and teaches across the Communication Design programme in the School of Art and Design, Te Kura Toi a Hoahoa. He also dabbles in calligraphy and can read/write in three different scripts: Armenian, Arabic, and Latin.