Textbook Studio

Founded in 2011 by Vicky Carr and Chris Shearston – designers, educators and creative partners since 2007 – Textbook is a graphic design studio focused on arts, culture and education. We design books, exhibitions, identities, packaging + websites for artists, galleries, organisations, businesses + people. Clients include; The Whitworth, Somerset House, In Certain Places, Film & Video Umbrella, Manchester Art Gallery, The Barbican, Slim Volume, Manchester University Press, and many more. The studio structure is deliberately kept small, allowing meaningful collaboration with clients whilst maintaining a diverse and flexible network of collaborators who bring their specific expertise whenever a project requires it. Whilst design is the primary focus, the studio also dedicate time to teaching in Higher Education and supporting the next generation of creative practitioners. We lecture, run workshops and give talks at universities and colleges across the UK. Physically making things is important to the practice, often the studio itself functions as a workshop, printroom and photography studio. Outside of designing and teaching, the studio undertakes self-initiated and often collaborative projects which have no external client, allowing play, testing of ideas, experimentation and development of new skills, which is key to our creative practice. In 2013 we co-founded the Risograph print collective Mono to allow us to experiment with the risograph process and print limited editions of artist books / zines / prints. In 2015, we co-founded the Engine House Collective with several of our close friends and fellow creatives. Our shared studio space is situated within the grounds of Islington Mill Studios, Salford. Get in touch to discuss how we could work together!