Leave Town, And Other Advice To Sink In Slowly

Everyone has a piece of advice they wish they had heard earlier, right? We speak to an artist keen to share support, creatively, with those just starting out…

Championed by the Guardian. Creative Review and The Independent, Fine Art graduate John Stanbury’s Advice To Sink In Slowly poster project is designed by graduates for the purpose of passing on advice and inspiration to first year students. Thinking that starting university can be intimidating, the illustrated posters are given out to Freshers to hang up at home, welcoming them and — hopefully — sharing some valuable guidance until well after graduation.

Currently running a Kickstarter campaign to be able to print, package and post 3500 free posters out to students across the UK, here Stanbury tells us about the project’s origins, his university experience and how difficult it has been getting the series where it is today…

The Double Negative: Hi John! How did the idea originally come about?

John Stanbury: It came off the back of having failed at another project. I had pitched a big idea, but it just didn’t feel right anymore. So I returned the money I had been given to complete a pilot. Awful!

The spark for Advice To Sink In Slowly came from a friend who said how often she asked her grandmother for advice and wisdom. I realised I’d never done so and immediately regretted it. With that thought came the realisation that everybody has a piece of advice they wish they had known earlier, but often don’t have the opportunity to pass it on to where it can make a difference.

The other part of the idea was that, advice is subjective. But by passing on advice in a creative way it is possible to create something people can live with, so the advice can have a chance to sink in slowly and help out later on.

It was really important to me to prove that I could bring an idea to completion. From having the idea to giving out the posters took six weeks. That, together with the backing of the artists for the brief, meant a lot to me.

What was it about the in-university posters that you thought would offer alternative advice — and shouldn’t this type of advice already be there, provided by the institutions?

Lots of the advice will be familiar to students. I think what’s different about the posters is who the advice is from and the personal way it is passed on. Graduates and new students do not get to meet very often. But those first days, weeks and months of university are often fresh in the mind of people who left years ago.

So perhaps more than the advice, it is the effort that goes into the poster, the voice of the person who made it that forms a connection with the student receiving it and the sense of a welcome from one generation to the next, that matters most.

What’s the best advice you think you’ve seen so far?

There so many different combinations of advice and design that I love. If I could pick three posters I think are brilliant, but maybe have been slightly overlooked, they would be Richard Dinnis’s Debt is not your friend, Suzy Phillips’s Don’t hide away, and Simon Vince’s Give this poster to someone you don’t know.

What’s been the take up and response from students, and from places of further education?

Sounds funny, but I actually didn’t hear any feedback from students until the project came full circle and I was asking people who had received posters to design one themselves. Then there were magic words like: “I’ve had this poster on my wall for 3 years”; or: “It’s the first thing I see when I wake up”.

I’ve been lucky to have some brilliant collaborations with Birmingham University, University of the Arts London and Mississippi State University. But building university partnerships is hard. The posters are essentially a luxury project and I wore myself out trying to find the right way to pitch it.

So, the idea of bypassing partnerships and posting the posters direct to students through our website was especially attractive. It has opened up the project to amazing countrywide requests from students studying Car Mechanics in Edinburgh to Law in Birmingham.

I don’t think I’ve found the best way of utilising the idea, I think it will be a cross between partnerships and independence. The Kickstarter is all about keeping up the momentum to help find a way to give out more posters the next year and the next.

It’s a great way to showcase some really good artwork; how do you choose the illustrators?

I hope to have a mix of new graduates and established artists. I especially look for people who have found or have begun to develop a voice of their own and who often address personal themes in their work.

What was your experience like studying Fine Art at Falmouth University?

It’s a wonderful place to study — I still live in Falmouth. But my experience was bitter-sweet, as I stopped painting once I graduated and am only just beginning again now.

Looking back, what would your advice be to your younger self?

I was/am quite anxious in social situations, so I think I needed an extra push to say “hello” and let a conversation begin.

You’ve received support from the Princes Trust (us too!); what do you think you got out of that?

They’re amazing. My Prince’s Trust mentor, Stuart Sawyer, helped me plan ahead, guided me through negotiations, shared legal advice and in difficult times offered calm words and belief. He also pushed me over many jumps I would otherwise have stalled at. I’ll always be thankful for the time and energy he put into his voluntary role at the Prince’s Trust. His help and the backing of the Prince’s Trust made all the difference to me.

Laura Robertson (Editor)

See all the posters designed for Advice To Sink In Slowly here 

Support the project through Kickstarter – 20 days to go!

Images: from top: Olimpia Zagnoli’s Leave town; Richard Dinnis’s Debt is not your friend; Simon Vince’s Give this poster to someone you don’t know; Suzy Phillips’s Don’t hide away; Eleni Kalorkoti’s Ignore both of them