this is a recording (very poor quality, unfortunately) of a talk i did together with my good friend, photographer ruud baan, earlier this year during the vroaam career day for students in amsterdam, we talked about the work we have done together for amongst others the dutch national ballet, the talk is in dutch and lasts about 25 minutes…
(link via the ‘bno’)
our work was featured in issue #19 of ‘graphic’ magazine (published in korea), entitled: ‘what a beautiful book is’, it focusses on several of the (many) international and national ‘best book design’ competitions; including the dutch version and i was asked to submit a piece regarding the ‘dingen’ childrens books which have now been selected amongst the winners for the previous 2 years (2009-10 with 3 separate volumes)
the text from the article firstly, featured a transcript of the ‘best dutch books’ own jury report as follows:
…also on the table were parts three and four of the Dingen (Things) series from Uitgeverij Gottmer. So what are these little volumes? They are toddler-proof cardboard booklets containing thirty-three square full-page photos and preferably no more than one word at the bottom of the page. The photos are a tiny bit emptier than reality, but there is not a trace of nostalgia about them. Every now and then they offer a surprising detail. In books to be read aloud you get children to look at the pictures to explain the story. These Thing books aren’t books to be read aloud, they’re books to be looked at aloud. They make children look at language to explain the pictures. It’s all very open and interactive. To the panel these books were meat and drink. Naturally the talk was also about what fun they were for toddlers, but this appreciation was more than vicarious: even panel members were once toddlers…
and secondly the article featured a small contribution from me, whereby the editors asked me to tell something about the process, how the project came about, my thoughts (etcetera):
…the latest two additions to the ever-expanding ‘dingen’ series of picture books for children devised by my clients & friends Nathalie and Matthijs. When first designing the books i was very focused on making them as ‘reductive’ as possible. Like most educational books the content has to be uncluttered and clear. The imagery is their most important element and i felt that my role as a designer was to allow the ‘flow’ of the pictures and the (intentional) humor they contain, do the hard work.
Sometimes the best thing a designer can do is as little as possible… Fortunately the concept behind the series is so simple that they almost ‘create themselves’. My role is really a modest one: to help with picture editing and ensure continuity in the range, choose colours for the covers etc. I also have a young daughter who helps to test my work before we make final decisions. Kids are of course, always smarter than we think they are.
Amsterdam things was the first edition in the series which had a Dutch & an English language version; this has proved to be a success and I am now working on several new bilingual titles at the moment. The whole series has been reprinted several times and seems to be attracting a lot of enthusiasm and new ‘fans’ with each new title and new year.
On a separate note, the third edition ‘j/m’ dingen’ had already been selected for the ‘best dutch book designs’ competition last year, so it was a big surprise to us all when a further two made the selection this year. We also won a ‘vlag & wimpel’ award for best childrens book two years ago. An award which has never before, been awarded to a photobook. ‘Things’ are looking positive right now I guess…
on a final i would like to thank project editor ‘jinah min’ for sending me the magazine… it looks great
this is a the transcript of Q&A session i did for the for the posters in amsterdam blog (run by mister jarr geerligs) plus a slightly different version of the interview which was featured on the amsterdam adblog in june 2011
Can you please give a little bio of yourself.
Where did you study? What work experience do you have? Can you tell us something special about the way you work?
born in bristol UK in 1967, went to grammar school, (yes we had to wear a school uniform & tie everyday) very strict teachers and people still got the cane… then four years at art school (lincoln & ipswich, suffolk: 84-88) worked in Cambridge UK for a year at design agency ‘optimus’, moved to NL worked in-house at Philips design for 1 1/5 years, moved back to london worked for an american design firm ‘corporate graphics inc.’ for a year then moved to amsterdam worked at Michael Peters design (6 months), then VBAT for 5 years, then helped set up CCCP media collective for about 2 years, then design director / art director at FHV/BBDO (4 years), left in 2003 to become creative director at PPGH/JWT, left in 2005 after 3 years, i consciously decided to spend about 15 years first working for others getting as much experience as possible and seeing how it all works before going solo and starting my own thing… i usually work alone and do everything from talking to clients, doing the design work, making the coffee, writing the bills and cleaning the office, it is sometimes a bit of a solitary existence but i enjoy tackling design projects ‘hands on’ fron start to finish, the whole process makes it interesting and i feel that i still always have a lot to learn so it will never become boring or routine, i love my job just as much as i did more than 20 years ago when i started… lucky me
What made you start as a designer?
(Can you tell us about a childhood memory which influenced the way something looked. Where did you find the joy of designing?)
i lived in france for 4 years as a child and felt quite isolated
from other kids my age so i decided to research, write illustrate
and design two books on the history of the second world war
(strange choice for a 10 year old i know) that’s when i knew
what i wanted to do and those two volumes
are still in my bookshelf to remind me..
What do you like about designing posters?
(What is it about the process you like. What is it about
the result you like? What about the medium it self?)
the poster is a highly analogue, old school medium and
yet it convenes very neatly to the norms of the
digital ‘thumbnail’ visual culture we now live in, it a
very direct communicative piece of design and everything
about a poster is there on the surface in one viewing,
this makes it unique and very challenging for me
as a designer and probably stilll the ultimate form of
graphic design that i love to make, my work
often ends up at A0 size and i love the process of
organising and visualising in my mind
the way all of the elements will come together on that
large expanse of paper… and how it will
function out on the street…
Where do you get your inspiration from?
(Do you get it from other posters, books, films,
nature, fashion or from any other places or particular people?)
yes all of those things you mention and photography,
music, pornography, other graphic designers, artists, mistakes,
bad television shows etc. etc. in fact anything and
everything can be inspirational, even shit stuff, what
makes something inspiring is yourself and how you
look at a thing, not the thing in itself
music is definitely my greatest personal source of inspiration
What makes a poster a good poster?
(What are the things you pay attention to make sure a poster becomes good?)
it’s funny i regularly sit in design juries and look
at a great deal of work all the time
but find it very hard to answer that one, in theory a
good poster has a strong focal point, a singular image
or strong piece of type and yet there are so many
examples of posters that do none of that but are still amazing…
originality is important, but even that is debatable
look for example at the work of michiel schuurman,
he uses type as image/image as type, he constructs
patterns and builds confusing multi-layered pieces that
have no real focal point or singular image in a conventional
manner but still work amazingly well, in fact they perhaps
work because of the fact they look so unusual…
so i suppose the answer is there is nor real formula
for making a great poster, which is to me a fortunate
state of affairs, anything is possible
What are your three favourite (series of) posters – done by someone else?
(Could you explain why these are your favourites?)
the classic ‘staged photography’ series made by studio
dumbar in the late eighties for holland festival
are still a real benchmark for me, the same background image
was used over and over again with different colour typography
screenprinted on top for differnet productions,
way ahead of their time… those posters were probably partly the
reason i came to live and work in the netherlands even
a lot of anton beeke’s old work still appeals to me for his
sheer design ‘flair’, the striking use of imagery and uncoventional
choice of styles, currently the ‘mahler’ series
(concertgebouworkest) by rené knip for impact and confident
use of type and the ‘matter of monument’ series
recently made by michiel schuurman, these are some the
freshest posters i’ve seen around for ages…
weird colours, unexpected approach etc etc.
Which designer do you admire?
(What do you admire about this designer? Why do you
admire this aspect/trade/art of this designer?)
i admire most designers to be honest, there is so much
talent around, especially in a country with such a rich
graphic tradition and pool of skill as the netherlands
someone who really inspired me at a young age was british
designer ‘peter saville’, his approach was more that of an
art director than a traditional graphic designer,
in the late 90’s i was fortunate enough to be able to invite
him over to amsterdam to talk at a design event i organised
with friends (mind the gap) we got the chance to spend a
couple of evenings with him, peter is a bright, uncoventional,
well-read, intelligent person who has the enviable quality
of being curious and interested in everything
What’s the most exciting design project you ever worked on?
(Why is this project so exciting? How does it compare
with other projects?)
i’m not sure i’ve ever felt that any project was ‘exciting’ really,
the dutch national ballet which i’ve now worked on for ten years
has been a good source of experience in all kinds of ways over
the years, i designed their new identity back in 2003 and was
then able to implement my own design for the following
decade, which is quite rare i think, i learned a lot about dealing
with clients, managing expectations, handling disagreements
and learning how to convince a client about your ideas, in the
past year i have been approached with some very interesting
jobs by all kinds of new clients and this is certainly an ‘exciting’
development, seeing where my profession wil lead me next…
never a dull moment
What design project are you currently working on?
i just finished a poster for ‘cinéma arabe’ a small film
festival, which i’m really pleased with, two new posters for
the dutch national ballet (the first in ten years without a dancer
pictured) a whole new series of posters for amsterdam nightclub
‘the sugar factory’ and i’ve just been approached to make a
poster for the ‘picnic’ media event in amsterdam this year
this is the (dutch) transcript of the speech i gave during the opening of the exhibition ‘dare – 8 years of posters by studio matusiak’ in the dutch poster museum on the 27th of march 2011, for the english translation see below:
dames en heren, lieve mensen
ik wil allereerst, iedereen hartelijk welkom heten in het affiche museum vandaag bij de opening van de tentonstelling ‘durf – 8 jaar affiches studio matusiak’
mijn naam is martin pyper ik ben (voor wie het accent niet kan plaatsen) engelsman, ook ben ik zelf affiche ontwerper en niet in de laatste plaats bewonderaar van het werk van studio matusiak
het is daarom een grote eer om hier te mogen staan en hoewel er zo ongeloofelijk veel te vertellen is, beloof ik u dat mijn introductie zeker niet langer dan 45 minuten zal duren, wie weet pakt het nog veel korter uit… ik hoop het…. en u wellicht met mij… van harte wel
een tentoonstelling over 8 jaar affiches of misschien had het beter ‘een tentoonstelling over 8 jaar werk en een hele leven aan emoties, inzicht, talent, verhalen en ervaring dat er aan vooraf ging’ mogen heten, dat is natuurlijk niet echt een mooie titel voor een tentoonstelling en veels te lang om op een affiche te plaatsen, maar u snapt denk ik waar ik heen wil
wat u vandaag te zien krijgt is een indrukwekkend en heel persoonlijk samenvatting van paulina de ontwerpster maar ook paulina de mens, een vluchtige blik leerst zelfs de onervaren kijker dat we hier te maken hebben met iemand die naar de wereld kijkt met een intens en passievolle blik
op z’n best heeft een affiche gemiddeld 3 seconden de tijd om z’n werk te doen.. althans dan veronderstel ik dat we het hebben over iemand die voorbij loopt of fietst en voor zich uitkijkt, wanneer de voorbijganger op een scooter zit en onder het rijden naar muziek luistert of snel het weerbericht checkt op de smartphone zal een gemiddeld affiche nog beter zn best moet doen, de wereld gaat steeds sneller en het affiche staat onder druk, maar dat is een ander discussie voor een andere dag
mijn punt is dit als ik zelf door de stad fiets elke dag, let ik helaas ook niet meer op… maar bij mij ligt de oorzaak juist bij al die affiches, ik zie namelijk alleen de affiches… toch moet er wel heel veel gebeuren wil ik stoppen afstappen en terug gaan om eens beter naar te kijken, zo’n macht is voor weinig affiches weggelegd in mijn wereld, toch is dat paulina wel gelukt en meerdere keren ook… reden voor mij om haar ooit eens te gaan opzoeken en de persoon achter het werk te leren kennen
paulina heeft haar wortels in polen, ze wilde ooit schilder worden… haar hart lag bij grafiek, haar reis naar nederland bracht onverwachte wendingen met zich mee en ze had het geluk om te mogen werken met o.a. anton beeke, haar werk wordt weleens, misschien te vaak… vergeleken met die van anton, de invloed was mij eerlijk gezegd persoonlijk ook niet ontgaan en wat is er mis mee vraag ik me af?
want wie leeft zonder voorbeelden, zonder inspiratie en invloed van anderen? beeke is natuurlijk op zijn beurt beinvloed en geinspireerd door andere groten in het vak, de lange traditie van affiche ontwerp in het geboorteland van paulina – polen – bijvoorbeeld
de ongevenaarde talent van ontwerpers zoals ‘henryk tomaszewski’ zijn duidelijk te herleiden in anton zijn werk, op een persoonlijke noot was het werk van beeke een grote invloed op mij en één van de redenen dat ik hier in nederland ben, het werk dat hier hangt vandaag van paulina is eveneens een grote invloed geweest op mijn eigen werk en blijft een rijke bron van inspiratie en zo gaat de cyclus door en door en wat…. vraag ik me af, is nog mooier dan dat?
de vorige eeuw was gekenmerkt door grote omwentelingen, vooruitgang, hervorming en strijd, een andere wereld dan die die we nu kennen, en één waar de affiche een andere functie en doel had, het affiche was politiek en bewogen, het affiche was links, het affiche was rechts, het was geengageerd en zelden neutraal, het affiche was het domein waar de zoektocht naar verandering tot uitdrukking kwam, vandaag de dag worden digitale media (zoals twitter in egypte bewijst) het podium voor communicatie en uitwisseling van politieke idealen… en het affiche lijkt te zijn terugverwezen naar een medium en een plek waar vooral cultuur zich manifesteert en commercie in steeds grotere maten de dienst uitmaakt… andere tijden
en zo kom ik terug naar nu en naar paulina… op haar website somt zichzelf en de studio op in tien korte kreten, ik maak graag gebruik hiervan om paulina te schetsen in haar eigen woorden
1 – werk “ik behandel alles als een klein kunstwerk”
2 – computer “is slechts gereedschap, het heeft geen ziel en geen karakter mijn werk moet een ziel hebben. ik moet het materiaal aanraken, voelen. Dat geeft emotie, diepte, gelaagdheid.”
en dan mijn persoonlijk favoriete
3 – wodka “Sorry, ik heb niks te drinken, oh jawel, wil je Wodka.”
4 – toneel “Voor mij is toneel emotie. Om die vertaling naar het affiche te maken, wil ik liefst vooraan in het proces betrokken zijn.”
5- contact “je krijgt het mooiste resultaat, als je de opdrachtgever kan zien. Luisteren, kijken, de reacties, zelfs een stilte zegt iets, intuítief sijpelt het door en zie je het terug in het uiteindelijke werk.”
6 – naaldhakken
7 – durf “het is belangrijk dat een opdrachtgever iets durft, dat je over grenzen heen durft te gaan. Werkelijk onderscheidend durft te zijn, een gemiddeld affiche ziet niemand.”
8 – stijl “Ik heb geen eigen stijl. De stijl past zich aan, aan de opdracht. Men zegt dat mijn werk herkenbaar is.”
9 – braaf “is verschrikkelijk… het moet ergens wringen. Als iets niet helemaal klopt, trekt het je aandacht.”
10 – Kuba “Kijk, dit is mijn zoon.”
aan deze tien kreten wil ik er graag nog eentje toevoegen
11 – lemniscaat – Paulina koos een lemniscaat, oftwel de oneindig teken, oftwel de cijfer 8 als symbool voor het omslag van haar onlangs verschenen boek
een klein boekje vol grootse werk, het formaat leek mij op het eerst blik onlogisch maar des te kleiner het formaat des te duidelijk blijkt hoe krachtig haar werk is, het gemak waarmee zij wisselt tussen fotografie, geschilderde letters, duistere symboliek en absurdistische voorstellingen, het raakt altijd en de speelse composities verbergen vaak diepere lagen van betekenis en de essentie van het verhaal ik raad u aan om een kopie van het boek aan te schaffen
en tot slot over oneindig gesproken, hoe kan een mens zoveel prachtig werk afleveren in zo’n korte periode?
een carriere kan, hoe dan ook nooit oneindig zijn, dat is gewoon zo… maar ik spreek niet alleen namens mezelf denk ik, als ik de wens uitspreek om jullie allemaal terug te mogen zien hier op deze plek, in maart 2029 voor het 25 jarig jubileum van studio matusiak
ik merk dat er nog minstens 30 minuten over zijn, dat is dus een meevaller… ik dank u voor de aandacht
and here is the english translation, for more information on paulina and the studio see here…
ladies & gents, dear guests
firstly i would like to welcome you all to the poster museum this afternoon for the opening of the exhibition ‘dare – 8 years of posters by studio matusiak’
my name is martin pyper and i am (if the accent is difficult to place) english, i am also a poster designer and last but not least i am an admirer of the work made by paulina and her studio
it is therefore an honour to be stood here today and although there is so much to say i promise that my speech will not last any longer than 45 minutes (a bad joke i know but it worked) who knows it may even be a lot shorter, at least i (and no doubt you too) hope as much…
an exhibition about 8 years of posters, or perhaps a title like ‘an exhibition about years of posters and a lifetime of emotions, insights, talent, stories and experience which preceded it all’ would have been more appropriate, of course not a very fetching title for an exhibition and way too long to fit on a poster, but you get my point…
what you are about to see today, is an impressive and highly personal compilation of paulina the designer but also paulina the person, a cursory glance around shows even the most untrained eye that we are dealing with someone who looks at the world in an intense and passionate manner
at the very best a poster gets an average of three three seconds to do it’s job… at least going under the assumption that the passer-by in question is walking normally or cycling and actually paying attention, if we assume that he/she is riding a scooter, whilst listening to music and checking the weather on a smartphone… then that poster will, of course have to try even harder… the world is constantly accelerating it’s pace and posters are becoming a threatened species, but that’s a discussion for another day…
the point i want to make is that when cycling around town as i do each day, i also pay little attention, in my case however the posters are the cause, i see nothing else just the posters… yet a poster would have to be pretty special to cause me to stop, dismount and go back for a better look, a privilege which is reserved for very few posters… paulina has managed to make this happen and not just once… this fact led me to go and meet the person in question and find out a bit more
paulina has her roots in poland, she had ambitions to become a painter, her journey to the netherlands took some unexpected detours and she was fortunate to end up working with (amongst others) the famous dutch poster designer ‘anton beeke’ her work is often, perhaps too often, compared to that of anton; an influence which i personally also had remarked upon and what i ask myself, is wrong with that?
after all who has ever lived without the influence, example and inspiration of others? beeke in turn was also greatly influenced and inspired by other acclaimed designers, the long standing tradition and excellence in poster design which for many decades has emerged from paulina’s land of birth: poland, for example…
the incomparable talent of designers like ‘henryk tomaszewski’ can clearly be revealed in anton’s own work, on a personal note anton beeke was a huge influence on me also and one of the reasons i moved to the netherlands years ago, the body of work shown here today from pauilna matusiak is likewise a big influence on my own profession and remains a fruitful source of inspiration to me, thus the cycle goes around and around and what, i wonder… could be more wonderful than that?
the previous century was characterised by great upheavals, progress, reform and struggle, a different world to the one we now live in; a century in which the poster fulfilled a different role and served other purposes, posters were political and opinionated, a poster was left-wing, a poster was right-wing, it always was a participant and rarely chose to be neutral, the poster was the domain where the fight for change became visual and was expressed, these days digital media (such as twitter recently in egypt) have become the platform for mass communication and political ideology
the poster seems to have been relegated to a more modest stage on which the arts or largely cultural events by nature are played out and commercial interests have become more and more prevalent, a whole new era begins..
which all leads me back to the present and to paulina… on her website she summarises herself and the studio’s output with ten short words, i would like to make use of these to paint a picture, in her own words
1 – work i treat everything i make like a small piece of fine art
2 – computer it’s just a tool, it has no soul, and no character… and my work must have character… i need to touch the materials, feel, that emparts emotion, gives depth and layering
3 – (my personal favourite) vodka sorry i have nothing to drink… oh wait… would you like a vodka?
4 – theater for me theater is emotion, to be able to make the transition to a printed poster i would rather be involved at an early stage
5 – contact you get the best results when you can physically see the client, listen, watch, their reactions even a pause can be significant, by intuition this all seeps through into the process and is visible in
the final result
6 – stilletos
7 – courage it’s crucial that a client is prepared to take risks to dare to look over the borders, to be genuinely unique nobody really looks a poster that is just average
8 – style i do not have a style, it adapts to each job people tell me my work is recognisable
9 – conforming it’s the worst thing, an image it needs to ‘grate’ somehow if it’s all not quite ‘right’… that’s when it catches your attention
10 – kuba look that’s my son
i would like to add an eleventh word to this list
11 – lemniscate paulina chose a lemniscate, or rather an infinity symbol, or rather a figure eight as a symbol for the cover of her recently published book
a diminutive book full of grandiose work, the size of which seemed at first somewhat illogical to me although the size actually belies the power of the work, the ease with which she manoeuvres between photography, painterly type, dark symbolism and absurd/surreal scenes, the work never misses it’s mark, her playful compositions often artfully concealing the essence of the narrative and hidden layers of meaning, i recommend you to get hold of a copy…
and finally… on the subject of infinity, how can one person possibly make so much striking work in such a short time?
nobodys career, however you look at it, can ever be infinte, it’s just a fact of life… but i feel sure i am not alone in sharing my sincere wish that we may all meet again back here in march 2029 for the twentyfifth anniversary of studio matusiak
it would appear that there are at the very least 30 minutes left over… which you must agree, is a stroke of luck…
thank you for your time
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 these are the questions they asked me and my spontaneous reactions, i thought it might be worth sharing…
(update the magazine has now been published: see here)
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, we have to work quicker, the competition is tougher and the internet means that people can quickly ‘copy’ or assimilate a style of design from somewhere or someone else at the touch of a button. This is perhaps the reason that we seem to be making a move away from just relying on the computer and the digital world. In my case this is certainly so. The move away from the screen and back to using my hands more has been a liberating experience and one which has taken my work in new directions. It slows things down, makes room for making mistakes again (which is necessary) and it often results in work which just looks and feels more original. We all have the same computers but my hands and mind are not the same as yours. The word ‘tactile’ refers to touch and feeling, these are the senses which are often missing in a lot of purely digital work.
IdN: What is the most interesting element you’ve found from Tactile Illustration trigger your initial interest to practice such style?
The move into ‘tactile’ work wasn’t really a conscious decision i think, but it came about from two different types of projects i do.
Firstly my work for the Dutch National Ballet, i spend a lot of time in photography studios, art-directing photo shoots and after a while i wanted to become somehow more involved in the process and to actually influence the way that we go about making images. Firstly through having a direct influence on the idea and what the image will communicate and ‘feel’ like but also by trying to blur the lines between the art-director and the photographer who presses the button. I have worked intensely in the past few years with photographer ‘Ruud Baan’ on this project, who felt the same way. We started to play around with the way we acheived a result and who did what in the process. Sometimes this meant building a very complex set, spending a lot of time on the design of the whole rather than concentrating on just the moment when the dancers are on the set. On the other hand we sometimes try to leave room for the ‘unexpected’ and only take the idea half way, allowing room for things to just happen as we go along. This has made the process of art-directing photography a lot more fun and experimental for me.
The second area which affected my choice for tactile work is the corporate identity work. The tools you have as a designer to create a unique identity for a brand or an organisation are often quite limited. We make a logo or mark, we have type and colour etc. In my identity projects a few years ago I was looking for a new direction to take the idea of an identity and the world of ‘tactile’ seemed to provide a new area to play around and give an identity more feeling or depth. More personality, which after all is the essence of what an identity aims to be.
Again this made my work more interesting and opened up a lot of space to play around, be less formal in my thinking about what an identity is and fortunately, the clients i work for seemed to be ready to go along with me.
There has been a definite shift in our understanding of what constitutes an identity in the past few years, brands have become much more flexible and seem to be relying less and less on rigid parameters than they used to. Tactile work seems to me to fit well in that new thinking. The use of a particular type of material or the way things are put together or combined can suddenly be an essential part of the look and the consistency within an identity.
On the other hand i think that the current trend for ‘tactile’ work will die down and pass on. In fact it probably already is. The challenge for me personally is to apply that thinking to all areas of my work. It doesn’t necessarily mean having to make stuff by hand using paper and objects to make ‘3D looking’ images. It’s more about trying to find your own voice and constantly searching for a new way to express an idea or give your work a personal and genuine feel. If we can move that tactile approach into the digital world things could become even more interesting i think. The good news is that this is precisely what is happening i believe. The ipad has taken digital interfaces back to the metaphor of a book and the tactility of turning pages. This is already affecting the way the web is being consumed and and understood, it is in my opinion definitely a good thing.
IdN: When comes to talk about Tactile Illustration, paper would be the major element for props making, what would be the advantage and disadvantage of using this materials and also is there another materials you would like to use for Tactile Illustration?
Paper has been one of the big factors behind the current wave of ‘tactile’ thinking. Designers, artists and photographers have rediscovered it as a material and redefined it’s place in our toolkit of possibilities. Last year i made a book using rolls of coloured paper to illustrate the whole book and give it a unique look. For me some of the other materials which i have ‘re’discovered are:
string: In the past year alone one project using ‘kite’ string to make typography for a magazine illustration, led me into using string to build three dimensional sound waves as a set for a photo and then on to using string typography as the starting point in a motion-design project i am currently working on, the material itself was fun to play around with and see what possibilities it offers but was also even an inspiration in my choice of which projects i wanted to do and how to approach them… The choice of materials therefore isn’t necessarily just the medium you use to construct your idea, it can also be a part of the idea.
Other materials have been sugar cubes, i used these for an identity project and they are great fun to play with, they lend themselves well to the metaphor of a pixel for example and i have created several illustrations and even a whole font using this principle. Also ‘found’ objects (monodot identity) plastic letter templates, icing sugar letters that go on cakes, cheese letters, advertising billboards cut up into letters, letters made from melted ice, writing on human skin, cutting up playing cards, using shadows, projection on walls, and creating images using woven paper and photos, the list just goes on and on, the more i look… the more stuff there is waiting to be abused, distorted and ‘played’ with….
IdN: In terms of art directing, what would be the major differences you found from working on craft illustration than any other graphic design work?
Well i think that my answers above partly explain that.
In terms of how it affects my work, ‘tactile’ design is by it’s very nature more time-consuming: for example if you ‘build’ a word by hand using sugar cubes compared to typing that same word into the computer. It requires more time and energy to get a result, but the extra effort has in my experience so far, always been worthwhile. Sure it means a lot more work for the money you earn and so on but it also means more fun and learning new things too which i luckily find more important than being able to work quickly or save time.
The second way it affects my work has been the obvious shift to a more autonomous and personal relationship with what i make. If you rely more on your hands and the way the materials ‘direct’ you to work it becomes a much more emotional and human experience. I wonder ‘whether this will work or not?’, it allows things to become more uncertain and reminds you to use intuition and your childishness in a constructive way, have fun. I love my computer and what it allows me to do but it musn’t start to become the boss and force me to fit into it’s own digital dogma, i’m still in charge hopefully….