Urbis is a museum dedicated to "all things urban." It lies at the heart of Manchester city centre and has a restaurant and gift shop along with several exhibition spaces. The first week we were here, Brendan and I went to see "How Manga Took Over the World," and exhibit about Japanese graphic art that is equivalent to US comic books, but has grown to so much more. The most commerically successful lines are Hello Kitty and Pokemon, but if you spend any time with middle school kids, you'll find that they love the graphic novels that are read from back to front, and this style is used in all areas of design to communicate difficult concepts in ways that are easy to grasp. There are graphic novels of Shakespeare's plays and even a Manga Bible!
Brendan's very good at drawing these types of characters, with big eyes, tiny noses and spiky hair. Although I appreciate it, I'm not so good at drawing it. I guess I have my own established style by this stage of life.
Across the street from Urbis and up the road, are Printworks and Exchange Square, with it's scaled-down version of the London Eye. This is a great place to people-watch. The weekends are busier than the week-days, as people come in from miles around for concerts and hen/stag weekends. Printworks has all sorts of bars, clubs and restaurants. The MEN arena is just around the corner. (Last night, Kylie Minogue was playing.) And this whole area is a shopper's dream, if you want to spend double what you'd pay for it in America. We rode on the ferris wheel to see the Manchester skyline. I think it's the most intriguing side of Manchester. The combination and blending of architecture is amazing.
