On 6 June 2026, Derby came together to celebrate a remarkable milestone. As part of the city’s ongoing 50:50 Twinning celebrations, People of Print and Department Store & Co invited creatives, designers, illustrators and local residents to explore a simple but powerful question:
What does connection mean to you?
The open call asked participants to create a poster responding to the theme of connection, reflecting on the relationships, places, communities and shared experiences that unite us. The response was nothing short of incredible.
Over the weeks leading up to the event, submissions arrived from across Derby and beyond, each offering a unique interpretation of connection. Some explored friendship and family, others reflected on heritage, culture, place and belonging. Together they formed a vibrant visual conversation, showcasing the diversity of voices that make up the city’s creative community.
The selected posters were exhibited at Department Store & Co’s Creative Hub on Sadler Gate, transforming the space into a celebration of creativity, collaboration and civic pride. Visitors were able to explore the collection and discover the many ways people chose to represent connection through image, colour, typography and storytelling.
As part of the exhibition, two standout designs, by Stuart Walster and Joe & Arthur Buckley, were selected to be transformed into screenprints, which were printed live during the celebrations at Derby Market Hall. Throughout the day, visitors gathered around the print station to watch the process unfold, speaking with the team, pulling prints and experiencing first-hand the craft behind the finished works.
There is always something special about screenprinting in public. It invites curiosity and conversations between strangers. Throughout the day, we saw families, students, designers, market visitors, and first-time print enthusiasts come together around the press, united by a shared appreciation for making. For us, that felt like the perfect expression of the theme itself.
What stood out most was the generosity of everyone who took part. From the artists who submitted work to those who visited the exhibition, stopped by the printing station, the event became a reminder of how creativity can bring people together in meaningful ways.
We were genuinely blown away by the quality, imagination and thoughtfulness of the submissions and would like to thank everyone who contributed to making the project such a success.
While the 6 June event marked a major moment in the 50:50 Twinning celebrations, the story is far from over. Derby’s celebrations will continue throughout 2026 and into 2027 as the city marks 50 years since gaining city status, with more opportunities to celebrate the people, places, and connections that make Derby what it is today.
If the poster exhibition taught us anything, it’s that connection can take many forms. It can be a place, a person, or a shared experience around a print table on a Saturday afternoon. And sometimes, it’s an entire city coming together to celebrate where it’s been, where it is now, and where it’s going next.
A massive thank you to Screentec Print Essentials and James Cropper for supporting the live printing event.
