Farewell Professor Hawking
Ben Glazier
Owner, Glazier Design Creative Agency. Branding, Graphic and Digital Design.
We are honoured to have been able to create all the collateral for the Interment of Professor Stephen Hawking at Westminster Abbey on June 15th 2018
We created the original logo and brand for the Stephen Hawking Foundation and have worked on many projects since, but this was an opportunity to work on something that was important to his family, the people who attended, and the nation.
It was a moving experience, totally absorbing and humbling. Where Professor Hawking was buried will remain undisturbed for many centuries, long after we have gone, so to be involved in something like this gives our work permanence.
Hawking Radiation
We created a vectored version of the Hawking Radiation graphic to act as the central theme for all the collateral for the event. This detailed diagram was perfected with help from Nobel Laureate Professor Kip Thorne.
We received the original illustration as a photograph of a diagram on a blackboard in Professor Hawking’s study and used it on the 2016 Einstein to Hawking: 100 Years of Gravitational Theory postage stamps for the Isle of Man Post Office (more about those here: www.glazierdesign.com/portfolio/hawking/).
With the help of Professor Kip Thorne, we updated the design to refine tiny details in the structure of the graphic, so that it could be blow up to a large size without losing clarity. It became the theme for the event as well as forming one side of the Medallion.
The Invitation and Booklet
The invitation we created for the Interment used the striking Hawking Radiation device, set on a special silver background with simple, clean text. This was an invitation to a celebration of life, not a funeral, so it was important that it conveyed a sense of occasion as befitted the service in the Abbey, but also a sense of enjoyment and that this was a family occasion.
The booklet that accompanied the invitation was designed to convey the importance of the occasion, but also encourage awareness of The Stephen Hawking Foundation and their unique aims. The Foundation has been reborn as Professor Hawking has passed on and its purpose is now clear: to promote cosmology education at school and university level and research into Motor Neurone Disease.
Both were digitally printed, using the latest technology from @Xerox, their ‘Iridesse’ printer. This amazing machine can print silver as a digital ink and we were proud to work with Xerox and IPW1 on this before the official launch of the machine.
The Vangelis CD
As if it were not enough of an honour to work with Professor Hawking and his family, we were delighted when we were asked to produce the CD design for the musical maestro Vangelis, who composed, arranged and performed the incredible Stephen Hawking Tribute track for the interment service.
This beautiful track superimposes Stephen Hawking’s words over a deeply haunting, emotional and ultimately uplifting theme. During the interment of Professor Hawking’s ashes, the track was beamed into space towards a black hole by ESA (European Space Agency) as a mark of respect and remembrance.
Vangelis said:
“Through sound and music, the language that I know best, I pay tribute and express my high esteem and respect to this extraordinary man. I imagine he will continue to travel with the same devotion, wherever he may be, in the known unknown. Farewell Professor Hawking”
The Hawking Medallion
We designed this medallion using the Hawking Radiation symbol to mark the interment of Professor Hawking’s ashes at Westminster Abbey on the 15th of June 2018. We designed it for The Stephen Hawking Foundation, and struck it at Pobjoy Mint. We struck a limited edition number of medallions, to be presented to special guests of the family at the reception after the service. This strictly limited edition coin will never be repeated and is not for sale.
One medallion was interred with Professor Hawking’s ashes, it’s sister was presented to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey, to go on display in the Abbey forever more, so that future generations have an immediate connection to his grave.
The medallions feature a depiction of Hawking Radiation on the obverse. The reverse features the Stephen Hawking Foundation logo, Professor Hawking’s name, his famous quote “Where there is life, there is hope” and the date of the service.
Every bearer of a medallion issued on the day will know that it’s equal rests in the grave and their descendants will be able to say, “my ancestor was there the day Professor Hawking was interred”. This symbolic presentation in a metal that will last for many ages, gives a sense of permanence to the day.
Ben Glazier, MD of Glazier Design visited the mint and struck the first medallion with Taya Pobjoy. It was a great honour and a privilege to see our work for Professor Hawking and his family minted in solid silver and cupro-nickel. Knowing that these medallions will exist far into the future when all trace of us is long gone, gives a sense of permanence to our work that is rarely seen. In a disposable culture we take a personal sense of satisfaction in creating objects of value that will be treasured by the recipients and their descendants. For us as designers, it is a little piece of immortality.
The Stephen Hawking Interment Web Site and Public Ballot
At Professor Hawking’s Interment at Westminster Abbey, the family wanted as many members of the public to attend as possible, particularly school children. We created the web site for the public ballot for tickets to the event, which then became the main website for the Interment.
We ran a secure ballot and up to 27,000 people got through the self vetting procedure and managed to enter the ballot. We had individuals from 118 countries around the world.
The exceptional success of the ballot depended on us providing a robust and secure hosting environment that could take the vast amount of traffic the site received once news was released. Over 1000 press articles led to many thousands of visitors being on the site simultaneously.
The site remained live at all times and has since become the repository of information about the service.
In Summary
Imagine being able to say that you painted Einstein's house or cooked for Charles Darwin. We designed for one of the greatest minds of all time and were involved in his Interment at Westminster Abbey. We are aware of the great honour this is and we are humbled to have been involved.
It's something for our team to tell their children and their grandchildren and as we do, we can show them a simple silver coin, a memento of the day that will perhaps exist for the rest of human history in the earth below Westminster Abbey and in the collections of families who had someone there on the day.
That makes every moment of this precious.
