me studio

i have been asked to submit some work for the upcoming issue of ‘idn magazine’ and do a short interview on tactile illustration via email, it’s always a little difficult to get a feeling on what they are wanting to say on the subject doing it all via mail but however here’s a short excerpt of the questions they asked me and my spontaneous reactions, i thought it might be worth sharing…

IdN: What is your view towards Tactile Illustration?

The term ‘tactile illustration’ has become something of a trend in the past few years and a quick look around on the web shows that many people have started playing with ‘tactility’ in their work. Trends in graphic design tend to be a bit ‘transient’, especially now that the internet provides easy access for everyone, on the other hand the move towards ‘tactile’ design is, I believe, more than just a quick trend that will pass… precisely because of the technology you mention in your next question.

Tactile illustration is not a new phenomenon of course, if you look at the Bauhaus, Russian constructivism or people like ‘Piet Zwart’ in the 30’s for example it’s always been around. The field of graphic design has always been subject to fashion and the times we live in.

Some of the people who have inspired me personally in this type of work are Piet Zwart, UK designer Vaughn Oliver (in the late 80’s), Stefan Sagmeister, Marian Bantjes, Julien Valée, Studio Dumbar, Isidro Ferrer and UK photographer Dominic Davies.

IdN: Do you think somewhat the growth of technology increases peoples’ appreciation towards tactile / crafted design? How do you see the effect these two have towards each other?

Yes i do, technology is a great thing, computers and the web have helped propel graphic design & communication forward at an amazing speed, the number of people making high quality work all over the planet, right now just surprises me sometimes. But at the same time, the computer has also become our worst enemy…

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the full interview can read in the january-february issue (v18n1) of idn magazine released early next year, keep an eye on the website for more details…