How it all started

On 17 September 2011, the Sojornposse collective organised an event at University College London that addressed the issue with regards to the future of books as the placeholder of ideas. We invited publishing experts from Samsung, Mag+, Oxford Brookes University, British Library, Blurb Books, Photo Book Club, The Comics Grid, The Ballet Bag and social scientists to give their insights.

Speakers discussed the change in traditional publishing platforms and its effect on the labour landscape. It also addressed the issue of the shift in narrative within design, literature and journalism, from traditional storytelling to digital storytelling, and how this changes the way consumers ‘memorise’ and document information.

Backed by the Department of Anthropology, this event was held in support of the Anthropology programmes:

• MSc Digital Anthropology
• MA Material & Visual Culture and MA Culture
• Materials & Design

They were developed by the Material Culture division to examine group behaviours around artifacts, including digital applications.

The organiser: Sojournposse Collective

Sojournposse, the organiser of the event, was active from 2006 until 2012. The storytelling collective was the powerhouse behind the Story of Books project.

This collective was involved in three London Design Festival projects in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Our social engagement project began at The London Design Festival 2009, where we hosted an annual seminar, The Inspiration Room, which showcased the latest storytelling technology and talents.

The two original co-founders of Sojournposse founded a product graphic design agency in 2012 called GLUE Studio. The studio then went on to work on several award-winning projects within the creative and publishing sectors.