{"id":13286,"date":"2024-07-17T12:16:39","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T12:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=13286"},"modified":"2024-07-17T12:42:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T12:42:59","slug":"a-good-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2024\/07\/17\/a-good-life\/","title":{"rendered":"A Good Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With our summer graduation ceremonies currently underway, CONNECTED speaks to one alumnus who has been fortunate enough to celebrate graduation with Reading not once, but twice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin Andrews first graduated from Reading in 1976 with a degree in typography and graphic communication<\/a>. Then, in December 2023, Martin was invited back to receive an honorary doctorate degree in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the University and the town of Reading.<\/p>\n

In his role as a designer at Reading Museum<\/a>, Martin designed and installed the Riverside Museum at Blake\u2019s Lock<\/a> which won a Museum of the Year award. He also worked on the design for phase one of the Reading Town Hall<\/a> restoration. Later in life, Martin came out of retirement to design a museum for Oxford University Press<\/a> and a medical museum for the Royal Berkshire Hospital<\/a>, as well as redeveloping the University\u2019s own Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"MartinOn receiving his honorary degree, Martin said: \u201cBecause I was so heavily involved in teaching I never had the time to do a PhD. I\u2019m so grateful for all the opportunities I\u2019ve had during my career, but I always felt a little bit disappointed that I hadn\u2019t managed to convert my work into a PhD. I always felt my academic career hadn\u2019t quite fulfilled itself. So when I was offered this honorary degree, it was a wonderful culmination of my degree and teaching.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI feel I have now completed my academic journey and I am so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Memory lane<\/strong><\/h4>\n

CONNECTED takes a walk down memory lane with Martin to discover more about how his time with the University, and his love affair with typography, all began.<\/p>\n

Martin said: \u201cI originally came to Reading to study fine art in 1970. But during my studies, I was told about the Department of Typography \u2013 set up by Professor Michael Twyman \u2013 who had decided that typography should be an entirely independent degree from art. This was incredibly rare at the time.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know what the word typography meant. But when I visited the department on the Earley Gate side of campus and smelled the ink and saw the printing presses, I realised it was what I wanted to do. I just felt at home there. So in my second year I transferred to typography and never looked back.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI was also really interested in museums and art galleries, and I was able to combine these two passions through the Real Jobs project. I designed an exhibition for the Museum of English Rural Life [MERL] called \u2018The View from Beaford\u2019 \u2013 a series of photographs of rural life taken by a man called James Ravilious.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily for me, the designer at Reading Museum came to the private view of this exhibition, and a week later he advertised a role which I managed to secure. So a week after I graduated I started at Reading Museum as the assistant designer, and a couple of years later I became the designer myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

From student to teacher<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before the family ties with the University became even stronger, when both Martin and his wife Verity \u2013 also a Reading graduate \u2013 began working at the University.<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin said: \u201cI swore blind I would never be a teacher \u2013 my parents and sister were all teachers \u2013 but the call to return to Reading was too strong to resist. I became a lecturer in 1990 and loved teaching for the next 18 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1992 while I was teaching, my wife Verity also returned to the University to study a part-time degree in English and classics. It took her five years to complete, and she did this while juggling home-life, two teenagers and a part-time job. She is inspirational and we are all so proud of her. In 1996 Verity became a Library Assistant, before becoming an Archives Assistant in 2000. Verity became an expert in the archives, helping researchers and working on their publications with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Martin\u2019s favourite things about teaching typography was being able to recreate his favourite memories of the course for a whole new generation of students. He said:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOne of my stand-out memories from being a student at Reading were the trips Professor Twyman would take us on \u2013 we went on study trips to Rome and Florence which had a huge impact on me. So when I became a member of staff I wanted to recreate these amazing experiences for my students.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Every year I helped to organise field trips to these incredible cities with around 60 students, teaching from 8am to 5pm every day and I absolutely loved it. We would study inscriptional lettering, ancient lettering and the development of the alphabet in Rome, and in Florence we studied how the Renaissance changed lettering. It was such brilliant bonding time with the students.\u201d<\/p>\n

A hopeless collector<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Since retirement Martin has been able to continue his love for typography through his many and varied hobbies.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI\u2019m a painter and printmaker, and in recent years I\u2019ve started working with ceramics so I guess I\u2019m also a potter. I\u2019ve been the President of the Reading Guild of Artists and have been on the Reading arts scene for many years. I\u2019m also a hopeless collector.<\/p>\n

\u201cI collect printed ephemera, which is the stuff that gets thrown away \u2013 like posters and tickets. Professor Twyman believed that if you\u2019re going to be a good designer you need to know about designing in the past as well as the future, and that ephemera is really important because it informs social history in such a strong way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Martin
Martin in costume on the film set of Bridgerton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Martin has also ventured into the world of television. He said: \u201cI was involved with a show which centred around the reconstruction of the Guttenberg\u2019s first printing press, presented by Stephen Fry. I\u2019ve also been involved in the Bridgerton<\/em> printing scenes and other shows including The Great<\/em>, Outlander<\/em>, Philomena Cunk<\/em>, and Great British Railway Journeys<\/em> with Michael Portillo. Working on television has been a funny little spin-off for me but it\u2019s been a great experience.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cEverything I\u2019ve done in my studies and career has been a privilege, but none more so than having spent my working life with young people. It was a great honour to be able to have a very tiny influence on their lives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Now I\u2019m retired I really miss working with students. Lecturing made me feel perpetually young and I learnt from my students as well.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Martin\u201cI\u2019m ever so lucky. I\u2019ve had such a good life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Special memories for Martin of his time at Reading are of getting engaged and married to his wife, Verity. They recently celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary and shared their UoR Love Story<\/a> with CONNECTED.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With our summer graduation ceremonies currently underway, CONNECTED speaks to one alumnus who has been fortunate enough to celebrate graduation with Reading not once, but twice. Martin Andrews first graduated from Reading in 1976 with a degree in typography and graphic communication. 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