ssd2

Page 1

WIN YOUR DESIGN ON A MILLTAG CYCLING JERSEY

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

ISSUE

241

JUNE 2015 DIGITAL EDITION PRINTED IN THE UK

BRANDING WORKSHOP Wolff Olins reveals how to develop interactive brand guidelines for a client

VIDEO INSIGHTS FROM 2015’S D&AD AWARDS JUDGES

ADVENTURES IN

Discover the secrets of successful characters with advice from TADO, Muxxi and the makers of Adventure Time STAGE AN EXHIBITION IN A WEEK

DON’T SUFFER IN SILENCE

Show off your work when time isn’t on your side with expert advice from Pick Me Up

How to avoid common designer ailments like back pain, RSI, eye strain and more

JUNE 2015

EDITOR’S LETTER Our cover stars Jake and Finn will need no introduction to many of you Since its premiere on Cartoon Network in Pendleton Ward’s Adventure Time has grown into something of a global cult spawning a dizzying range of merchandise – and it’s largely down to its wonderfully surreal and u erly unmistakable cast of characters The show’s award-winning character designer and storyboard artist Andy Ristaino is just one of the experts contributing to this month’s special report on page which reveals the secrets of creating commercially successful characters June is the peak of graduate show season and for many design students that last-minute panic of ge ing a ďŹ nal show together will no doubt be se ing in Don’t worry take a deep breath and soak up the wisdom of our exhibition experts on page Next month we unveil the results of our inaugural Unsung Heroes project It’s designed to celebrate the people behind the scenes at the top design studios who go above and beyond to make projects happen but don’t always get their moment in the limelight We’ll be passing on the secrets of their success of course And if you read this in time you have until June to submit your very best branding work to our Brand Impact Awards – see page We’ll be revealing the winners in September

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH‌

TWITTER COM/ COMPUTERARTS

FACEBOOK COM/ COMPUTERARTS

NICK CARSON EDITOR nick.carson@futurenet.com

FEATURING

PAULA SCHER

VERONICA FUERTE

GAVIN LUCAS

Paula is an American graphic designer painter and art educator in design and the ďŹ rst female principal at Pentagram which she joined in

She has been at the forefront of graphic design for more than three decades On page she reveals the process behind her recent identity for The New School www pentagram com

A er graduating in design and working in various design studios around Barcelona Veronica founded Hey Studio in which has since won global acclaim thanks to its upli ing fusion of bold shapes colours and characters Check out our Hey Studio proďŹ le over on page to learn more www heystudio es

Writer and editor Gavin joined with Camilla Parsons to co-found Outline Editions in They launched Outline Artists an illustration agency and consultancy in Turn to page for Gavin’s practical advice on pu ing together the perfect exhibition when time is of the essence www outlineartists com

GABRIEL WEICHART Gabriel is senior designer at global creative consultancy Wol Olins In this issue’s video walkthrough on page

he explains how he helped create interactive online branding guidelines for Orange that distilled the essence of the brand in under minutes www wololins com

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - -

MIKEY PLEASE Co-founder of Parabella Studio Mikey is an alumnus of both the Royal College of Art and the University of the Arts London Turn to page to learn how he worked alongside fellow co-founder Dan Ojari to bring a vibrant world of teabag tags to life for Twining’s www parabellastudios com

MEET THE TEAM FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD QUAY HOUSE THE AMBURY BATH BA UA PHONE FAX EMAIL hello@computerarts.co.uk WEB computerarts.creativebloq.com

EDITORIAL

PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION

NICK CARSON EDITOR nick.carson@futurenet.com

VIVIENNE CALVERT Production controller MARK CONSTANCE Production manager

JO GULLIVER ART EDITOR jo.gulliver@futurenet.com

Printing: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd Finishing partner: Celloglas Distribution: Seymour Distribution, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT, Tel: 0207 429 4000 Overseas distribution: Seymour International

TIM HARDWICK OPERATIONS EDITOR tim.hardwick@futurenet.com

CIRCULATION

RICH CARTER DESIGNER richard.carter@futurenet.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS

JULIA SAGAR, MARTIN COOPER ANDÂ BEREN NEALE COMMISSIONING EDITORS julia.sagar@futurenet.com martin.cooper@futurenet.com beren.neale@futurenet.com SAMMY MAINE DEPUTY COMMISSIONING EDITOR sammy.maine.@futurenet.com ALICE PATTILLO STAFF WRITER alice.pa illo@futurenet.com

NICK CARSON EDITOR A er much toil and the occasional headache Nick has ďŹ nally sold his house Other highlights this month included handling some newborn chicks at an Exeter farm and a ending D&AD Judging Week in London

JO GULLIVER ART EDITOR Jo has been proving her worth on the court a er team CA donned their shorts for some regular badminton Over-arm returns at the net are her strongpoint but her footwork has proven a bit of a banana skin

JULIETTE WINYARD Trade marketing manager: 07551 150 984

CHARLOTTE LLOYD-WILLIAMS Direct marketing executive charlo e.lloyd-williams@futurenet.com

TIM HARDWICK OPERATIONS EDITOR Tim is preparing to say a sad farewell to the at he’s called home for the last eight years The clear-out of clu er and the search for new digs has already begun – a reminder that moving house can be so much fun!

UK readers: 0844 848 2852 Overseas readers: +44 (0)1604 251045 Online enquiries: myfavouritemagazines.co.uk computerarts@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

LICENSING REGINA ERAK International director regina.erak@futurenet.com

RICH CARTER

Tel: +44 (0)1225 442244 Fax: +44 (0)1225 732275

DESIGNER With spring now in full swing Rich got on his bike and began riding the -mile round trip into the oďŹƒce each day Since starting the commute he’s only fallen over in his clip-in pedals once!

MANAGEMENT

CONTRIBUTORS Animation Lab, Zaneta Antosik, Peter Bil’ak, Cartoon Network, James Clapham, Sevra Davis, Fred Deakin, Mago Dovjenko, Lisa Hassell, Dave Hollands, Peter Judson, Gary Marshall, Michael Molfetas, Milltag, Dan Ojari, Wong Ping, Mikey Please, Anna Richardson Taylor, Paula Scher, Snask, FranklinTill, Joanna Tulej, Tom Woolley, Alan Wardle, Gabriel Weichart, Anne Wollenberg

ADVERTISING For all ad enquiries please contact: SUZANNE SMITH Account director suzanne.smith@futurenet.com

NIAL FERGUSON Content & Marketing director MATT PIERCE Head of Content & Marketing, Photography, Creative & Design DAN OLIVER Group editor-in-chief, Creative & Design RODNEY DIVE Group art director, Photography, Creative & Design TOM MAY Group content editor

CONTENT TE AM

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE June

JULIA SAGAR COMMISSIONING EDITOR

BEREN NEALE COMMISSIONING EDITOR

MARTIN COOPER COMMISSIONING EDITOR

SAMMY MAINE DEPUTY COMMISSIONING EDITOR

Want to work for Future? Visit www.futurenet.com/jobs

Future is an aXard-Xinning international media group and leading digital business.øWeøreach more than million international consumers a month andøcreateøXorld-class content and advertising solutions for passionate consumersøonline øon tablet and smartphone and in print.

All contents copyright Š 2015 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may beøreproduced stored transmitted or used in any Xay Xithout the prior Xritten permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited company number 200 5 is registered in &ngland and 8ales. 3egistered ofmce 3egistered ofmce 2uay )ouse 5he Ambury #ath #A1 16A. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is as far as Xe are aXare correct at the time of going toøpress. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. :ou are advised to contact manufacturers andøretailers directly Xith regard to the price and other details of products or services referred to in this publication. Apps and Xebsites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any changes or updates to them. If you submit unsolicited material to us you automatically grant Future a licence to publish your submission in Xhole or in part in all editions of the magazine including licensed editions XorldXide and in any physical or digital format throughout the Xorld. Any material you submit is sent at your risL and although every care is taLen neither Future nor its employees agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage.

PRODUCTION NOTES PRINTERS

We are committed to only using magazine paper Xhich is derived from Xell managed certimed forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. Future Publishing and its paper suppliers have been independently certimed in accordance Xith the rules of the F4$ Forest 4teXardship $ouncil .

TEXT AND COVER CMYK PANTONE RED AND SPOT UV VARNISH William Gibbons PRINT FINISHING PARTNER

PAPER

COVER Precision Special Gloss FSC gsm P – Galerie Fine FSC gsm P – GraphoInvent gsm

TYPEFACES Trump Gothic West Neutraface Text & Display Calluna

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - -

ISSUE 241 JUNE 20 15

CULTURE

TRENDS Robert Storey reaches neon highs for a Nike installation plus a designer bike accessories collection

PEOPLE Taxi Studio talks up its hire of Glenn Tutssell and Belgium’s Toykyo shows o its porcelain collection

PLACES Freelance art director Alan Wardle invites you on a creative tour around his native Newcastle

EVENTS Julia Sagar reports from this year’s D&AD Judging Week plus news from Pictoplasma Berlin

SHOWCASE

INSIGHT

DESIGN YOUR OWN CAREER Design professor Fred Deakin challenges you to cra your own creative niche in an increasingly freelanced industry

GENDER-DEFYING DESIGN Future Laboratory’s Joanna Tulej looks at how gender uidity is driving design in the twenty-ďŹ rst century

Our selection of the world’s best new graphic design illustration and motion graphics work

BRITAIN IS LOSING ITS DESIGN EDGE The RSA’s Sevra Davis argues for broader industry skills and education reforms to keep Britain top of the design pile

VIDEO WALKTHROUGH

DESIGN INTERACTIVE BRAND GUIDELINES Designer Gabriel Weichert reveals how Wol Olins created online branding guidelines for Orange

NEED TO KNOW

THE DESIGNER’S GUIDE TO STAYING HEALTHY Ensure you have a long happy healthy career as a designer with this essential guide to staying well

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - -

PROJECT DIARIES Resolving institution hierarchies with a typeface creating a New York mural for Converse and animating a tea-bag tagged world for Twinings

D&AD AWARDS: JUDGE INSIGHTS We grab some time with ďŹ ve of the stellar panel at D&AD Judging Week to discover what makes a Pencil-winning project

Cra in design: Leigh Chandler at Vault

S PECI A L R EP OR T

HORT’s Eike KÜnig judged graphic design

CHARACTER DESIGN SECRETS Look no further for the inspirations working processes and creative thinking behind the best character-driven commercial work in the world today

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE UP TO 59% Three great ways to subscribe to the world’s best design mag Print Digital Both See page

˜

S T U DI O LI FE

IN DUS T RY IS S UE S

HEY STUDIO

STAGE AN EXHIBITION

We talk to the Barcelona-based outďŹ t whose upli ing fusion of bold shapes colours and characters has won it global acclaim

From maximising space to the virtues of Velcro here’s how to put on the perfect show when time is of the essence

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - -

˜

˜

T R E NDS CULTUR E

WE LOVE...

VIBRANT BRASHNESS IMAGE CREDIT : Nike Retail Installation designed by Robert Storey for Nike Women with creative direction by Jen Brill, photography by David S Alee

Robert Storey reaches neon highs in his retail installation for Nike Women rawing inspiration directly from the Nike womenswear collection Robert Storey studio infuses the Nike New York womenswear retail pop-up with highoctane colours vibrant lighting and bold geometric display architecture Reflecting the increasingly widespread concern for health and fitness a sports-inspired aesthetic has come to influence much more in design than just apparel Borrowing visual cues from performance sportswear and high-energy fitness classes intensely saturated colour pale es in combination with sleek streamlined materials create an aesthetic that is dynamic adrenalinefuelled and unapologetically brash Blocks of bright acid colour are spliced with contrasting fluorescent lighting which frames doorways and windows giving the space a sense of playful energy The pale e of dark blue bright pink and light purple juxtaposed with neon highlights and severe geometrics create a youthinspired energetic aesthetic that is reminiscent of the high-tech sports garb displayed within the two different elements interior and apparel converge seamlessly being of equal importance in emphasising an undeniable brand DNA www storeystudio com

d

Each month our Trends section is curated by experienced creative consultancy FranklinTill www franklintill com

CULTUR E TR EN D S

D E S I G NED FOR LI FE

SUMMER CYCLING SPECIAL As we head into summer, kit yourself out with some of the best cycling accessories out there and hit the road

1 JBG AND EYES JERSEY

from Milltag www.milltag.cc If standing out on two wheels is your goal Milltag’s latest artist collaborations with Jamie BanksGeorge and Sam Dunn will be right up your street For the chance to see your own work on a Milltag jersey see page

each

4 1

2 D’ARCS TRIPLE GLASSES SET

from Madison www.madison.co.uk With three one-piece lenses – tinted for bright conditions yellow for overcast days and clear for any time of year – the D’Arcs boast great protection at a budget price

3 PATTERN BIKE BELLS

from Poketo www.poketo.com Ensure you’re both seen and heard with these stylish Japanese bike bells Sporting a selection of vibrant pa erns the classic design creates a crisp sound

each

3 2 4 RBS PACK ME JACKET

by Polaris www.polaris-bikewear.co.uk RBS stands for ‘Really Bright Stu’ – and the latest in Polaris’ hi-vis range is exactly that A packable windproof unisex jacket it’s great in changeable conditions

5 PLUME MUDGUARD

by Plume www.plumemudguard.com Plume’s sleek design makes mudguards cool Coil it away under your saddle when you don’t need it – but when the streets are wet simply roll out and ride on

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 12 -

6 BOOKMAN ACCESSORIES

by Bookman www.bookman.se Brighten up your steed with these sticky reectors " # lightweight USB lights " /set# or Curve front light " # – just three items from Bookman’s bold new range -

9

T R E NDS CULTUR E

Stay one step ahead with our barometer of visual cool

EMERGING Delicate ecks of paint create a subtle hand ďŹ nished pa erning on stationery and crockery

8

STILL FRESH Wax seals are being used in contemporary branding echoing the desire for all things hand cra ed

6 7 7 LAZER ARGON AR2 SUNGLASSES

from Madison www.madison.co.uk Lazer’s high-performance halfframe glasses are comfortable and versatile and ship with three interchangeable lenses

8 RAPHA CYCLEWEAR

by Rapha www.rapha.cc For top-notch pro gear look no further than Rapha We love its Brevet Jersey and Gilet top# Women’s Classic Wind Jacket and men’s Data Print pro team jersey

and

9 SWRVE CAP

by Swrve www.swrve.co.uk Fancing rocking a more traditional look? Try Swrve’s four-panel caps They come in a range of colours with reective ribbons to choose from

upwards

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 13 -

MAINSTREAM Gradual gradients of contrasting vivid brights create a bold background texture

ILLUSTRATION: Michael Molfetas, www.michaelmolfetas.com

5

CULTUR E P EO PL E

JUNE 2015

MY STYLE IS...

INSPIRED BY COLOUR AND FUNCTIONALITY Spencer Buck co-founded Taxi Studio in Bristol in %% with the mantra “fearless creativityâ€? Taxi’s varied client list includes the likes of Carlsberg Smirno Tesco and Cadbury

Jack Taylor is a London-based illustrator who uses carefully considered colours and composition to tell his stories. www.jack-taylor.co.uk

Design industry veteran Glenn Tutssel co-founded Brand Union in $ when his company Tutsells joined forces with Lambie-Nairn. He le in November %$ and now joins Taxi as ECD

FIELD NOTES I took these on a trip to America a few years back They ďŹ t perfectly in your pocket so they’re great for impromptu drawing and they look cool now they’re worn in

N E W VE N TURE S

TAXI FOR TUTSSEL Taxi Studio co-founders Spencer Buck and Ryan Wills have recently hired industry veteran Glenn Tutssel as executive creative director aving found a shared passion a er speaking together at Computer Arts’ very own Impact Conference last year design industry veteran Glenn Tutssel and Taxi Studio’s Spencer Buck have now taken their collaboration to the next level A er his departure as co-founder and chairman of The Brand Union in November Tutssel is now taking the reins as Taxi Studio’s executive creative director alongside co-founders Buck and Ryan Wills In this interview Tutssel discusses what initially drew him to Taxi Studio with Buck explaining how the award-winning creative’s decades of experience will help shape the studio’s future

Spencer Buck, who I found creatively astute and dynamic. And meeting the other creative partner Ryan, who sold me completely on Taxi’s creative vision.

What do you think you’ll ďŹ nd most challenging about the role? GT The team working with me in a dierent way from what they are used to. I expect to learn as much from them as they do from me.

H

MAIDSTONE UNITED SCARF

ILLUSTRATION: James Clapham, www.jamesclapham.com

The only good thing about the winter in London is ge ing to wear this scarf and representing my home town’s team

PLAID SHIRT It’s important to me that my clothes are going to stand the test of time I bought this shirt in Philly two years ago I think the pa ern is really interesting and it’s still standing strong

Glenn can you talk us through what your new role entails? GT Working with the two creative partners and the team to add spark, and invigorate the creative work with a focus and freshness.

What ďŹ rst drew you to Taxi? GT Giving a talk on the same stage as COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 14 -

Spencer what will Glenn bring to Taxi from your perspective? SB This is the man who was at the inception of the industry as we know it. He’s seen it all. Like Taxi’s founders, Glenn is a working-class lad from a working-class background. He’s gone on to become a multi-D&AD-awardwinning master cra sman of a trade that he knows inside out, and is universally respected for it – that alone is worth its weight in gold. He ďŹ ts our culture perfectly and has already made a big impression with our people.

What does this hire mean for Taxi? SB In the short-term we’re focusing on integrating Glenn and working with him to help us mentor our internal talent more eectively. We’re really excited about all the future possibilities; having Glenn here to help us build upon the momentum we’ve created and taking us to the next level is an exhilarating prospect... we’re thrilled to have him on board. www taxistudio co uk

MY D E SI G N SPA CE I S...

A TALE OF TWO TOYS Multidisciplinary design studio Toykyo invites you into its Belgium-based creative studio to share a love for beautiful objects and all things porcelain ometimes surrounding yourself with beautiful objects isn’t enough If a piece of paraphernalia has a story it can become essential witness the hard work put into its creation and a small toy can become a prized possession That’s pre y much the a itude of Joeri Steegen and Mathieu Van Damme at the Belgian creative agency Toykyo. They’ve bedecked their creative space with objects created by their sister company Case Studyo – a production oshoot since “We appreciate the dierent artists that created these objects,â€? says Van Damme. “They all have some story as they’re quite labour-intensive and take months to produce, sometimes with trial and error.â€? Their studio space is located in a big complex that houses a bunch of other creative agencies in what Steegen calls “an ecosystem of creativesâ€?. In their eco-niche, additional bits and bobs turn up every week,

s

such as the No Room for Flowers porcelain vase by Mike Perry (1). One of made it came about from a collaboration with Case Studyo “This piece was a journey into the magical transformation of D into the third dimension â€? says Van Damme “For years, Mark has been building a visual vocabulary ďŹ lled with colour, shapes, and ideas, and this new, limited-edition handmade vase combines four of his favourite motifs – ladders, eyes, owers and beautiful naked women eating cake and drinking tea.â€? Representing a long relationship with designer Parra, the Vaso Di Culo (2) is another porcelain. “Our partnership goes back to one of our ‘Belgian Nipple’ sticker packs â€? says Van Damme “We’ve produced all of his D sculptures so far and in we wanted to make a functional object rather then a static sculpture – so decided to produce a sculpture with a function based on Parra’s visual language.â€?

Giving the porcelain a rest for a bit, this cloud-like plastic night lamp (3) is a functional piece of art, “a lamp which brings peace and love,� says Van Damme. A FriendsWithYou design, the lamp “travels around the planet, bringing light to everyone he meets.� Never Too Late (4) is the product of Toykyo reconnecting with HuskMitNavn, having worked with him in on a Mickey Duck sculpture. Inspired by his solo show last year, boozy chat turned into solid plans, and this wooden wall clock was born. Van Damme and Steegen have also adorned their studio with Andy Rementer’s wooden hand-painted characters (5). “The People Blocks limited series features four wooden characters entirely handmade and painted,� explains Steegen. “The pieces are interchangeable, and can be re-assembled and stacked to create custom characters or even abstract sculptures.� A perfect addition to a similarly constructed studio space.

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 15 -

Born from a passion for creativity optimism and originality Toykyo is a multi-disciplinary studio founded in Ghent Belgium in %%' Over the years a love for beautiful objects has led to the launch of its sister initiatives Case Studyo and Toykyo Kids

CULTUR E P L A C E S

STREET VIE W

C R E AT I V E QU A R TER S

NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND

ACCESS OUR GOOGLE MAP AT bit.ly/1F2hU9z

Freelance art director, designer and native Geordie Alan Wardle runs streetwear brand AnyForty. Here, he invites you on his far more leisurely Great North Run around The Toon – taking in designer outlets, music venues and watering holes

WHOSIT & WHATSIT

Sandhill whositandwhatsit com Founded by Naomi Atkinson W&W showcases independent designers from all over the world and ensures designers take

per cent of all sales Furniture clothing prints magazines wallpaper – everything you see can be bought Wares from AnyForty Jessica Hische Ugmonk and more abound

THE BALTIC

Gateshead Quays South Shore Road www balticmill com The Baltic is a vast old converted mill which is now one of the premium locations in the North for contemporary art and events Much of the stuff they call ‘art’ doesn’t exactly float my boat but there’s the occasional gem the building is beautiful and the top floor has an incredible view of the Toon

CAPOLOGY

High Bridge Street www capology co uk This is Newcastle’s premium streetwear stop-off their selection of headwear is unlike anything else in the UK and the building interior complete with basketball court flooring and barbershop on the second floor is stunning If you like your US brands alongside AnyForty then it’s a must visit

SAGE GATESHEAD

ILLUSTRATION: Tom Woolley, www.tomwoolley.com

Saint Mary’s Square Gateshead Quays www sagegateshead com This incredible glass and metal shell houses a medley of musical entertainment from the English Fiddle Symposium to the BBC’s Music Festival which has seen the likes of The Charlatans and Kate Tempest perform within its music halls Turn up midday and you can regularly watch sound checks for free

DAT BAR

Market Street datbar gustouk com dAt bAr is a visually incredible drinking and eating experience a sparsely lit environment with incredible interior design and details by Newcastle’s Dirty Hands Co With a huge selection of cra beers exquisite coffee and simple tasty affordable food there is nothing like dAt bAr in Newcastle

Newcastle College of Art & Design graduate Alan Wardle spent several years as art editor of Computer Arts Projects before going freelance in %$$ He also runs streetwear brand AnyForty www.anyforty.com COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 16 -

CULTUR E EV E N TS KEY INFO LOCATION Old Truman Brewery London www dandad org WHEN – April KEY JURY FOREMEN Harriet Devoy branding#* Leigh Chandler cra s for design#* Eike KÜnig graphic design#* Ma Willey magazine and newspaper design#* Natalie Chung packaging#* Daljit Singh digital design#

n Sunday April over of the world’s ďŹ nest creative minds gathered at The Old Truman Brewery in East London to debate who should – and shouldn’t – receive a highly coveted Pencil at the D&AD Professional Awards Judging week was dierent this year Under the direction of President Mark Bonner the organisation also staged a packed programme of talks and workshops culminating in an exhibition of winning work on the ďŹ nal day For anyone with an interest in design and advertising it was a valuable event So what did we learn? Here are four key trends One the convergence economy is here to stay Everywhere – from media to retail fashion and technology – sectors are converging and collapsing together Brands have to challenge themselves and explore new ways to express what they stand for One way they’re doing this according to trends forecasting agency The Future Laboratory is through ‘super synaesthesia’ using senses to trigger other senses “It’s no longer enough to

PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of D&AD

O

E V E NT R EP OR T: D&A D AWARDS JUDGIN G WE E K 2015

FOUR EMERGING TRENDS IN DESIGN From sensory branding to humanised technology, Julia Sagar discovers what the Pencil-winning projects submi ed to this year’s D&AD Professional Awards reveal about the future of design and advertising COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 18 -

E V E NT S CULTUR E

Clockwise from far le < The Old Truman Brewery* Cosmopolitan’s Pencil-winning mock cover* work submi ed to the Awards and being judged

VIDEO INSIGHT FIVE D&AD JUDGES REVEAL THE SECRETS OF WORLD-CLASS DESIGN MATT WILLEY NEW YORK TIMES Editorial design maestro Willey led a Magazine & Newspaper Design jury that included creative directors from Wired Wallpaper* and It’s Nice That

LEIGH CHANDLER VAULT Heading up Cra s for Design Chandler was assisted by illustrators designers and typographers from Build Making Pictures and more

EIKE KĂ–NIG HORT Graphic Design is one of the largest categories at D&AD and foreman KĂśnig was joined by the likes of Anagrama Jack Renwick Studio and Mucho just sell products Brands have to be far more tangible than ever before â€? said art director Jo Tulej highlighting the hotel industry – where companies are using performance hospitality to tell their story Two we can embrace technology without losing our humanity As the distinction between man and machine blurs the importance of being human is more important than ever “We’ve seen a shi to devices that can provide us with much more enriching feedback â€? said The Future Laboratory creative director Kirsty Minns referencing Alvio – a gamiďŹ ed breathing trainer and symptom tracker for asthmatic children which was popular in the White Pencil category Alvio sees players blowing into the device to help a hungry ďŹ sh ďŹ nd food It sends statistics to parents and then notiďŹ es them of any breathing issues Three people want to be challenged “Consumers are adopting extreme temporary worlds and behaviours â€? said Hannah Robinson visual editor at The Future Laboratory Whether it’s through dieting media consumption or

leisure time activities like endurance race Tough Mudder consumers are taking an increasingly polarised approach to life “People don’t just want to be happy they want to reach deeper levels of emotion â€? she said “Adverts like Guy Co en’s A Trip Out To Sea are increasingly taking viewers on cognitive trips from anxiety through to relief â€? Four brands are tapping into larger social cultural forces This year there were over double the amount of entries to the White Pencil category – including Cosmopolitan magazine’s limited-edition February issue which addressed the issue of honour killings with an image of a woman suocating inside a plastic wraparound bag “If you want to be relevant you have to be able to exist in the world that’s happening around you â€? concluded Google Creative Lab executive creative director Steve Vranakis who was on the White Pencil jury For more trends that are changing the

face of design and advertising check out

www bit ly/ bD fT

DALJIT SINGH HAPPINESS As foreman of the Digital Design category Singh oversaw a large and diverse panel that included R/GA Google ustwo and Dentsu Tokyo

JAMES BULL MOVING BRANDS Moving Brands cofounder Bull joined representatives from Apple Landor NB Studio and more to judge this year’s Branding category

WATCH HERE

www.bit.ly/ca241-dandad

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 19 -

CULTUR E EV E N TS

Clockwise from le TADO works the audience* Italian illustrator Stefano Colferai introduces his characters* main exhibition hall work by Yomsnil photo by Verena Nunn* pale es of exhibits photo by Adam Clarke* mixed media artist Yves Geleyn* and the Sticky Monster Lab

E V E NT R EP OR T: P I CTOP LASMA

CHARACTER DESIGN WITH EMPATHY Inkygoodness director Lisa Hassell examines the progress of Pictoplasma, with a new format focused on speaker talks and industry engagement KEY INFO LOCATION Berlin Germany berlin picto plasma com WHEN April – May KEY SPEAKERS TADO Birdo Akinori Oishi Animalitoland Brosmind Stefano Colferai Hikari Shimoda

ow in its eleventh year the annual conference and festival of character design in Berlin has evolved from a heady mix of entertaining character mash-ups to a rather more grown-up aair with less emphasis on play and more focus on speaker talks and group shows During the past decade Berlin has seen radical changes to the city landscape and a lack of available partnering spaces and galleries has brought an abrupt end to one of the key ďŹ xtures of the festival as saw the last Character Walk In its place a large group show at a re-discovered former crematory Silent Green It oers a decent selection of aordable art from limited edition prints to original works – many exclusive to the festival Highlights included polished resin skulls by Mr Kat haunting child portraits from Japanese artist Hikari Shimoda and a minature kinetic wooden sculpture by SheďŹƒeld creative duo TADO created

n

in collaboration with wood carver Nick Hunter Italian illustrator Stefano Colferai also impressed with his unique take on plasticine displaying a collection of adorable handmade characters Yet despite the quality of the work on display the gallery space could have been utilised on a grander scale failing to deliver enough ‘wow’ factor to compensate for the absence of the Character Walk Over at Babylon KINO the focus turned to speaker talks and this year Pictoplasma presented creatives each with their own unique take on character-

“THE TECHNIQUE AND THE CRAFT SHOULD ALWAYS SERVE THE STORY� YVES GELEYN, ART DIRECTOR

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 20 -

driven visuals A high-energy performance by Brosmind kicked o the festival with an entertaining talk delivered using handmade wrist keyboards Injecting fun and playful humour into the day Brosmind entertained with stories from adolescence and their best projects punctuated by pop-up GIFs and a tribute to Juan’s hair Captivating the audience with a passion for storytelling was French director Yves Geleyn who reected on his -year career to date highlighting his recent holiday spot for John Lewis during Christmas as a career-deďŹ ning moment Taking a considered approach to each project the emphasis for him is in storytelling “For me the technique and the cra should always serve the story â€? Represented by Hornet Geleyn delivered the most engaging talk of the conference A promising addition to the programme was the introduction of The Character Forum – a platform created for emerging talent to present their portfolio

E V E NT S CULTUR E

E V E NT RE PO RT: C O L L AB O L O G Y

a new design education Fresh from experimental educational initative Collabology, Julia Sagar relates lessons she learned from Fred Deakin about how to tool up and tackle a rapidly evolving creative industry f you could give the next generation of creative trailblazers one skill to turbocharge their careers what would it be? In June thousands of students will graduate into the real world a fastpaced cross-disciplinary environment characterised by two certainties rapid innovation and a volatile job market For creative veteran Fred Deakin that skill would be collaboration In April he led an intensive two-week workshop Collabology in which University of the Arts London students from a range of disciplines worked together to conceive and deliver a cross-media project aimed at creating positive change in society A further students from Falmouth University and Manchester School of Art also participated in the initiative linking remotely to the London hub – where they could participate in lectures and critical sessions – using cu ing-edge collaborative tools like videoconferencing service Fuze Funded through UAL’s University Chairs project and Creative Skillset  the experimental education initiative seeks to revolutionise how design is taught and be er prepare participants for industry Here Deakin explains what’s wrong with design education in UK – and what everyone can learn from the workshop

I

and character-based projects to a panel of leading professionals including directors from Hornet LEGO and Disney Framed as an ‘exclusive access-all-areas’ aair and set in the intimate surroundings of the VolksbĂźhne each participant had just six minutes to pitch their ideas “Its been a useful experiment that adds an extra layer of real-world feedback to artists â€? reected artist Nathan Jurevicius who co-led the session alongside fellow artist and facilitator Rilla Alexander The idea of ge ing producers and directors together with emerging talent is an obvious one yet much more needs to be done to encourage this level of engagement amongst a endees Director of Hornet and regular Pictoplasma a endee Michael Feder spo ed the potential early on “For me personally I can meet new talent which is great I expected the forum to be very Picto-like casual and honest – it’s been a positive experience with room to grow â€?

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 21 -

Collaboration skills can bridge the gulf between academia and industry “Traditionally education in the UK has been about the individual â€? says Deakin “That doesn’t necessarily serve graduates well in the workplace The complexity of projects and pace of innovation means you can only achieve excellence with a cross-disciplinary team â€? Entrepreneurship is a lasting skill “One of the other aims of Collabology is entrepreneurialism â€? Deakin continues “Students are an exploitable resource by less-than-scrupulous employers But if you can give a taste of start-up culture and bootstrapping then they get it â€? You’re more powerful than you think “I want students to realise that if they come together with their peers they can tackle the problems they see around them and generate careers from their vision and their talent together They don’t need anyone else to give them a hand â€? Start small and scale your idea “It’s good to start on a focused market and then scale your idea like Facebook did â€? he adds “Don’t wait Realise how strong you are with your peers and look for stu you care about that needs doing â€?

CULTUR E EV E N TS

W H AT ’S ON

dates for your diary Grad show season is already in full swing, but there’s plenty more to get your creative juices owing, including design weeks in Barcelona and SheďŹƒeld, plus Cannt – London’s answer to Cannes

MAKING MUSIC MODERN: DESIGN FOR EAR AND EYE NOW - 01 NOVEMBER Museum of Modern Art New York www moma org/visit/ calendar/exhibitions Drawn from the MoMA’s archives this exhibition collects designs for auditoriums instruments record sleeves sheet music and animation from throughout the twentieth century Celebrating the connection between design and the music industry Making Music Modern examines how design shaped the ‘cool’ aesthetic of mid-century jazz and hi-ďŹ delity culture as well as its roll in counterculture music scenes from pop to punk

KERNING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TYPOGRAPHY 03-05 JUNE Faenza Italy h p"//#$%' kerning it Italy’s ďŹ rst international conference dedicated to typography For the ďŹ rst two days expect a range of workshops and then unite for an all-day conference on  June with top-notch speakers from the world of digital and web typography including Indra Kupferschmid Tobias FrereJones Nicholas Felton and Laura Wor ington to name but a few

SEGD CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE 04-06 JUNE Sheraton Towers ($% East North Water St  Chicago h ps"//segd org Chicago’s three-day graphic design event gives you a chance to reboot get inspired and network The SEGD Conference is a multidisciplinary community of designers creating experiences that connect with people in experimental graphic design and this year features talks from

the likes of Michael Shaub Dana Arne Despona Macris Dawn Hancock and Alisa Wolfson

BARCELONA DESIGN WEEK 08-14 JUNE Barcelona Centre de Disseny Pl  de les Glòries Catalanes www barcelonadesignweek com The annual meeting of design innovation and business oers workshops presentations talks and exhibitions Since the week-long festivities have brought new trends knowledge and networking to the sunny se ing of Barcelona

SHEFFIELD DESIGN WEEK

years of discovering emerging design at London’s Business Design Centre The annual exhibit showcases over of the most promising graduate talents from all over the UK giving you the opportunity to buy new products be inspired and discover new designers to commission or recruit

FREE RANGE (ART & DESIGN) 25-29 JUNE (PART ONE) 02-06 JULY (PART TWO) Old Truman Brewery London www free-range org uk The biggest platform for the UK’s up-and-coming creative talent Free Range showcases new graduates with the opportunity

13-21 JUNE SheďŹƒeld various venues www sheďŹƒelddesignweek co uk A city-wide celebration of architecture products fashion interior and graphic design Events include conferences design trails ďŹ lm screenings exhibitions events and talks

CANNT FESTIVAL 22-26 JUNE London various venues www cannt org ‘You either Cannes or you Cannt’ jokes Cannes’ cheeky London alternative Cannt now in its fourth year is a fun inclusive and inspirational few days that this year will “take you o the beaten track and into all things a bit more curiousâ€? For all the “li le busy bees who make all the creative awesomeness happenâ€? who needs the French Riviera when you’ve got the Thames?

NEW DESIGNERS 24-27 JUNE 2015 PART 1 01-04 JULY 2015 PART 2 Business Design Centre London www newdesigners com In New Designers celebrates COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 22 -

to exhibit their work on an international level The place to spot the latest trends and talent

D&AD NEW BLOOD 30 JUNE - 02 JULY Old SpitalďŹ elds Market Shoreditch London www dandad org/en/new-blood Hundreds of design graduates showcase their work looking for the opportunity that will launch their career and at D&AD they came to the right place This is the chance for studios and agencies scouting for talent to cherry-pick the best of the bunch ďŹ nd peers to network with and be inspired

Strong opinion and analysis from across the global design industry THIS MONTH FRED DEAKIN LECTURER AND DESIGNER www.freddeak.in

JOANNA TULEJ ART DIRECTOR FUTURE LABORATORY www.thefuturelaboratory.com

SEVRA DAVIS MANAGER RSA STUDENT DESIGN AWARDS sda.thersa.org

REGULAR WRITERS BRUNO MAAG FOUNDER DALTON MAAG

MARK BONNER PRESIDENT D&AD

SABRINA SMELKO ILLUSTRATOR AND ART DIRECTOR

BEN TALLON FREELANCE DESIGNER

CRAIG WARD DESIGNER AND ART DIRECTOR

LOUISE SLOPER HEAD OF DESIGN CHI & PARTNERS

DESIGN YOUR OWN CAREER You’re a native of the digital landscape, so don’t simply settle for freelancing – craft the perfe creative role in your own image, argues Fred Deakin

FRE D DE A K I N INSIGHT

ABOUT THE WRITER Fred Deakin is a professor at University of the Arts London He runs Fred & Company specialising in interactive art projects Previously he co-founded the award-winning design company Airside which achieved BAFTAs D&AD Pencils and a Webby before shu ing its doors in a er years of success www freddeak in

ou now have three choices – four if you count a life of crime or living off your parents until you turn grey, neither of which will end well, believe me. Firstly, you could go and get a job (or more likely, let’s face it, an unpaid internship). Understand that finding this job will almost certainly take you a long time. I spent the first nine months after my graduation going to more than 40 face-to-face interviews looking for my first design job before I got lucky, and that was when such jobs existed in reasonable quantities. These days, many unscrupulous companies create their whole business model around the endless resource of talented graduates who will work for free, tossing their broken interns out on the scrap heap as soon as they falter and replacing them with the next eager victim. Just consider that you could sack everyone in the creative industries and replace them all with the latest wave of art school graduates – that’s every year. You are a tiny part of a tsunami of talent looking for their first break, so you had better be a good surfer. Secondly, you could set yourself up as a freelancer. If you’re good you might get yourself represented by an agency, if you’re not, you’re better o handing out your business cards to friends and family at parties, hoping that Uncle Tommy’s start-up takes o and your logo goes global. Some people love freelancing – sure, there’s variety and freedom involved – but for me the lack of self-agency is an obstacle to creative growth; not only that, it can be pretty lonely. I think the third option is a better way, and that is to do it yourself. Make your own job. Create your own agency, social enterprise, digital start-up, fashion brand – whatever it is that you are dreaming of. Crucially though, do it with your peers. Your generation is one of the ďŹ rst to be truly digitally native. You have an incredible opportunity to create your own careers by engaging with this ridiculously fertile new cultural landscape that you have grown up with; to produce your own art and manifest the kind of world you want to live in. However, it’s tough to do this on your own – and not just psychologically: when it comes to delivering today’s multi-platform projects, you will do far better working within a tight team of talented friends who share the same values and goals as each other but have very dierent skills. This will maximise the range and power of the projects you can work on, whether they are self-initiated or not, plus you’ll enjoy yourself a lot more in the process.

Y

When Nat, Alex and I set up our groundbreaking design studio Airside back in 1998 we had all freelanced and worked for other people for a while, and to be frank, we were fed up with it. We found a cheap studio space, sublet desks to our mates and started doing our freelance work there while we pitched for bigger projects. And, slowly but surely, Airside emerged. The early years involved long hours, little income and – guess what? – a whole lot of fun. That fun expressed itself in our work, the world started paying attention and we hit it big. It wasn’t easy – nothing good ever is – but the support and respect we gave each other alongside the diversity of the talent that was gathered together in our studio made it all possible.

“WHEN IT COMES TO DELIVERING TODAY’S MULTI-PLATFORM PROJECTS, YOU WILL DO FAR BETTER WORKING WITHIN A TIGHT TEAM OF TALENTED FRIENDS�

When I hear students talking about which companies they’d most like to intern for, my heart sinks. You all know more about the current cultural and digital landscape than anyone who will be employing you, by virtue of the fact that a) you are continually immersed in it, and b) you helped to create it, brick by digital brick. Know your power, class of 2015! It’s your time – don’t waste it making somebody else rich(er) or sitting around waiting for someone to do you a favour. Instead, make the world the way you want it to be and share the experience with people you care about. You’ll grow in the process and end up being a whole lot more employable, whichever way you choose to go next. Now go get ‘em! Do you agree with Fred Deakin’s advice? Tweet your thoughts to @ComputerArts using #DesignMatters

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 25 -

INSIGHT D E SI G N M AT TER S

“WHAT MAKES FOR A MEMORABLE CHARACTER DESIGN?�

DA R R E N D U B I C K I DESIGNER & DIRECTOR AARDMAN ANIMATIONS www aardman com

“Many ingredients make a character memorable, but a strong sense of personality and emotional depth are integral to make them engaging. A drastic change in their behaviour can also be intriguing, as is an ability to surprise or shock the audience.�

S E RG I O S A L E H CREATIVE DIRECTOR LUMBRE www lumbre tv “I feel the secret to memorable character design is conict. There needs to be some sort of excitement in the broadest sense of the word that comes from a contradiction or conict within the character. This can be generated from an internal source like their personality/motivation or from an external source. Loving monsters and childlike adults are examples. It’s exciting to watch animals behave like humans and vice versa. It’s interesting to see something we think of as dangerous acting clumsy or idiotic. It’s compelling when you are surprised by a character that doesn’t do what you thought they would. Contradictions are within each of us and when we can identify with the contradiction in a character, that character becomes truly memorable. â€?

LUCIANA L OP E Z DI A Z DESIGNER AND ILLUSTRATOR www musa-im com

“I think it comes from the heart: it’s a dream, a little illusion, however it’s also the process, the sketching, the mistakes and successes, the time invested that provide the character design full of personality. With a little luck it’ll be special, and not only for the person who made it.�

YOUR VIEWS Comment on Facebook, or tweet @ComputerArts with your thoughts using #DesignMatters

RACHEL ALDERSON Contrast shapes and ensure your character conveys an emotion in the person viewing it – preferably the emotion you intended to portray!

@CARLTONJ Above all a memorable character design requires an experienced and observant character designer

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 26 -

THAPELO GRIMMZ KEETILE Obviously make your character visually appealing but most importantly make them go through experiences Memorable experiences

DESIG N M AT T E R S INSIGHT

R I L L A A L E X A N DE R GRAPHIC DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR www byrilla com

“My favourite characters are those whose very reason for being comes from the inside out – drawn from the creator’s own life, experiences, family and friends. What the character does and the story they tell is most important.�

E M M Y L I N C OL N POP SURREALIST ARTIST www itchysoul se

“The characters that stick with me have deeply human traits that evoke an emotional response, good or bad. They also have some surprise quality to their design that blows your mind a bit, like Totoro’s gigantic smile (bit.ly/totorosmile).â€?

@ARCUSSTUDIOS Personality! Proportion posture and pose should all complement and reinforce characters’ inner selves and their role in the story

BARRY LLAMAPHISH SELLERS Sometimes the details make a character – the way an eyebrow arches for instance Sometimes the lack of details the things le unsaid but implied" make it work

JAC Q U E L I N E BISSETT FASHION ILLUSTRATOR www jacquelinebisse com “I’ve come into branding and character design from a roundabout way, having arrived from a fashion design, then a fashion illustration background. So I’ve found my own way of answering a brief along these lines. I think my biggest and most successful character is ‘Luzy’ for Thomas Sabo Charm Club, which I’ve been working on for over ďŹ ve years now. The ďŹ rst thing to consider is the audience (their age and gender) and to work towards something that has lasting appeal. The end result, in my work, is a strong statement in black-and-white stripes, and a mid-tone of tumbling hair, using diering line weights, coming from another strong, solid block. The ďŹ nal touch is a bright pop of red.â€?

@ALEXANDRADAVEY For me what makes a character is an instantly intriguing backstory through posing and expression Also  â€˜cool guy pose’ is na!

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 27 -

SATISH SHEWHORAK Strong silhoue es storytelling through appearance and distinctive colour schemes work together to give a character character

I N SI GH T J O A N N A TU L E J

ABOUT THE WRITER Joanna Tulej is an art director at The Future Laboratory which she originally joined as a trends researcher in She now oversees visual output and design analysis while predicting the future www thefuturelaboratory com

Gender-defying design With society’s growing acceptance of neutral culture and the â€˜Mx’ honoriďŹ c, Joanna Tulej looks at how gender uidity is driving design in the twenty-ďŹ r century

s a trend forecaster and art director, I am fascinated by the symbiotic relationship between culture and creativity. A January 2015 poll by media company Fusion found that among Americans aged 18–34, 50 per cent believe gender exists on a spectrum, while just 46 per cent believe there are only two genders. As we wait to see if the open-ended honoriďŹ c ‘Mx’ will enter the Oxford English Dictionary, what might be the design implications of transgenderism for design? From the catwalks of New York and Paris to Cape Town, gender uidity is inspiring design. Vivienne Westwood created a unisex collection for autumn/ winter 2015–2016 as did Alexander Blanc, whose male and female models even swapped clothes on the runway during Cape Town Fashion Week in 2014. London-based Toogood design unisex outerwear that transcends season and gender; more recently we saw the launch of New York brand 69 Worldwide, ‘a non-gender, non-demographic clothing line’. So what does this mean for design? In fashion, it’s manifested in oversized silhouettes and a utility-style aesthetic, but we are seeing it inďŹ ltrate other sectors too. Selfridges explored what it could mean for interior design with its Agender pop-up. The space is divided into zones, with genderless sculptures in situ, steel mesh frameworks and neutral colour palettes, housing the garments in ‘pared-down, uniform packaging’ in order ‘to free them from the preconceptions that would ordinarily colour such purchases’.

a

Design aimed at children has also attempted to break gender stereotypes over the past few years. Harrods now groups its toys by theme rather than by male or female, while the ‘shrink it and pink it’ rhetoric as a way to target females is outdated. There are still some practical considerations such as size and functionality when it comes to designing gender-neutral products. Wearable tech gadgets fuse functionality with style, blending in with outďŹ ts rather than standing out. The Apple Watch was designed to be personalised to suit the individual, though it has come under criticism for its apps which seem to focus on targeting the 40-year-old white male, while many believe the size of the watch itself will turn o female technophiles. What an exciting yet terrifying time for marketers used to working with age- and gender-based demographics. In future, brands will increasingly target consumers through psychographics – their interests, attitudes and opinions. We live in a society where consumers ‘shard’ identities on and offline depending on how they feel and to whom they are talking. Neutral design acts as a blank canvas upon which discerning and empowered consumers can explore their identities and curate dierent versions of self-actualisation, which is why we expect this trend to continue to grow in the coming decade. How else is androgyny aecting design? Tweet your thoughts to @ComputerArts using #DesignMatters

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 28 -

I N SI GH T SEV R A D AV I S

2015

ABOUT THE WRITER Sevra Davis is the manager of the RSA Student Design Awards She has consulted on design education and social innovation for a variety of international government clients sda thersa org

Britain is losing its design edge Only by broadening indu ry skills and reforming education can Britain save itself from its own mode y and the loss of its atus as a global superpower of design, argues the RSA’s Sevra Davis

ritain is excellent at design. From the Clifton Suspension Bridge to the internet, we’re exceptionally adept at creating new, top-end, creative stuff. The value of British design endures abroad too. Last year, the University of the Arts London attracted 7,700 international students. Celebrated British designers (such as Sir Jonathan Ive, Thomas Heatherwick and many more) and design agencies (including Pentagram, Wolff Olins and The Partners) shine bright on the world stage. Computer Arts’ list of the top 50 UK design agencies last year highlighted that 25 per cent of them have international offices. And yet I fear that, unless the industry starts to make some changes, we’ll fall behind. From the RSA’s perspective, that would be a tragedy, both culturally and economically. Part of the answer must lie in a better understanding of markets abroad. How should products and services be adapted internationally? How can we use this knowledge to get the edge on our competitors? For me though, before we look out, we need to look in. First, upskilling is key. Industry needs have changed: businesses want creative polymaths as well as people with specific technical skills. We still hear lots about T-shaped designers and for good reason – we need people with deep expertise in a particular discipline, alongside experience working in multiple contexts. Second, British design education needs dramatic improvement. A recent Warwick Commission report

B

highlighted that in secondary schools, design and technology has 11 per cent fewer teachers and hours of teaching than in 2010, while the number of art teachers has dropped by 11 per cent too. And creative courses at universities need help securing the best students. Higher tuition fees mean parents and undergraduates are choosing ‘safer’ subjects, like business or law – when the reality is that the creative economy is the fastest-growing and can be just as personally lucrative. Finally, designers need to be more assertive about promoting our skills in top-level global commercial and policy debates. The potential for problem-solving global issues through design are numerous, from developing smarter cities to tackling climate change. A serious, committed, intelligent designer or design studio must be at the table in the planning stage of major projects. British design can be big and bold or subtle and clever – our range makes us special. Design quality has been an important element in the construction of our national identity and our international competitiveness since the World’s Fair. British design has a canny ability to look forward, to see what’s coming next. This is nothing to be modest about. And in a globalised world, where everyone is vying for attention, we can’t afford to be modest. We must celebrate our talents, or risk falling behind. Does the UK risk falling behind on the global design scene? Tweet @ComputerArts using #DesignMatters

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 30 -

7KH QXPEHU RQH GHVWLQDWLRQ IRU JUDSKLF GHVLJQ QHZV YLHZV DQG KRZ WRV

*HW &UHDWLYH %ORT GLUHFW WR \RXU LQER[ ZLWK RXU ZHHNO\ JUDSKLF GHVLJQ QHZVOHWWHU

*UDSKLF GHVLJQ

:HE GHVLJQ

'

'LJLWDO DUW

ZZZ FUHDWLYHEORT FRP

Computer Arts selects the ho est new design, illustration and motion work from the global design scene

MY GENERATION ZLIN EXHIBITION by OKOLO www okoloweb cz

“We were asked by Zlin Design Week – an initiative of the faculty of marketing communication at Univerzita TomĂĄĹĄe Bati ve ZlĂ­nÄ› – to curate an exhibition in the rooms of the Zlin chateau â€? explains OKOLO co-founder Adam Ĺ tÄ›ch Flipping stacking and chopping tables resulted in a wonderful platform showcasing more than young designers and studios who have been incredibly active on the contemporary Czech design scene over the past years “It was divided into six chapters including furniture design glass porcelain lighting product design and interior objects The whole installation was constructed from the series of Lack tables from IKEA â€? continues Ĺ tÄ›ch The exhibition itself took place in an old chateau which provided part of the inuence for the presentation “We wanted to make the installation as simple as possible to contrast historical spaces â€? says Ĺ tÄ›ch “I liked that we summarised our generation of designers in one place for theÂ ďŹ rst time in the past years â€? Displaying more thanÂ

 projects Ĺ tÄ›ch says the most diďŹƒcult part of the project was curating and borrowing the materials from the extensive range of artists this is deďŹ nitely one of the most unique uses of IKEA furniture we’ve ever come across

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 32 -

TH E VERY B E ST NE W DE SI G N

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 33 -

At just each the IKEA Lack tables used in the installation certainly didn’t break the bank The team wanted to showcase the creative inuence of the young Czech design community OKOLO was formed back in

by Adam Ĺ tÄ›ch Jakub Ĺ tÄ›ch MatÄ›j ÄŒinÄ?era and Jan Kloss OKOLO has also produced exhibitions in Prague Bratislava Lodz London Stockholm and Milan Generace ran from – April

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 34 -

TH E VERY B E ST NE W DE SI G N

THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY SAYS‌ CRAIG OLDHAM Designer and creative consultant, The OďŹƒce Of Craig Oldham www.craigoldham.co.uk

“It’s a good exercise for both the mind and money to take one element and see how far you can run with it. Taking a line for a walk as they say. And this installation is certainly that, manipulating the IKEA Lack table. Used for display, curation and navigation, it takes what is a modular element but makes it feel interesting, succeeding against the risk of monotony – and very well.�

TOMMY TAYLOR Graphic designer, Alpabetical www.alphabeticalstudio.com

“The ‘Lack’ table is the equivalent of $ per unit, so the exhibition system seems both economically resourceful and time eďŹƒcient. “Extending the shelving framework to information panels is also really smart. Info panels are o en a more recessive element of an exhibition. But having the tables emerging from the oor at angles makes the link between ‘exhibition’ and ‘information’ seamless. There is no photo of the captions but utilising the le over cardboard or polystyrene would be an interesting idea. “Great project, I only hope it’s not a travelling exhibition – we all know IKEA furniture is never quite the same a er a move.â€? COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 35 -

— PRINT HIGHLIGHT — MUSEUM ARCADE AMUSEUM MAGAZINE by Pencil Pusher Graphic Arts Ltd www.amuseummag.com

Conceiving a unique idea for a print magazine is no easy task but playful publication Amuseum truly sees things differently “It’s fun and engaging with a great sense of humour ” explains creative director and editor Daniel Stafford who is quick to stress the importance of print in a digital age “It was essential that we created something that would reflect that contemporary print consumers read magazines – something for the easily distracted ” Showcasing content that will entertain you for five minutes on the Tube as well as engross you during a three-hour flight Stafford describes the mag like “a kids’ summer annual but for adults ” Packed full of illustrative a ributes the team wanted to create something with “visual ‘a-ha!’ moments” that excite the reader and “draw them in to subject ma er they may otherwise have been nonchalant about like astrophysics anthropology or German history ” adds Stafford

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 36 -

TH E VERY B E ST NE W DE SI G N

POSTAL SERVICE STAMP DESIGNS

by Boglárka Nádi www fb com/bigibogidesign

For her BA degree project Hungary-based designer Boglárka Nádi created a stamp series based on her favourite Hungarian folk tales “I love these tales so much and I noticed that there were some stamps made with this kind of theme in Hungary ” she explains “However there was no series made with an emphasis on only Hungarian folktales ” Dedicating four stamps to each folk tale Nádi’s main goal was to make the stamp collection as fun as possible “Some stamps are in the form of sheets or blocks that are part of a ‘puzzle’ so by collecting

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 37 -

all individual pieces you can see the full picture ” Keen to give the classic beauty of stamp design a modern twist Nádi drew the initial sketches with a mechanical pencil on tracing paper traced the final artwork with a drawing pen and then scanned the drawings – adding colour and typography digitally “In Hungary few companies can perforate because they are afraid of counterfeiting stamps ” remarks Nádi “I had to use my own hands to produce copies for the presentation I tried a sewing machine and a leather punch but both were too cumbersome ”

SOMETHING FISHY SUSHI & CO BRANDING by Bond www bond-agency com

Helsinki- and Abu Dhabi-based agency Bond was assigned with creating a graphic identity and concept for Sushi & Co a newly opened restaurant located on the Baltic cruise ship Silja Line “The identity needed to be appealing and easily approachable to all cruise visitors and also to those who aren’t too familiar with sushi â€? explains Toni Hurme Designed by Hurme and produced by Piia Suhonen the new ‘&’ sign implies aÂ ďŹ sh as well as Sushi & Co’s extensive menu “The new identity is a mĂŠlange of Scandinavian elements and oceanic symbols â€? Hurme continues “The sophisticated colour scheme consists of a rice-inspired white salmon red and a powerful black the central part of the identity is the wave pa ern that indicates the oceanic environment of the ďŹ sh and the restaurant â€? Finding a way to make the identity simple yet sophisticated was the toughest part  The team worked from morning until late at night to showcase the restuarant’s extensive menu “The identity couldn’t be too focused on sushi â€? says Hurme “The time schedule was really tight too – about a month from concept to completion â€?

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 38 -

TH E VERY B E ST NE W DE SI G N

— MOTION HIGHLIGHT —

PRECARIOUS PORTAL DINOSIGNING by Max Litvinov www kclogg tumblr com

Focusing on the weird and wonderful designer illustrator and animator Max Litvinov creates animated shorts that get you thinking Shunning the straightforward Dinosigning is a delightfully delirious explosion of colours and sketches that is as original as they come “I decided that it was going to be an animated short about a girl moulding and colouring small dinosaurs using a system of strange devices ” he explains “When all the devices are set everything cycles ” Describing the animation’s

aesthetic as clean minimalist yet tactile Litvinov says his main influence in terms of style comes from early th century abstract art Having drawn and animated Dinosigning entirely in Flash using a Wacom Cintiq graphic tablet Litvinov explains that it’s assembling all the parts that’s the trickiest bit “I have to ensure everything goes in a single rhythm ” he says “My favourite parts are always the first and last sections – thinking up how everything is going to be sketching and making sounds ”

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 39 -

PULLING SHAPES FOLDED SHAPES by Kevin Olberg www.kevinolberg.com

Trying out a personal project just for fun can o en lead to some of your best work – just like this Folded Shapes series by Swedish graphic designer and artist Kevin Olberg “My friend and I have something we call ‘Personal Tuesdays’ where we stay late at the oďŹƒce doing personal stu â€? he explains “This was created during two such Tuesday evenings â€? Embarking on the project to experiment with new techniques and so ware Olberg says his fascination with minimalistic posters and geometric design inuenced the series “The great Olle Baertling is a personal favourite â€? he explains “I have tried creating

geometric posters before but ďŹ nd it hard to be satisďŹ ed with something that is created so easily – a purple triangle only takes seconds to create The folding eect gave me a challenge and a twist â€? Using Illustrator for the textures and motifs and then Cinema D for the folding eect Olberg initially had no idea how to create the eect having only used the so ware a handful of times Describing the project as “simple and graphical with a kitschy twist â€? he made or dierent designs before se ling on his favourite ďŹ ve “I like the fake and digital look plastic hypnotic and fun â€? he smiles

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 40 -

TH E VERY B E ST NE W DE SI G N

— FEATURED SHOWREEL —

TECHNICOLOUR TREAT PERSONAL SHOWREEL by Florian Bartl www florianbartl com

“I aimed to present a wide range of my work in the shortest amount of time possible â€? explains Germanybased motion graphic designer and art director Florian Bartl “I like to toy around and have a go with new styles techniques and combinations â€? Clocking in at just under Bartl’s showreel is an explosion of geometric animals title sequences and illustrated delights that expertly show o his motion design skills “I really like the intro and its playful character â€? he continues “Yet every project has its very own special value to me they’re all a result of passion sweat and gallons of espresso â€? Having created title sequences for a number of conferences Bartl has been able to make each one unique yet inspiring with his own air as shown throughout the reel “The challenge with pu ing this showreel together was combining two apparent opposites â€? he says “On the one hand you have to be very strict to be able to reduce an entire project to a few essential seconds On the other hand you have to broaden your mind to ďŹ nd the common denominator for a bunch of very dierent projects and arrange them to become one homogenous reel â€?

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 41 -

THREE GREAT OFFERS!

SUBSCRIBE TO COMPUTER ARTS Read CA when and where you want. There are three great subs options to choose from – choose your package today!

PRINT ONLY

DIGITAL ONLY

Our premium print edition experiments with innovative cover ďŹ nishes and is packed with creative insight and inspiration from the global design community

CA’s multi-award-winning iPad edition comes complete with exclusive videos bonus galleries and more Print replica available for iPhone and Android devices

SAVE

SAVE

FROM

UP TO

FROM

38%

Based on a )-month sub

Based on a )-month sub

UP TO

45%

TERMS & CONDITIONS Prices and savings quoted are compared to buying full priced UK print and digital issues You will receive $> issues in a year If you are dissatisďŹ ed in any way you can write to us or call us to cancel your subscription at any time and we will refund you for all un-mailed issues Prices correct at point of print and subject to change For full terms and conditions please visitX myfavm ag/magterms Oer ends $ July %$

BEST VALUE! PRINT & DIGITAL Enjoy the tactile beauty of our print edition and the interactive delights of our award-winning digital edition in one package and get behind-the-scenes access to top studios pro analysis of the latest trends and inspiration that lasts all year GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE

FROM

Save up to * on combined subs Print edition delivered to your door Download the award-winning iPad edition issues in a one-year subscription Full money-back guarantee

Based on a )-month sub

SAVE UP TO

59%

Subscribe online today

www myfavouritemagazines co uk/CASUBS Or call and quote code PRINT DIGITAL or BUNDLE Your subscription will then continue at [> every ' months – saving >%\ on the shop price and giving you a ]>\ discount on a digital subscription

Look no further for the inspirations and creative thinking behind the best characterdriven commercial work in the world today WORDS: Lisa Hassell ILLUSTRATION: Wong Ping nowhynowhy com

C

arving a niche for yourself as a ‘character designer’ may sound like a rather narrow aspiration given the fast-evolving nature of the creative industry. Character design is perhaps best viewed as a skill rather than a vocation, although one that can open up boundless commercial possibilities when twinned with specialist skills in illustration or motion graphics. This marriage reflects the interdisciplinary nature of modern-day practice, and the frequent cross-over of animation, illustration, typography, digital media and everything in-between. Building your skills in any one of these areas is a valuable asset for any creative

career, since the realm of character design is an enduring field that has disseminated on a global scale. Developing an understanding of how to construct a successful character and bring together the components required to execute it commercially is a hard-won skill, but with this expertise comes a wealth of opportunity for those with the passion, drive and imagination to pursue it. “Character design has a magic that captivates you,” says Katie Tang, who together with partner Mike Doney, launched TADO in 2001 while studying. “Our work has always been character-driven; even as kids growing up in totally different surroundings, both of us would make

comics and draw strange creatures or hedgehogs with robotic limbs and lasers.” The pair, who live and work in Sheffield, apply their talents to a vast range of creative projects, from fashion to advertising, and their artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Everything they do is the result of collaboration between the two of them, and their clients include MTV, Nike, Kidrobot, Gola, Vodafone, Microsoft and Virgin. Despite having no formal teaching in animation or character design, the duo have charmed audiences the world over with their darkly adorable characters, which take inspiration from animation, comic books and toys. “We think our output very much reflects the processes and thinking behind it,” adds Tang. “It’s a very natural thing. We like to create characters that will make people smile or laugh, and it’s very hard not to do the same when you’re drawing them.”

LYRICAL CHARACTERS In their 2013 Varoom Illustration report on Pictoplasma, festival founders Lars Denicke and Peter Thaler wax lyrical on the culture of character design: “Contemporary artists continuously twist, morph, combine, remix and de-contextualise the visual standards of character creation, applying them to varying

media, utilising them for commercial campaigns, fine art installations or personal projects,” they observe. Whilst it seems impossible to determine one overall direction or current trend in character design, its origins in pop culture, video games, comics and animated films surround us, as illustrator Jambonbon reflects: “Characters can lighten the mood, entertain, sell products and also teach us. Characters can embody all the virtues and consequently make very good messengers.” Constructing a character with enduring appeal presents a unique set of challenges, and for those interested in developing skills in this field there are no short cuts. To become truly great at crafting character, illustrators need to invest the time in developing their own visual language at the most basic level – by drawing every day. “There’s no science or secret behind developing a style,” states Muxxi, an illustrator and character designer from Guatemala, whose ‘magical creatures’ (with names like Boongo, Margui and Zazuka) have been commissioned by Chattyfeet, Blik and Roboto. “I take my sketchbook with me everywhere I go, and incorporate what I see and feel into my creations every day.” TADO

TADO: HELLO KITTY tado.co.uk “We knew it was the perfect chance for us to try out stop motion animation ” say TADO’s Mike Doney and Katie Tang of their animated piece commissioned by Sanrio and the Japanese American National Museum to celebrate Hello Ki y’s %th Anniversary “It was also an absolute dream project for us – being let loose on a character who is a true icon in our nerdy li le world ” Handling the entire production process from sketching to fabricating the puppets^ set building shooting and editing the pair worked gruelling $]-hour days for two months to make the film screened as part of a massive event in Los Angeles last year “It’s the most satisfying project we’ve ever done The moment you hit play and see the inanimate objects come to life and move is pure magic ”

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 46 -

CH AR ACTE R DE SI G N SE C R E T S

Film set for Hello Ki y % th Anniversary Project ďŹ lm shoot Character heads carved by Nick Hunter - Behind the scenes for TADO’s Hello Ki y % th Anniversary Project ďŹ lm shoot

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 47 -

Being stylish means not following any trend or reference, says Ping, who was selected as one of the Saatchi & Saatchi 2013 new directors and whose works have been internationally screened and exhibited. “You know you’ve got it when people can tell the work is yours without knowing it.â€?

INTUITING CHARACTER

agrees: “We don’t really use any magical formula or ritual, it just comes from many hours of playing around with ideas and things that we like.â€? Indeed, many artists get stuck on the idea of building their own unique ‘style’, which can often hinder rather than help creative development. Paulo Muppet, studio director at Brazilian animation house Birdo, notes: “Style can be a big thing for most artists, and both myself and Luciana [Eguti, Birdo co-founder] certainly have preferences in the way we draw, but equally we love trying something completely new visually from one project to the other.â€? For self-taught Hong Kong-based animator Wong Ping, a lack of technical skills helped deďŹ ne his style early on. “With no traditional training, everything I learned came from experimenting. My early work was kind of cute and minimal, and from there it just randomly evolved.â€? Mixing topics such as teenage lust, shame and sexual suppression with a surprisingly fresh and luscious colour palette, narrative is the anchor by which his characters interact and connect with one another, informing how the characters look, feel and sound. “Once the story is 50 per cent done in my head, I will then start designing the main characters and environment in order to set the mood of the piece.â€?

LUCAS ZANOTTO YATATOY DRAWNIMAL www.yatatoy.com Product designer Lucas Zano o created hisÂ ďŹ rst kids app Drawnimal a er playing with an origami book with his daughter “I wanted to bring a similar analog tactile and funny learning experience to our daily digital devices â€? Alongside Ulrich Troyer _sound` and Niels Homann _development` Lucas has launched two high quality apps under their Yatatoy brand which incorporate mostly handcra ed animations and analogue sounds

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 48 -

The process by which a character is crafted can be rather subjective, often drawn intuitively. “We tend to do whatever our gut feeling or inclination is at the time,â€? say the TADO duo, who have a global following for their unique blend of cute and nasty. “It often depends on whether we have a brief to work to or whether it’s a purely personal project. Our personal stu tends to be a bit more warped.â€? For TADO, taking inspiration from the real world helps fuel their ideas, and the practice of real-world observation can be endlessly fascinating. “Just by observing the mechanics of a character or animal and how they aect the way it moves and the gestures it can make can be a real source of inspiration,â€? says Tang. “Our work tends not to reference too many things literally – we try to imagine how we’d like it to be instead, and then use the stu we’ve noted and observed to add to the characters and the environments they inhabit.â€? Whimsical watercolours and over-the-edge, multicoloured magic are the trademark of the DĂźsseldorf-based illustrator Nadine Redlich. She believes that to give your characters personality, all that really matters is placing the pupils inside the eyeballs, as “this is where the magic lies.â€? There is a sense, then, that good character design needs to feel familiar, but at the same time bring something unexpected to the viewer, as Muppet argues. â€œA good design can communicate a lot about the character, but it also needs to leave enough room for the viewer’s imagination. Much of the character is revealed by its behaviour, not by how it

CH AR ACTE R DE SI G N SE C R E T S Cast of characters from the Adventure Time series featuring the main protagonists Finn and Jake

Adventure Time characters created for an online competition on Ristaino’s blog Skronked

Ristaino’s work on Adventure Time won him an Emmy Award win for his character designs for the ďŹ h season episode Puhoy

ANDY RISTAINO: ADVENTURE TIME skronked.tumblr.com www.cartoonnetwork.co.uk/show/adventure-time “The goal of a character designer is to make the main characters as appealing as possible in as simple a way as possible â€? says Adventure Time lead designer Andy Ristaino A cartoon about the last human boy Finn and a shapechanging dog named Jake Adventure Time is about their journey in the post-apocalyptic world called Ooo  â€œI think that challenge is what a racted me to character design â€? Originally created for a younger audience Adventure Time has grown and matured into something that appeals to adults and children alike  â€œThe show has continuity and the actions and decisions the characters make have lasting repercussions â€? says Ristaino who started working on the show in %$% Taking inspiration from nature and his surroundings it’s a process that can’t be rushed “Experimenting with shape and form and just taking the time to let your mind wonder is great for character development â€? Advising budding designers to keep drawing  he concludesX “It takes time practice eort and  a lot of exploration but if you keep digging you’ll eventually ďŹ nd a place that is totally your own â€?

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 49 -

looks.” In fact, when it comes to capturing the essence of great character design, TADO insists that a definitive set of ‘tick the box’ characteristics doesn’t really exist, nor should it. “There are certainly formulas for making things cute, intimidating, passive and so on, but we think the really fun characters are usually the ones that bypass these rules.” Luciana Eguti and Paulo Muppet founded Birdo with two computers and a fax machine back in 2005. At that time the animation industry in Brazil was small and mostly focused on motion graphics, and after meeting at a web agency and becoming work partners, the opportunity was too

“A GOOD DESIGN CAN COMMUNICATE A LOT ABOUT THE CHARACTER, BUT IT ALSO NEEDS TO LEAVE ENOUGH ROOM FOR THE VIEWER’S IMAGINATION” P A U L O M U P P ET

good to pass up. “I have always loved animation ever since I was a kid, from Disney (of course) to NFB shorts that were luckily on air here in Brazil.” Says Eguti, producer and director at Birdo. “I could never have guessed it at the time, but it has been a great foundation for my work.” As directors, the duo have worked on more than 80 projects, including six feature films, 17 short films and music videos, and dozens of commercials for clients such as FIAT, Google and Unilever, and many other diverse projects from social games to theatre plays. Most recently, Birdo created the Olympic and Paralympic Mascots for Rio 2016 (see case study), a project that Muppet describes humbly as “pretty big.”

In recent years they have been shifting their focus to creating and producing original content, such as their animation on Caveirão, a short directed by Guilherme Marcondes which features animated sequences laid over live action footage filmed in São Paulo. Inspired by the darker side of Brazilian pop culture, the film crosses genres and techniques, mixing live action, animation and 3D visual effects. “We are lucky to be involved in projects with a lot of creative freedom and each new film at Birdo becomes personal for us in lots of ways,” explains Muppet. “We try to incorporate a certain amount of experimentation in every commercial project we’re involved in and we try not to think in terms of commercial versus personal projects.”

ENCHANTED WORLDS From dynamic cities, landscapes and fast-moving characters, to the more relaxed, enchanted worlds of sinister characters performing strange ceremonies, TADO’s playful output is a reflection of how much fun the duo have working together. This is especially evident in their ongoing collaboration with Sheffield-based wood carver Nick Hunter. “The most challenging projects are usually the ones we set ourselves,” says Tang, referencing their ongoing side project Panda Otaku, a yet-to-be-written, darkly humorous graphic novel that combines their love of comics, otaku-culture, things with wheels and food. TADO’s wooden Panda Otaku figures have been sold in limited runs at events like ToyCon, which helped secure a special commission from Sanrio last October (see case study). It makes a strong case for the power of the passion project. “Making time to do your own stuff is incredibly important, especially from a commercial point of view,” says Tang. “It’s a great way to learn new tricks and often leads to fresh avenues and opportunities. It might just lead to your dream commission.”

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 50 -

MUXXI MAGICAL CREATURES www.muxxi.me Characterised by multicoloured kaleidoscopic landscapes and ‘magical creatures’ the work of Guatemalan artist Muxxi takes inspiration from the pa erns nature and colour of her home country “My ideas always come from my sketchbook where I draw everything that crosses my mind ” she says of her working process A graduate of San Carlos of Guatemala the illustrator and character designer has applied her unique visual style to walls products and apparel creating designs for interiors and brands “I love the Kawaii movement with all these cute and adorable characters with big eyes and peculiar shapes and colours ” adds Muxxi whose recent projects include a recent collaboration with Portuguese sock brand Cha yFeet “It has been a long and interesting journey^ I can see every year that my style is evolving depending on my tastes and I like that There’s not much science or secret behind my style I just keep incorporating what I see and feel every day and things keep changing and ge ing be er ”

CH AR ACTE R DE SI G N SE C R E T S

Illustration for Society'’s zine Lost Time which is still in production

Personal commission for an indoor mural during a trip round Germany this year

Muxxi was commissioned by British apparel brand Cha yFeet to produce designs for these colourful socks %"

Kloss The Clown a design created for Cha yFeet in %

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 51 -

Muxxi uses her sketchbooks to explore ideas and create characters

Play is an essential component in character development, and a process through which many of our designers create their most exciting work. There is a childlike joy evident in the work of Guatemalan illustrator Muxxi, whose love of the Japanese Kawaii movement is revealed in her colourful drawings of ‘magical creatures’, commissioned by ChattyFeet socks, decal brand Blik and Venezuelan band Roboto, amongst others. “Big eyes, peculiar shapes and colours. I draw everything that crosses my mind,” she reveals. “Everything comes very naturally to me now. I can go as far as I want, be spontaneous and I never know how it’s going to end.” Her highly detailed, surreal illustrations invite the viewer to immerse themselves in a landscape of wonder and invention, riding on candy-coloured carousels with masked characters who dance amongst the stars.

ANALOGUE AND DIGITAL Muxxi’s approach is in direct contrast to Italian designer Lucas Zanatto, who prefers a rather more minimalist approach. A graduate from the Istituto Europeo di Design Milan, Zanatto has a background in motion graphics and product design, and likes to combine analogue and digital media, playing around and exploring new ways of creating animations. “Mostly I try to use less and approach projects in the simplest way – to show and express

BIRDO STUDIO OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC MASCOTS www.birdo.com.br “We tried not to think about the ‘client’ or the competition and instead focused on which characters we would want to be the mascots ” says director Paulo Muppet on Birdo Studio’s winning pitch for the Rio %$' Olympic and Paralympic mascots Exploring the enormous diversity both in nature and culture in the studio’s country fuelled the conceptX “We have people in Brazil with so many different backgrounds and it’s this mixture that makes the country such a cool place ” The resulting characters for the Olympic mascot _Vinicius` and the Paralympic mascot _Tom` are formed out of a mix of Brazilian animals and plants

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 52 -

messages and emotions. Characters have for a long time been part of my work and they always fascinate me.” In 2012 he also set up Yatatoy, which makes simple apps for kids using a combination of handcrafted animations and analogue sounds. His app Drawnimal expands the frame of the digital screen to incorporate objects or drawings located outside, into the creation of animals – an idea born from playing with an origami book with his daughter. He advises creating a set of rules for characters that define their graphical elements: “In this way, you build a family,” Zanatto explains. “After that you have a lot more freedom to play with the sizes and proportions of these elements to create different characters that form part of this family.” Similarly, illustrator James Wilson, who goes under the moniker of Jambonbon, aspires to convey personality and feeling in the most immediate way, with the use of bold, simple shapes that cut clean silhouettes. With a degree in graphic design and animation under his belt, an interest in character design came with the territory. “I almost always design my characters with animation at the back of my mind, even if they don’t end up being animated,” says Wilson, whose first job was creating character turnarounds and props in flash for a 2D series at A Productions in Bristol, shortly after graduating. “If I can imagine them moving, it means I can pose them,” continues Wilson. “I love a good GIF.”

VISUAL CULTURE For Wilson, characters have always been present, and it’s this exposure from such a young age that has had a lasting impact on him. “My mother is Japanese so I guess the visual culture of Japan has been a big influence on me,” reflects Wilson. “They have an anthropomorphised mascot to represent just about anything out there. I just love seeing faces on things that shouldn’t generally have a face.”

CH AR ACTE R DE SI G N SE C R E T S

JAMBONBON: CHARACTER PARADE jambonbon.com Developed during a speed character design experiment Jambonbon’s character parade was inspired by the idea to very quickly draw a range of simple forms and use them as starting points for body shapes “I started by adding very quick facial features limbs and props and ended up with a li le parade of characters â€? says James Wilson He was then invited by Pictoplasma to submit some work for their Character Compendium from which they picked their ďŹ ve favourites “Some of them even got embossed onto the white leather cover â€?

- Character designs for the Pictoplasma Character Compendium published in % Character development self-initiated %"

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 53 -

Character sketches and initial pencilled ideas self-initiated %"

It’s a sentiment shared by Zanatto, who likes to roam the Finnish countryside armed with a pair of disembodied eyes, transforming inanimate objects and the natural landscape into his own collection of characters, documented on a dedicated Tumblr page. Titled Have A Face, the website provides an online platform for Zanatto to explore and experiment creatively away from his commercial work. For Birdo, animation is a ‘playground’ that leads to creative output that’s colourful, high energy and a joy to watch – yet each piece is stylistically very dierent. Was this variation a conscious decision or something that naturally evolved over time? “I guess this reects what we like to do in animation and fun certainly takes the top spot,â€? smiles

Muppet. “Ultimately, we believe that fun is the quickest route to keeping the audience entertained.â€? Interestingly, the biggest hurdle that Birdo has faced has been applying its abundance of skill and experience to a more controlled environment. “I think we are going through the most challenging stage of our professional lives,â€? says Muppet, who together with Eguti and a small team are involved in the design and production of seven animated series. “Trying to condense what we learned from the chaotic, short format ďŹ lms we have been used to has been an eye-opening experience.â€? For TADO, there isn’t much of a boundary between working in a physical sense and working in a digital/2D way.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TIPS From everyday observation skills to expressing even the most ridiculous idea, here’s some practical character design advice

Create a set of rules DeďŹ ne the graphical elements present in each character and apply this to developing a character family Play with size and proportion to create dierent characters within this family Try to incorporate a li le experimentation into every project Make everything you create personal and you will naturally invest more in developing your skills at every opportunity Observation is key Be aware of your surroundings and watch how people interact with each other and how this aects things like body language and expression Try to capture these things on paper when developing characters – it can lead to unique and unusual results Don’t wait for your dream project to land at your feet Create self-initiated work that crosses over between the stu you really want to be doing and developing in your personal work with a client brief – even if it’s one you’ve wri en for yourself

“We tend to think in 3D regardless of what we’re doing, so when we draw a character at on the screen we tend to have a pretty good idea of how it will work in a 3D sense or what the back view of the character would look like regardless of whether it will ever be used in that way.â€? Advocating the use of humour and personality as key components in their character development, TADO say that they tend not to reference too many things literally, but instead try to imagine how they’d like it to be, using observations to add to the characters and environments that they inhabit. “Most important is transmitting the character’s personality to the audience, but it’s more fun if you can do that by going against the norm.â€?

Next month: Why you should look outside your comfort zone when choosing a typeface for your next design project – and all the small type foundries you should know about.

Think in three dimensions Draw a character and consider how it would look from the side the back and the front – not just at on the screen Sketch dierent perspectives Take a deep look in the mirror Try to distill the essence of your appearance and soul Take a pen bring it to paper This is fundamental to developing your style A strong personality assures a character’s longevity Everything from the eyes and the proportions to the way a character moves and gestures needs careful consideration Trust your intuition and let your style evolve naturally over time Don’t be afraid of ridiculous ideas There’s no such thing as a bad drawing Try to have fun with your own work and give yourself the freedom to play Make time for ďŹ eld trips Inspiration can come from the most unexpected places

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 54 -

WONG PING: DOGGY LOVE nowhynowhy.com Commissioned by Nowness for Valentine’s Day Doggy Love is an animated short that tells the story of a teenage boy’s ďŹ xation with a classmate boasting breasts on her back “The concept is simply about teenage love and lust â€? reveals Hong Kong-based animator Wong Ping who was given free reign on the project to create his darkly humorous tale “The ďŹ lm questions why love is o en represented by the heart shaped symbol â€? The result is rather lurid and entertaining concluding with a touching sentiment “As a teenager we all do stupid tricks or play mean jokes on girls to get their a ention As we grow up we have more self control I guess the video is a tribute to that period in time â€?

CH AR ACTE R DE SI G N SE C R E T S

WWW COMPUTERARTS CO U K - 55 -

MAKING HEY Barcelona-based Hey Studio may have humble origins, but its uplifting fusion of bold shapes, colours and characters has won it global acclaim

AT A GL ANCE: HE Y D A T E F O U N D E D : %% N U M B E R O F S T A F F : L O C A T I O N : Barcelona Spain D I S C I P L I N E S : Brand identity editorial design and illustration F E A T U R E D P R O J E C T S : San Miguel ArtFad U R L : www heystudio es

WORDS: Lisa Hassell PHOTOGRAPHY: Hey / Roc Canals www roccanals com

H

ey is an a itude not just a particular style of design or illustration The studio’s work transmits positivity that runs like a thread throughout its eye-catching portfolio Specialising in brand identity editorial design and illustration its output is deďŹ ned by clever use of geometry together with clean typography and a lively colour pale e summed up by studio founder Verònica Fuerte as ‘works that transform ideas into communicative graphics’ Fuerte set up the studio in %% a er several years spent as a post-graduate working for a variety of design studios in Barcelona Within a year she was joined by fellow Elisava graduate and Hey Studio partner Ricardo Jorge and together they built Hey into the multi-disciplinary studio that it is today Complementing Fuerte’s extensive design skills with Jorge’s illustrative air the pair quickly established a foothold in the Spanish design industry creating work for Gandules Art Fad and Monocle magazine “We were only two for a very long time â€? says Fuerte  â€œInitially we only had a few clients – most of them were friends We worked a lot together to have a big portfolio and develop Hey’s style International clients also came and over time we started to have a lot more projects â€? Now the studio is ďŹ ve strong with designer and typographer Mikel Romero Eva Vesikansa who joined as a student in %$> and creative manager Paula SĂĄnchez who joined earlier this year Situated in the historical neighbourhood of Barrio GĂłtico in Barcelona Hey works out of a shared workspace “Our location is very inspirational â€? continues Fuerte “Before arriving to the studio we pass through theatres shops galleries institutional buildings and so on and see people and daily scenes that give us ideas for projects â€?

The size of the team and close-knit working environment naturally leads to high-energy conversations and brain storming sessions where they can each bounce ideas o each other^ producing consistently impressive bold and colourful designs for clients like Apple Monocle Nokia Microso The Wall Street Journal and more In %$ Hey was also chosen as one of the $ ‘up-andcoming’ artists for Pick Me Up London When a new brief comes in the process is always the same “We research observe work things up in a group and then se le on ideas â€? says Fuerte who actively encourages a collaborative approach with li le hierarchy “We are four designers – each of us can resolve an idea in an aesthetically dierent way It’s good for the client to see a multitude of solutions â€? Their marked styles mean that the formal process is faster though this varies for illustration commissions due to the o en tight deadlines “We don’t have time to create dierent solutions in these cases â€? says Fuerte “The ďŹ rst idea needs to be a good one â€?

GR APHICS FOR GANDULES Every year Hey handles the design of the CCCB’s open-air cinema season Gandules in Barcelona Each season there is a dierent topic and the team works collaboratively to produce a design or illustration which can be applied to the Gandules progammes For its %$% identity Hey illustrated a new dawn to represent the cinema season theme of ‘Action!’ and how crisis generates new approaches and possibilities More recently the theme of ‘Away from

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 58 -

The approach of Hey Studio o en involves novel experiments with colour

HE Y ST UDI O

PROJECT FOCUS SAN MIGUEL ‘A PL ACE CALLED THE WORLD’ A map of the world was the se ing for this elaborate illustration When Hey Studio was approached by San Miguel and Athletic Bilbao football club it provided the ideal platform to play with character To create it Hey Studio’s designers took direct inspiration from the team’s fans or ‘basques’ as they’re known in Spain named a er the Basque Country where the team reside Commissioned by advertising agency SCPF *based in Barcelona+ for the Spanish beer brand in question Hey’s starting point was a concept of a world invasion illustrated on a map showing football fans playing the fool and acting out cliches from the Basque tradition “The characters featured in the illustration are ‘Athletic de Bilbao’

supporters ” says Fuerte and depicts the fans competing with locals in funny and exaggerated poses “Basques are known to be rough and brag about being the best at everything we decided to create characters which expressed this a itude ” Many of the iconic buildings of the city are also represented turning the world into a strange map of the city of Bilbao The final illustration was designed to sit inside a sports newspaper and each element had to be organised within a strong geometry in order to translate the idea without ge ing lost in the detail “We designed a character model with the least amount of detail we could ” says Veronica “This allowed us to add more scenes within a busy layout ”

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 59 -

Home’ was chosen for %$ with the studio creating a series of bold geometric illustrations that depict a ag and the sea which Fuerte describes as “a frontier between countries and cultures â€? When questioned about what has been Hey’s most experimental work to date Fuerte references the studio’s brand identity for the Film Commission Chile^ an organisation set up to promote Chile as a movie production destination and assist production teams on choosing destinations “It was quite ambitious and they got in touch with us directly â€? Fuerte says The team grabbed the opportunity to apply its own signature style to the branding project taking inspiration from duct/gaer tape “The tape is omnipresent in the world of movie production Tapes unite join mark hold point remind and help to work â€? explains Fuerte Illustrations of the tape resemble the classic movie celluloid ďŹ lm and as a concept the tape serves to speak about the linking missions of the FCCh “The image is drawn up in dierent directions with variations in the colour pale e created to represent the diversity of landscapes we can ďŹ nd in the Chilean territory â€? Together all elements combine to compose a unique image with a well-deďŹ ned personality

Almost all of Hey Studio’s client base is international  The studio made an appearance at BCN/MCR in %$> as one of the most innovative and cu ing-edge Barcelona–based design agencies alongside Lamosca Lo Siento MayĂşscula and Mucho curated by Manchester-based freelance designer Dave Sedgwick as a culture exchange between the two cities

COLOUR IN CONTE X T Following on from numerous speaker engagements G F Smith together with It’s Nice That invited Hey Studio to take part in their ‘Colour in Context’ event in Edinburgh last year alongside photographer Jess Bonman and art director Sarah May Fuerte took the stage to discuss how Hey uses colour referencing an early project for the Spanish Laus Design Awards in %$%  â€œIt was a real challenge for us to design something that was for designers – all the eyes would be on the execution â€? Creating an abstract campaign that reects the passing of time the ‘L’ – standing for Laus – was represented in dierent colour paper sheets in the shape of a die It was a launchpad for a collaboration with ArtFad that still endures today _see the case study opposite` Perhaps one of the studio’s most high-proďŹ le projects to date has been its work with Monocle magazine which covers global aairs business culture design and more Hey’s initial commission from the client back in %$% was to design an illustrated cover on the subject of re-imagining the working day This was in fact one of the

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 60 -

A personal illustration project/ every day Hey posted an icon of popular culture on Instagram

HE Y ST UDI O

PROJECT FOCUS ARTFAD CONTEMPOR ARY ART AND CR AF T AWARDS IDENTIT Y Tactile processes and materials inspire this annual branding project When ArtFad approached Hey Studio in to create the identity for its annual awards li le did either side know that it would be the beginning of lasting collaboration Conceiving a concept that centered around the le er ‘A’ Hey Studio adopted a handmade aesthetic to reect the cra element of the award Every year Hey Studio turns to a dierent technique to represent the â€˜A’ utilising dierent handmade processes and over the last few years has rendered the identity in linocut ribbon  coloured paper stock and adhesive vinyl creating an on-going series of ‘collectable’ designs The two key factors that determine the studio’s choice of materials in the project are the necessity for a quick turnaround and basic aordability “Everything we do is handmade just so that we can create something unique special and dierent â€? says Fuerte “We deliberately keep the rules simple to give us the freedom to experiment â€? For the incarnation the idea was to represent a geometrical A outline as a layout and then add colour pa erns or materials The invitations were made using Maxon comic pa erns and the only machine process involved was the printing of the text and lines The studio purchased dierent pa erns that were applied by hand one by one to create unique invitations With each year comes a new challenge “The solutions that weÂ ďŹ nd are more diďŹƒcult to do by ourselves â€? says Fuerte “It means more hours Rush hours It is exciting at the beginning doing something by hand and no computer But when you are doing it solid for two weeks it can be hard â€?

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 61 -

studio’s ďŹ rst forays into character design however it has since led to a lasting working relationship with the Londonbased publication “Monocle magazine is known worldwide and the publication has an extensive network of designers and collaborators so the ďŹ rst time they contacted us was an amazing moment â€? says Fuerte Complementing Hey Studio’s creative output self-initiated projects provide further opportunity for creative exploration described by Fuerte as vital to the studio “in order to explore innovate and move forward â€? Hey’s %$> solo exhibition at London’s Kemistry Gallery prompted a further exploration of character design – a cheeky reimagining of ancient Greek gods – each with their own powers weaknesses and back story For Hey  it’s clear that personal projects are almost as important as its commercial works “We always try to make our work reach a wide audience and be simple to understand â€? says Fuerte “Playing around with this synthesis you come upon solutions that are quite basic and obvious and which many people usually like â€?

HE Y INSTAGR AM! Riding the wave of its newfound interest in character design the studio conceived ‘EveryHey’ – a project that exploded on Instagram last year Illustrating an icon from pop culture and posting it every day the dedicated account has amassed over %%% followers since its inception becoming the studio’s most well-known personal project – not bad for something that simply began as a bit

of fun “Side projects give us the space to push our creative boundaries and develop a passion that is then injected into clients’ work â€? The project also inspired the production of the limited edition Hey CharactersX A Book for Friends which the studio sent out to clients and friends in order to showcase “literary characters designed the way we like â€? Fuelled by a need to share its passion for typography illustration and bold graphics the studio has now branched out into online retail on the back of a successful pop-up at OFFF Festival in Barcelona last year It’s natural to wonder if this entrepreneurial behaviour led to more client work or if selling work became a goal in itself Fuerte answersX “Selling work is deďŹ nitely something we aspire to do Our shop is truly what Hey is So the high purchases are synonymous of our success as designers and creators We are very glad people like what we do â€? As the studio grows character design continues to enrich its creative output^ from cover illustration for quarterly design publication Process Journal to a recent Studio DBD and TwentyTwentyTwo gallery collaboration further evidencing the studio’s versatility Hey illustrated a book titled Gol! featuring characters of individual star players from all > dierent teams In addition to this Hey also recently designed two stamps for the June issue of Vanity Fair referencing a few characters from a very famous – as yet undisclosed – ďŹ lm Arguably one of the most innovative Barcelonabased design agencies Hey Studio is clearly one to watch Nurturing close relationships with many of its clients on an international level yet retaining a balance between commercial work and experimental projects it enjoys a level of freedom many can only dream of “It doesn’t ma er if the project is large or small prestigious or frivolous â€? concludes Fuerte “When both sides trust each other you can take things up a level and do something really exciting â€?

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 62 -

A set of die-cut labels where the holes suggest constant nibbling produced for a jam company in Miami

FREE! 3 HOURS OF VIDEO TUTORIALS + MODELS + SCENE FILES INSPIRING CG ARTISTS

FREE!

8GB OF RESOURCES

MAYA 2016 TRAINING

Master the new tools to model amazing CG

ISSUE 196 ON SALE NOW!

ULTIMATE VFX SPECIAL Read the exclusive visit to ILM, to celebrate 40 years of VFX!

Newsstand for iOS: www.bit.ly/3dworld-app Print: www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/3dwsubs

CREATE TH E P E R F E C T E XHI B I T I ON

CREATE THE PERFECT EXHIBITION IN A WEEK From maximising space to the virtues of Velcro here’s how to put on the perfect show when time isn’t on your side WORDS: Anne Wollenberg ILLUSTRATION: Peter Judson peterjudson.com

PÂ

u ing an exhibition together can be a race against time whether you’re polishing your ďŹ nal-year projects or juggling commercial commissions For exhibitors preparing for this year’s Pick Me Up graphics festival things got even more hectic when the venue was evacuated following an electrical ďŹ re at a nearby tube station and thousands of people had to leave the whole area Pick Me Up opened on time in spite of the earlier disruption Now into its sixth year the festival regularly features the best emerging and established artists and designers While most exhibitions aren’t hindered by electrical ďŹ res there are still plenty of practicalities to consider Get the basics covered and you’ll be be er prepared to cope if something does go awry From graduate shows to commercial galleries the underlying principles are the same “Simple good ideas displayed well That’s the most important thing you can do â€? says Mike Radclie managing director of design recruitment agency Represent “Show the kind of work you want to do and the kind of company you want to work for â€?

G AV I N LU C A S C O - F O U N D E R O U T L I N E ARTISTS Writer and editor Gavin joined with Camilla Parsons to co-found Outline Editions in

They launched Outline Artists an illustration agency and consultancy in www outlineartists com

C H A R L I E HOOD C O - F O U N D E R B E ACH LON D O N Charlie co-owns Beach London a gallery cafĂŠ and bookshop in London’s Shoreditch exhibiting everything from vintage arcade machines to lapel pin badges

www beach london

Exhibitions exist in a physical space That sounds obvious we know but it’s worth properly considering what that means “Anyone can have a website and show their work online â€? says Gavin Lucas co-founder of illustration agency Outline Artists “The physicality of an exhibition the actual potential to meet people is vitally important You can watch them react to your work eavesdrop on conversations oer things for sale and see what works â€? This of course means not treating your show like it’s an extension of your Instagram feed “People are too used to being bombarded with design and illustration through social media â€? says Charlie Hood co-founder of gallery and creative agency Beach London “You need a strong concept or at least a consistent aesthetic Otherwise you can almost see people treating it like they’re staring at a screen and scrolling down a web page â€? What ma ers above all he says is the experience that’s delivered – be this physical emotional or perceptual “Without a clear theme shows can end up being a bit of a jumble sale â€? agrees sculptor Wilfrid Wood So he says he used “a dead-simple subjectâ€? for Dogs his most

JON COCKLEY C O - F O U N D E R H A N D S O M E FRANK Jon formed boutique illustration agency Handsome Frank with his cousin Tom in

They now work with illustrators in ďŹ ve countries for clients such as Adobe and Vogue

www handsomefrank com

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 65 -

S A R A H M AYCO C K F R E E L A N C E I L LU ST R ATO R A er studying illustration and animation at Kingston University Sarah landed a spot at Pick Me Up Selects in where she caught the a ention of agency Handsome Frank www sarahmaycock co uk

TIP-TOP TAKE-AWAYS What makes the best business card or freebie? These tips ensure your take-away isn’t thrown away EXHIBITION ESSENTIALS The ďŹ rst rule of take-aways< they’re not optional “Don’t think for one minute that scribbling your mobile number on a napkin will do It won’t â€? warns Professor Lawrence Zeegan at the London College of Communication BOLD IMAGE “The simplest and best way< have an image on the front and your name email and number on the back â€? says Outline Artists’ Gavin Lucas “Choose one of your boldest images If a card just has some contact details I end up trying to scribble down descriptions of the work on the back â€? ACCURATE INFO Make sure you include all relevant contact details Yes to your email phone number website and active blogs or social media accounts No to misspelt links or tweet-less Twi er accounts Get someone else to proofread Twice DON’T BREAK THE BANK Your take-away needn’t be anything too extravagant or expensive says Jon Cockley at Handsome Frank “A free risograph print pin badge or even just a clever business card will make sure people remember you a er the show â€? STAY RELEVANT “The most memorable take-away I had was a re-skinned Kit-Kat â€? says Oli Bussell “All the contact details were on the wrapper â€? he recalls “But it’s not worth doing something quirky just for the sake of being quirky If you’re doing business cards or take-aways they should relate to your work â€? AID TO MEMORY “It needs to jog people’s memories Otherwise they’ll look at it one month later and not know who you are â€? says Oli Bussell “Have a selection of dierent cards and ask people to choose the one that speaks to them most By making a choice they’re involved in the process and more likely to remember you â€? SUPPLY AND DEMAND Don’t bankrupt yourself with a print run of thousands You don’t want to run out too quickly either so don’t put them all out at once “Ration your business cards â€? advises illustrator Sarah Maycock “Otherwise they’ll go the ďŹ rst day â€?

recent exhibition at Beach London Wood oers this vital piece of wisdom< “I want the ambiguity to be in the individual pieces not what connects them â€? “Really think about how you’re using the space â€? says Outline’s Gavin Lucas “It’s a really powerful thing to make sure people see your work as stand-out on its own without feeling like it’s mashed into a wall full of other stu  You’re always looking for somebody whose work you’d want to hang on your wall but there’s a balance between that immediacy and an ability to tell stories â€?

BE OUTSTANDING Just think about the volume of work that the average visitor sees during graduate show season says Jon Cockley co-founder of illustration agency Handsome Frank “It’s really important not to blend into one generic wave What can you show that will make people think laugh and whip out their phone to post a picture on Instagram?â€? And what to avoid? “Too much variety in the context of one show â€? advises Cockley “It’s important to show diversity but you can do that with subject ma er  size and composition When it comes to style and technique be sure to show you can do one thing well  This isn’t the time to show you tried your hand at lino cu ing before moving on to charcoals and then se ling on a Cinema D approach â€? Illustrator Sarah Maycock thoroughly impressed Cockley at Pick Me Up Selects in “We saw her now-infamous Bear print which was the best-selling print at Pick Me Up that year and decided to sign her on the spot â€? Cockley remembers What clinched it? “Her work was so dierent to everything else on show It consisted of really stripped back minimal mark-making but her paintings conveyed so much personality in just a few strokes â€? Handsome Frank signed her later that year and they’ve been working together ever since

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 66 -

CREATE TH E P E R F E C T E XHI B I T I ON

Sarah Maycock exhibited at Pick Me Up three Beach London’s Charlie Hood “Some artists have a very years running and test-drove her ďŹ rst drawing workshop strict approach< this is what I’m showing and where I’m there in She says it played a major role in the going to put it That doesn’t work We have a be er transition from being a graduate to working in the understanding of our space what works in it and how industry  â€œTo get the chance to be seen by that many people engage with it â€? students tutors designers collectors curators you “The way work is presented framed and titled name it was just amazing really speaks volumes about the person who put the “Most of my ďŹ rst big jobs came directly show together â€? says Jon Cockley “Agents are looking from Pick Me Up It’s the perfect for illustrators who take pride opportunity to get out of the in their work and are showing studio and get work o the screen signs that they care about it and and onto a wall â€? Her advice for will present it in the best light ge ing it right? “You can’t possible â€? Sarah Maycock says second-guess what people will preparing for the Pick Me Up want at exhibitions but you can exhibition forced her to consider certainly consider the context and the logistics of framing work surroundings You want to stand producing and posting prints out but that doesn’t necessarily “which has set me up for life Lots mean shouting People appreciate of things went wrong and I wasted some visual calm and space â€? money and time on unsuitable “Keep your exhibit succinct things but now I’ve built a strong and to the point â€? agrees network of go-to people â€? Professor Lawrence Zeegen That trusted team may D&AD trustee and dean of the include specialists such as LAWRENCE ZEEGEN, DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF DESIGN AT THE LCC school of design at the London printers framers and art handlers College of Communications “All the things you probably “Know what you want your work weren’t taught at university â€? to say and who you want to say it says photographer Luke Evans to â€? Show the work well and it will speak for itself he says The biggest mistake he says is hanging work too high “But remember< great presentation of a poor idea won’t He recommends sticking to ‘gallery height’ – where the save you â€? It’s also important to be conďŹ dent but not centre is mounted at inches – and pack an exhibition cocky he adds “You need to demonstrate that you survival kit “There are always people asking for string know your stu but that you also know you have a lot gaer tape tape measures and masking tape so be more to learn â€? sure to stock up on those â€? Before you nail down your selection talk to the Charlie Hood swears by Velcro which can hold other people with a stake in the space “It’s always good to up to kilos “We’ve done complete shows with it before get an alternate opinion on what should go where â€? says A good drill is also important – I prefer ones that plug

“KNOW WHAT YOU WANT YOUR WORK TO SAY, AND WHO YOU WANT TO SAY IT TO. BUT REMEMBER: GREAT PRESENTATION OF A POOR IDEA WON’T SAVE YOU�

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 67 -

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR GRADUATE SHOW Don’t be afraid of failure says Neville Brody founder of Brody Associates and dean of the school of communication at the Royal College of Art PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT You don’t work in a vacuum People are going to look at what you do Learning to navigate and negotiate that curation experience is crucial – it’s about understanding that touchpoint of engagement EMBRACE FAILURE A tutor’s advice is just that You could grow more by not following advice and learning from a mistake It’s ďŹ ne if you try something that doesn’t work Failure is a very important part of this process SHOWS AREN’T EXAMS A show and an exam are two dierent things With a show you won’t be doing the same introduction and explanation for every passer-by It has a very dierent function POWERFUL PRESENCE Being by your work is a small sacriďŹ ce that makes a big dierence If someone wants to discuss it and you’re not there you may just get forgo en We tell our students to be with their work as much as possible OVERALL ENVIRONMENT A show is also an installation so think of the whole environment as part of your presentation People hardly ever read captions They may look for your name but most aren’t interested beyond that Take-aways are far more important CHANGE THINGS AROUND It can be demoralising if people don’t stop at your work But there’s no right or wrong way to do this so experiment with it I encourage people to change the work or installation during the show to see if something else works be er SELF-DISCOVERY I have employed people from shows before but it’s the follow-up meeting that’s really important there More than anything a show is an opportunity to learn more about your own work

into the wall as it’s annoying to run out of power â€? Also on Hood’s must-have list< hammer screws and a spirit level Once you’ve got your display sorted there’s still plenty le to think about “The thing people get wrong most? Not leaving a card â€? says Gavin Lucas “When you’re doing a show you want people to take notice If you’re serious then you need two things< a business card with your contact details and a website â€? Sometimes students club together form a collective and build a website he notes “That’s a really powerful tool At an exhibition you look at work and ideas The next thing you do is look people up online to see more of their work â€? Make that a snappy memorable web address says Charlie Hood He also recommends taking as many pictures of the event as possible “It’s always worth ge ing a professional in – don’t just take low-resolution camera phone pictures We’re also pushing the boat out a bit by doing more with videographers at Beach London For the Wilfrid Wood’s Dogs show for example we did a Bring Your Own Dog drawing special and made a video where we had loads of dogs in the gallery â€? Hood says visitor numbers tend to spike at around pm “It’s a running joke that our beer always runs out at pm however many we get â€? he says It’s always worth providing food and drink – it improves the experience and people won’t be so quick to leave with a drink in their hand “Speak to local or small breweries â€? Hood suggests “We do a lot with Camden Town Brewery because their founder really likes design and illustration â€?

PUT YOURSELF ON SHOW Once you’re ready to open it’s tempting to hide away and let the exhibition do the talking But if Brinley Clark had done that he wouldn’t have landed his job at The Partners He met creative director Nick Clark at the New Designers show in London – he was showing a project based on a brief with the theme of fakery which used typographic

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 68 -

CREATE TH E P E R F E C T E XHI B I T I ON

posters for British tanning salons “The ďŹ rst thing I wanted to do was catch people’s a ention with big bright work â€? he says “I wanted to make sure that when anyone walked in my work was the ďŹ rst thing they saw â€? Nick Clark was head of the judging panel “He approached me and said ‘Explain your work to me’ I was brutally honest â€? remembers Brinley “I told him how passionate I was and how much I wanted to work for The Partners â€? In his case this was true – he even wrote his dissertation on A Smile In The Mind by The Partners founder David Stuart “But it’s like being questioned by the police â€? he warns “If you lie it will come out â€?

A er the show he followed up by sending Nick a book he had designed A month later the phone rang with a job oer But exhibitions aren’t just about seeking instant success< “It’s easy to fall into the trap of seeing success purely in terms of sales â€? says Wilfrid Wood “Obviously I want to sell work but most of the money I earn is from commissions not shows The work I put together for a show is exactly what I want it to be with no interference from art directors so people can see what I do naturally â€? You should still try to mingle whatever your ambitions “It can be an awkward thing to do â€? says Gavin Lucas “But you don’t have to do the hard sell If people

INSIDER INSIGHTS FROM PICK ME UP Three of this year’s exhibitors reect on what worked for them at the annual graphic arts festival held at Somerset House on the Strand for the sixth year running HATTIE NEWMAN SET DESIGNER AND IMAGE MAKER “It was important to show real D models in my area because all of my images are photographs of D sets I wish I had shown more models as people responded really well to them and they help people understand how my D images are made “My model house on stilts had an LED ďŹ re ickering inside but the ba ery ran out halfway through and it was diďŹƒcult to change it In hindsight I should have had the LEDs connected to the mains Make sure you plan ahead I was in a rush to get my prints framed by the end# and keep framing simple and consistent â€? www ha ienewman co uk MIKALA TAI DIRECTOR OF SUPERGRAPH “We created a cardboard tepee to house our Design Tarot a new product that we made in collaboration with The Design Kids this year Our friends at All Of This in Melbourne helped design the tepee It was a massive hit at Supergraph in Melbourne this year so we couldn’t wait to bring it to London I think it’s been a success because it is so interactive and playful Sometimes

design can be rather serious and this makes it a li le more approachable If you had told me last year that we would own a travelling cardboard tepee I wouldn’t have believed you But sometimes you have to ride that creative tangent out and see where it ends up � www supergraph com au SARAH MAYCOCK ILLUSTRATOR “With Pick Me Up you are exhibiting alongside hundreds and hundreds of images with no running theme and every colour shape and size you can imagine But I hope people can sense when someone is trying to be brave and sincere “While preparing to sell some prints in the Pick Me Up ’ shop I tripped up on the fact that the bank holiday weekend meant I had less time than I thought so the custom tubes didn’t arrive on time I keep a whiteboard calendar so I can stay on top of deadlines which stops me from having truly mad panics – or at least keeps them to a minimum!� www sarahmaycock co uk

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 69 -

seem interested in your work or you see them picking up your card just say hello Some will be happy to talk and some will just take your card and move on but you can’t underestimate the power of being there If somebody shows a glimmer of interest follow that up â€? The Partners designer Oli Bussell a ends graduate shows in search of fresh talent “I’ve been to shows where no-one pulls you in and you hover about â€? he says “Something has to capture your a ention to start with Sometimes that can be the person rather than the work as it’s hard to make your stu shout â€? The best graduate shows he says “have had the students there with the work and they’ve grabbed you out of the crowd and given you direction â€? If that sounds daunting Represent’s Mike Radclie has a few pointers on what to say< “Just chat talk about design ask their opinion on your work I always say don’t ask for a job – ask for a meeting instead It’s much harder for people to say no â€? “Go to the private view and go to the exhibition for a few days so you can meet and talk to people â€? says Sarah Maycock “You never know what might happen It can be a lonely job so make the most of meeting people â€? she adds “I’ve received emails sometimes years later from designers saying they popped my work in a ďŹ le hoping for a future project where my talents would be relevant and now it’s come along â€? Next month We celebrate the people at the beating heart

of the design industry who rarely get the same recognition

as their creative director in our inaugural Unsung Heroes

Awards – and discover the secrets of their success

CASE STUDY: LUKE EVANS Luke Evans scored a Saatchi exhibition during his second year at university and exhibited in this year’s Pick Me Up Selects During his second year studying graphic design and photography at Kingston University Luke Evans received a life-changing email It was from the Saatchi Gallery The gallery manager saw his Forge series – miniature landscapes made from household objects – on It’s Nice That and Evans believes his previous project which involved swallowing camera ďŹ lm also caught their a ention “People like to see a continuous production of work â€? he says They asked to see his portfolio One problem< he didn’t have one “It was around Christmas a strange time for students as you’re partway through the year I scrambled around ridiculously for the next few weeks â€? The meeting was a success and Saatchi snapped up Forge for its New Order III< British Art Today exhibition Evans also appeared in Pick Me Up Selects “It’s a graphic art fair* I was reaching people I probably wouldn’t otherwise reach I made sure the work I put in was suitable â€? he says “I think it’s a lot more mature than the work I did two years ago â€? Next Evans is doing “something with explosivesâ€? but can’t reveal what at the time of going to press# and is about to release his ďŹ rst art book “I always think about who I want to see my work â€? he says “Where are galleries and commissioning editors looking? Find out what blogs they’re reading and get your work in there – you’ll reach so many more people without being pushy â€? These days he knows people are following what he does “So that’s always in the back of my mind â€? he says “University can be a bit inward-facing because you make work for your course to impress your peers or tutors Being as outward-facing as possible is one of the most important things to learn â€?

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 70 -

EXCLUSIVE COMPETITION!

DESIGN A CYCLING JERSEY! RULE THE ROADS IN YOUR OWN KIT Computer Arts has teamed up with bespoke performance cyclewear brand Milltag to give you the opportunity to design your very own cycling jersey To enter simply download the jersey template and submit your creation to hello@computerarts com by July Milltag will print one lucky reader’s winning design FOR FULL DETAILS JERSEY TEMPLATE AND T&CS VISIT

creativebloq com/milltag-comp

BACK ISSUES

NEVER MISS AN ISSUE! Catch up on any issue you’ve missed by downloading our digital editions

GO DIGITAL from ÂŁ44.99 per year ISSUE SPRING Self-promo that really works Get on the speaking circuit Develop an intricate wordmark

Market yourself on a budget D&AD cover design contest Sue Murphy in proďŹ le

ISSUE MAY

ISSUE APRIL

ISSUE MARCH

ISSUE FEBRUARY

ways to enhance your print and digital projects create your best ever branding plus exclusive video behind the scenes at GBH

Cra a killer portfolio impress a creative director plus top tips on shooting your work in style and designing custom type

Learn how to pick the perfect typeface design an app interface plus our exclusive video interview with Spin and Unit Editions

Discover the steps to freelance success take control of your cash ow create be er infographics and make yourself indispensable

GOT AN APPLE DEVICE? Download Computer Arts’ multi-award-winning interactive iPad edition, or read a print replica on your iPhone or iPod Touch

www bit ly/CA-iPad www bit ly/CA-iPad-US (US store)

ISSUE JANUARY

ISSUE DECEMBER

ISSUE NOVEMBER

ISSUE OCTOBER

Make your best year ever! Plus< discover the new stars of illustration create custom type and design a exible brand

Revealed< how the world’s top design agencies develop a new brand why disciplines are dead and how to crowdfund your project

The Top UK design studios how to deal with nightmare clients how to freelance your way through college and much more

What the industry needs from the next generation of designers plus a special project in which ďŹ ve graduates run a pop-up studio

ISSUE SEPTEMBER

ISSUE SUMMER

ISSUE AUGUST

ISSUE JULY

How to play to the strengths of your personality and promote your design skills more eectively work with top global brands and much more

Meet the new stars of design how to hire the best talent learn the ďŹ nal shortlist of our D&AD New Blood cover design contest and more

Think like an editorial designer to sharpen your typography skills and learn the process of developing a typeface release campaign

Meet the pioneers changing the face of design discover how to design for the future and hear from Local Projects founder Jake Barton

PREFER TO READ ON ANDROID PC OR MAC? CA is also available on Google Play and Zinio, as well as Kindle, Nook, Windows 8 and more.

www bit ly/CA-GooglePlay www bit ly/CA-Zinio

IPAD EDITION

TRY IT FOR FREE TODAY!

In our tablet-optimised, fully interactive digital edition you’ll find additional imagery, exclusive content and superb screencasts that tie in with the practical projects. Don’t miss it!

TRY IT FOR FREE TODAY WITH OUR NO-OBLIGATION 30-DAY TRIAL AT UK: NETM.AG/NET-IPAD US: NETM.AG/NET-IPAD-US

I NT R O P RO J E C TS

Computer Arts goes behind the scenes with world-leading designers as they reveal their working processes…

INCLUDES PRO WORKFLOW ADVICE Plus: the latest tools and tech for designers

THE NEW SCHOOL: DISRUPTION AND ORDER How Pentagram created an identity for NYC’s New School using a typographic approach that expressed both formal hierarchy and revolutionary spirit 76

CONVERSE: SCALING IT UP IN BROOKLYN

TWININGS TEA: BAGS OF FUN IN A FANTASY WORLD

Russian-born Mago Dovjenko describes his open brief to create a New York mural 87

How Parabella Studio pushed the possibilities of pixilation – and tea tag origami – to conjure an ode to Twinings 90

PLUS:

CREATE COMMERCIAL BRAND GUIDELINES

THE DESIGNER’S HEALTH GUIDE

Video walkthrough: how Wolff Olins created an 83 online brand identity style guide for Orange

Invaluable advice on keeping yourself out of harm’s way, whether you’re working off-site or in the studio 94

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 75 -

THE NEW SCHOOL: AN IDENTITY AT A STRETCH When The New School approached Pentagram’s Paula Scher to help resolve its unique visual identity challenges, she didn’t think she would end up designing a whole new typeface

PROJECT FACTFILE BRIEF The New School approached Paula Scher to help with the naming of its New York institution and to resolve hierarchy within the visual identity and come up with a new logo system AGENCIES Pentagram www pentagram com Typotheque www typotheque com PROJECT DURATION One year LIVE DATE March

THE DESIGN BRIEF Paula Scher

PAULA SCHER PARTNER PENTAGRAM Paula Scher is an American graphic designer painter and art educator in design and the ďŹ rst female principal at Pentagram which she joined in

She has been at the forefront of graphic design for more than three decades and currently works out of Pentagram’s New York oďŹƒce

The New School was founded in 1919. It’s a progressive institution in New York City with a mandate to be inventive and solve problems that aect society. It still has the same mandate today. Over the years, donations or acquisitions helped to form dierent parts of the school, housing dierent institutions, such as Mannes, the classical music college; Lang, the college for liberal arts; and Parsons school of design. Over the years, it had become confusing which programmes belonged to which schools. For example the jazz programme wasn’t part of Mannes, and classical music, dance and drama were not located in a performing arts school. The New School had attempted rebranding a number of times and the last identity by Siegel+Gale tried to connect all the schools through language. Parsons became Parsons: The New School for Design, COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 76 -

Lang became Lang: The New School for Liberal Arts. However this became even more confusing. The school did some research that found it was in a unique position to leverage its historic values and foster innovation. It could do this by oering students the ability to cross schools and design their own curriculum. The project they came to me with was ‘naming’; helping them resolve the hierarchy and mission with that research, and to end up with a logo system. We knew that we had to create an identity where it didn’t matter if you saw The New School and it had a listing for Parsons or Mannes, or a listing of ‘liberal arts’, ‘performing arts’ or ‘design’. It had to be completely recognisable, no matter how the schools were listed; this would allow the curriculum to evolve as the years went by. It all had to be exible, without being generic.

DI A R Y˚ 1 : P E NTA G R A M

PROJECT AT A GLANCE Paula Scher breaks down the process of creating the new logo system for The New School

1 Defining hierarchy

2 A nod to buildings

3 Schools with personality

The first part of the project involved a consideration of hierarchy – it was a fairly typical process The identity had to be flexible It had to talk of Parsons for example as part of The New School but be separate as well and it had to be personalised for each school within this whole

For some visual inspiration I went to the architecture of the old Joseph Urban building and the new building by SOM They both feature stripes which are very distinctive in the architecture That is where the two lines on the logo come from It’s basically a nod to the buildings

One logical way to create hierarchy is just what UAL did – to take Helvetica or any clean typeface and to order the typography so it sits in a column The problem is it’s very ‘un-New School’ Also the schools – Parsons or Mannes – have real personalities and are individualistic

4 Extending the line

5 Customisation

6 Classical and extreme

The type on the SOM building Irma was designed by Peter Bil’ak We did a test of what would happen if we used this font< we stacked it and created a hierarchy Then we connected the schools extending the logo’s line and pu ing all the names below which worked very nicely

But The New School is meant to be a li le bit ground-breaking so it needed some customisation We began extending le erforms and realised that if you had three le erforms – one very wide one regular and one in the middle – you could create a syncopated rhythm with typography

This is the basis for the Neue typeface We realised that you could draw a font that was a combination of three widths at once If you programmed those widths you’d invent a syncopation and colour that I haven’t seen anybody do – some of it looks classical and some looks extreme

7 Rebalancing the letters

8 Custom Pantone

9 The website

We went to Bil’ak to draw and programme the typeface He made some corrections to our drawings and rebalanced the le ers The hardest thing when developing different widths is what happens to the corners of things that have angles like Zs or Ws He did a beautiful job

The New School always had a Parsons Red but we gave them a custom Pantone colour and the whole school can use it The New School is black and white with a touch of red Parsons is mostly red and everything else uses their own combination of white black and red

My favourite iteration of the new identity has to be the website which The New School did in-house It looks great and it will also be evolving in the near future Some of the other collateral is done by The New School art department That’s what it was built for – The New School

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 77 -

PETER BIL’AK TYPE DESIGNER TYPOTHEQUE Graphic and type designer Peter Bil’ak is based in the Hague and works in editorial graphic and type design In

he founded the Typotheque type foundry* he also launched design journal Dot Dot Dot and set up the Indian Type Foundry

WORK IN PROGRESS Paula Scher The first part of the project was hierarchical – figuring out how to list things. There was a committee that was deeply involved in everything I did. It included the dean of Parsons, Joel Towers; fashion designer Kay Unger; and Fred Dust of Ideo. It was very strange to have visual people as clients. We agreed that The New School is essentially an umbrella for listing lots of things. We had to find a way to make everything connected and customised at the same time. We knew we had to take a typographic approach to the design, but I didn’t want to take a regimented font like Helvetica and make Parsons red and Lang blue. Once we created hierarchy, we made order; but The New School is also about challenging and disrupting that order, so we needed to express the independent revolutionary spirit of the school and still have it function as understandable hierarchy. Whatever informed the look of the identity had to be something that had historic significance for the institution or was part of The New School DNA. I drew inspiration from the architecture of the old Joseph Urban building and the new building by SOM. Both have stripes which are very distinctive – that’s where the two lines on the logo come from. The new building also had an interesting type system by Peter Bil’ak, called Irma, which we thought we could use. We soon realised, however, that once you started stacking it, it looks like any other identity. We began extending letterforms, and it started to get interesting. The first thing I did was widen the P on Parsons to make it look more like a logo. Then somebody pointed out it needed something at the end, so I widened the N. Then they said The New School looked ordinary, and the Os looked too round, so we should widen them too. Then they were too wide, so we needed something in the middle. That’s literally how it happened.

INITIAL CONCEPTS TWO IDEAS THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT THROUGH

The first task was figuring out how to create a hierarchy for The New School and its divisions

It was clear that the identity needed to have a typographic approach

The New School has rebranded a number of times over the years

The identity evolved by experimenting with the Irma typeface extending le erforms for a more recognisable look

We originally went into a study of what would happen if we used the Irma font We stacked it and created a hierarchy It worked nicely but we realised we needed to do something to it* it needed some kind of customisation

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 78 -

We had many ideas for the typographic approach One used a square type from the Joseph Urban building which half of us loved The president didn’t like it because he thought it looked like a throw-back and he was right It was beautiful but it was definitely dated

DI A R Y˚ 1 : P E NTA G R A M

WIDENING THE TYPE WITH MATHS PETER BIL’AK EXPLAINS HOW HE WORKED WITH PENTAGRAM TO CREATE DIFFERENT TYPEFACE DIMENSIONS Pentagram wanted to play with different widths of my Irma typeface I took that idea forward and made it a bit more extreme making the wide font wider for example We then redrew all of the glyphs to follow the same kind of logic as the original typeface Any geometric characters such as Hs and Es are very simple to stretch However characters with diagonals – As Ks or Ws for example – tend to be more problematic They are not as easy to stretch so we looked at different ways to do this We tried to find a balance of how sophisticated or straightforward this stretching should be* in the end we decided somewhere in the middle I proposed an algorithm that would control the logic of how the widths would be applied – I don’t like the idea of it being arbitrarily chosen With the help of Karsten Lücke who wrote the script we created an algorithm that cycles through the available widths making sure that two of the same widths are never next to each other This is pure mathematics but the maths alone will never look fantastic We realised there were some undesirable combinations so we overruled the algorithm in some instances The last stage was looking at how the font could be maintained on the web In a year or two the web browsers will catch up with its built-in features

Peter Bil’ak created an algorithm to control the logic of how the three different widths of all le erforms would be applied

One of the biggest challenges in creating the Neue typeface was characters with diagonals

Le ers such as ‘W’ are not as easy to stretch and the team tried different approaches

The typeface is also built to work online currently working be er on browsers such as Chrome

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 79 -

DI A R Y˚ 1 : P E NTA G R A M

WIDENING THE TYPE WITH MATHS PETER BIL’AK EXPLAINS HOW HE WORKED WITH PENTAGRAM TO CREATE DIFFERENT TYPEFACE DIMENSIONS Pentagram wanted to play with different widths of my Irma typeface I took that idea forward and made it a bit more extreme making the wide font wider for example We then redrew all of the glyphs to follow the same kind of logic as the original typeface Any geometric characters such as Hs and Es are very simple to stretch However characters with diagonals – As Ks or Ws for example – tend to be more problematic They are not as easy to stretch so we looked at different ways to do this We tried to find a balance of how sophisticated or straightforward this stretching should be* in the end we decided somewhere in the middle I proposed an algorithm that would control the logic of how the widths would be applied – I don’t like the idea of it being arbitrarily chosen With the help of Karsten Lücke who wrote the script we created an algorithm that cycles through the available widths making sure that two of the same widths are never next to each other This is pure mathematics but the maths alone will never look fantastic We realised there were some undesirable combinations so we overruled the algorithm in some instances The last stage was looking at how the font could be maintained on the web In a year or two the web browsers will catch up with its built-in features

Peter Bil’ak created an algorithm to control the logic of how the three different widths of all le erforms would be applied

One of the biggest challenges in creating the Neue typeface was characters with diagonals

Le ers such as ‘W’ are not as easy to stretch and the team tried different approaches

The typeface is also built to work online currently working be er on browsers such as Chrome

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 79 -

JUNE 2015

The New School colour scheme is red and black although different divisions can play freely with colours for events and special projects as use dictates

CONCLUSION Paula Scher I realised that if you had three letterforms – a very wide one, a regular one and one in the middle – then you could create this syncopated rhythm with typography. We customised every school name such as Parsons or Mannes as well as design, performing arts, liberal arts and so on. We then began customising each word, so they all had their own distinctive look together, as well as when on their own. We ended up asking Bil’ak to redraw his font and create the three weights, and also programme an algorithm that would dictate how different widths can or cannot work next to each other. This was crucial; for example, two different Os next to each other look cock-eyed, so the programme ensures they never end up next to each other. There was a point where I thought I was going to have to resign this project – if in a normal client meeting somebody says you have to make a letter wider, you don’t. But in this instance, somehow it made sense. We didn’t want to make something that was expected. As things have gone up on Fifth Avenue, you can’t help but notice it. And what I really like about the new website, which was designed by The New School in-house team, is that it’s a very successful application of the new design. If you scroll down the home page, for example, you know where you are without having to see the top of the page – it’s so recognisable that you don’t need a logo at the top of a page. The colour system is red and black for the whole school, but the schools can do what they want. And it’s really the type that holds the identity together. There are three different ways The New School can be configured for varying solutions, but in the future they can change the positioning of what’s wide or narrow within the body. They can add as many schools as they need, change names whenever they want – it is a completely evolving programme.

PROJECT SOUNDTRACK PAULA SCHER DOESN’T LISTEN TO MUSIC WHEN DESIGNING PREFERING THE SOUNDS OF THE STUDIO INSTEAD

“ If the client says you have to make a letter wider, you don’t. But in this instance, it made sense”

GEORGE CARLIN SEVEN DIRTY WORDS I also occasionally listen to the late George Carlin _an American comedian social critic actor and author` His Seven Dirty Words routine _which he first performed in $ in his monologue ‘Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television’` is a personal favourite

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 80 -

Submit your best branding to the Brand Impact Awards Computer Arts’ very own Brand Impact Awards are judged by market sector, with categories including entertainment, culture, technology, not-for-proďŹ t and fashion Between them, the judging panel have helped shape leading brands such as Coca-Cola, Mars, Tesco, Virgin and adidas. They include: CHRIS MOODY Creative director, Wolff Olins

JAMES SOMMERVILLE VP global design, The Coca-Cola Company

GREG QUINTON Executive creative director, The Partners

JOE FERRY Creative director, Mars

GARY ASPDEN Brand consultant, adidas

DILYS MALTBY Senior partner, Circus

Find out more and enter now at

www.brandimpactawards.com Or tweet @ComputerArts using #BrandImpactAwards COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - -

VIDEO WAL KTH R OUG H: W OLF F OLI NS

VIDEO CONTENT

V IDE O WA L K T HR OUGH

DESIGN INTERACTIVE BRANDING GUIDELINES

WATCH THE VIDEO AT bit ly/CA#0%-wololins OR IN OUR iPAD EDITION See page 0#

Senior designer Gabriel Weichert reveals how Wol Olins created interactive, online branding guidelines for Orange that communicated the basics of the brand in less than 20 minutes

WOLFF OLINS Wol Olins is a global creative consultancy with oďŹƒces in London New York Dubai and San Francisco It acts as a creative partner for leaders who want to act on the opportunities that ma er Its clients are leaders in all categories including technology culture and media

PROJECT FACTFILE BRIEF Some years a er creating the original branding for UK telecommunications provider Orange Wol Olins won the pitch to reinvent the brand once more At the end of the two-year project the agency faced a new challenge< to convey the new branding rules to Orange’s employees in a straightforward engaging way

AGENCY Wol Olins www wololins com DESIGNER Gabriel Weichert

7CADIH9F5FHGÄ—7F95H=J96@CEÄ—7CA - 83 -

STUDIO SKILLS ˜Ä? G]ad`]ZmÄ?Wcad`YlÄ?VfUbX]b[Ä?fi`YgÄ?UbXÄ?YghUV`]g\Ä?\]YfUfW\m ˜Ä? DfchchmdYÄ?]bhYfUWh]jYÄ?VfUbXÄ?[i]XY`]bYgÄ?ig]b[Ä?=bJ]g]cb ˜Ä? 7caaib]WUhYÄ?_YmÄ?ZYUhifYgÄ?cZÄ?h\YÄ?VfUbXÄ?ig]b[Ä?Ub]aUh]cb ˜Ä? 5W\]YjYÄ?Wcbg]ghYbWmÄ?UbXÄ?W`Uf]hmÄ?UWfcggÄ?U``Ä?h\YÄ?[i]XY`]bYg

2015

GABRIEL WEICHERT SENIOR DESIGNER Gabriel is senior designer at creative Wcbgi`hUbWmďKc` ďC`]bgėďDf]cfďhcďh\Uhď \Yď[U]bYXďYldYf]YbWYďUhďXYg][bďghiX]cď North and studied in the UK and Germany He enjoys working across disciplines* from visual communication hcďX][]hU`ďXYg][bďUbXďYldYf]YbWYĖď changing the way organisations and brands look and behave

1 Collect and collate First of all we collected everything we had designed for Orange across all touch-points for print digital and spaces We printed everything we could find to get a nice broad overview and a good idea of the volume

DESIGN TASK We had been working with Orange for nearly two years and created a new strategy and brand expression. We created a large body of work and now had to explain it to 170,000 employees and everyone else working for the company. With a limited amount of time we decided to design some online guidelines to avoid the classic 200-page document, and offer a more helpful and engaging tool instead. But what was truly special about the project was the way we worked. With people from Wolff Olins, Orange and their digital agency E3 in one room, we had intense discussions, made difficult decisions and had some late nights over a six-week period. That meant we could react faster if something was going the wrong way; we could find new solutions straight away. The outcome is a set of guidelines based on 10 video lessons that explain the basics of the brand in one or two minutes each. Examples are shown, and specifications and templates are available to download. This way, everyone should be able to understand the basics of the new brand in less than 20 minutes.

4 InDesign grid H\Yď=b8Yg][bďXcWiaYbhďkUgďĄăąćdlďk]XYďk]h\ďU凉ȨWc`iabď[f]XďUbXďUďĄădlď VUgY`]bYď[f]XėďēAUf[]bĘćądlĖď;iȜYfĘąădlĔėď:fcaďh\]gďXcWiaYbhďkYďYldcfhYXď >D9;gȧk\]W\ďkYfYďh\YbďigYXďhcďWfYUhYďUďg]ad`YďdfchchmdYė

7 Setting the style All the artwork for the website’s diagrams were created in Illustrator using a set style for backgrounds and lines to maintain consistency between web pages and interactive elements Initial organisation of online elements for Orange’s branding guidelines website

7CADIH9F5FHGė7F95H=J96@CEė7CA - 84 -

VIDEO WAL KTH R OUG H: W OLF F OLI NS

2 Sketching a structure

3 Initial concepts

KYÄ?XfUČŒYXÄ?fi`YgÄ?cbÄ?DcghȨ=hÄ?bchYgÄ?UbXÄ?[fcidYXÄ?h\YaÄ?VmÄ?VfUbXÄ?Y`YaYbhgÄ—Ä?KYÄ? printed a basic structure for each section on large banners< a list of principles YlUad`YgÄ–Ä?fi`YgÄ?UbXÄ?k\UhÄ?UggYhgÄ?kci`XÄ?VYÄ?bYYXYXÄ–Ä?ZcfÄ?WfcggȨfYZYfYbW]b[Ä—

Once the dra set of rules was agreed we started to work on the brand g]hYÄ?]hgY`ZÄ—Ä?H\YÄ?]b]h]U`Ä?WcbWYdhgÄ?kYfYÄ?XYg][bYXÄ?]bÄ?=b8Yg][bÄ—Ä?=ZÄ?mciÄ?UfYÄ?igYXÄ? to working in InDesign it’s a quick way to visualise concepts and ideas

5 Envisioning a prototype

6 Video lessons

KYÄ?igYXÄ?cb`]bYÄ?hcc`Ä?=bJ]g]cbÄ?ZcfÄ?h\YÄ?dfchchmdYÄ—Ä?H\]gÄ?kUgÄ?igYZi`Ä?hcÄ?g\UfYÄ?]XYUgÄ? with the team and client and get an idea how the ďŹ nal site might look We then worked with the digital agency to reďŹ ne ideas and actually build the site

At this stage of the process we began to create the video lessons for the most important aspects of each brand element that would appear on the website H\YgYÄ?kYfYÄ?ghcfmVcUfXYXÄ?UbXÄ?Ub]aUhYXÄ?]bÄ?5ČŒYfÄ?9Â YWhgÄ—Ä?

8 Photoshop action

9 Refining the site

9UW\Ä?=``ighfUhcfÄ?Ă‘`YÄ?WcbhU]bYXÄ?U``Ä?cZÄ?h\YÄ?fi`YgÄ?ZcfÄ?cbYÄ?cZÄ?h\YÄ?VfUbXÄ?Y`YaYbhgÄ—Ä? KYÄ?YldcfhYXÄ?h\YÄ?UfhVcUfXgÄ?hcÄ?g]b[`YÄ?Ă‘`YgÄ?UbXÄ?h\YbÄ?gUjYXÄ?h\YaÄ?ZcfÄ?kYVÄ?k]h\Ä? UȧD\chcg\cdÄ?UWh]cbÄ—

H\YÄ?Ă‘bU`Ä?ghYdÄ?kUgÄ?hcÄ?fYj]YkÄ?WcbhYbhÄ?cbWYÄ?h\YÄ?g]hYÄ?kUgÄ?dcdi`UhYXÄ–Ä?aU_]b[Ä? gifYȧj]XYcÄ–Ä?X]U[fUagÄ?UbXÄ?YlUad`YgÄ?kYfYÄ?Wcbg]ghYbhÄ—Ä?H\YbÄ?kYÄ?hYghYXÄ?UbXÄ? reďŹ ned the site together with the digital agency and client

Watch the video now on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/ca241-wolffolins 7CADIH9F5FHGÄ—7F95H=J96@CEÄ—7CA - 85 -

LONDON 17-18 SEPTEMBER 2015 Explore CSS, UX, web performance strategies, the Internet of Things, app icon design and much more!

ERIC MEYER

RACHEL ANDREW

SARA SOUEIDAN

meyerweb.com

rachelandrew.co.uk

sarasoueidan.com

CONSULTANT AND CSS PIONEER

CO-FOUNDER, EDGEOFMYSEAT.COM

FRONTEND DEVELOPER, WRITER AND SPEAKER

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Follow @netmag for details

generateconf.com/london-2015

DIARYËš 2 : M A G O DOV J E NKO

CONVERSE: SCALING IT UP IN BROOKLYN NYC Russian-born designer Mago Dovjenko always wanted to paint a mural, so when Converse asked him for an idea for its Made By You campaign, he got his chance, and headed to New York

PROJECT FACTFILE BRIEF Converse asked Mago Dovjenko to create a large-scale eight-bynine-metres mural CREATIVES Mago Dovjenko www magodovjenko com BWGTBLD www bwgtbld de Overall Murals NY www overallmurals com PROJECT DURATION days LIVE DATE February

MAGO DOVJENKO GRAPHIC ARTIST Mago Dovjenko is a Russian-born, self-taught artist and designer, who has been working in the ďŹ elds of fashion, graphics, illustration and art direction for more than seven years. He’s worked with brands such as Nike, Ministry of Sound, Diesel and Sony. COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 87 -

THE DESIGN BRIEF Mago Dovjenko I’ve had a long-standing relationship with Nike, which owns Converse. I was the youngest designer to ever work with the company, having done my ďŹ rst design for them at 14. I had just taken part in the Converse ‘Made by You’ campaign, when Converse ew me to the HQ in Berlin. They said they wanted to do something else with me and asked me for ideas. I wanted to do a mural in New York. It was always a dream to go there, so they said they would think about it and let me know. Two months later, they called and asked me to do a design, as I would be ying to New York in a week. Quite short notice! The brief was to go freestyle. They told me: ‘It’s your project, you can do it the way you want.’ I always say my style is aggressive and detailed. I put a lot of eort into details because I want people to see new things if they look at my artwork for longer. Sometimes, I put in some hidden messages. Converse just had some restrictions. For example, in the ‘making of’ video, if there was a shot where I wore, for example, Dr Martens and you saw them clearly, they asked the production company to cut that out, but otherwise they were pretty cool about everything.

PROJECT EVOLUTION MAGO DOVJENKO BREAKS DOWN THE PROCESS THAT LED TO THE FINISHED ‘MADE BY YOU’ MURAL

STAGE ONE I usually start by freestyling to music using Illustrator

STAGE TWO I switch to Photoshop and back to add more texture

STAGE FIVE Once you start pu ing the colour in it becomes easier

TRIPPY BEGINNINGS

PSYCHEDELIC LANDSCAPE

WALL AMENDS

When I started the artwork I listened to Travis Sco , a rap hip hop artist whose beats feel trippy. That’s why there’s so much colour and psychedelic elements in the artwork. I started with Illustrator and then switched to Photoshop, because it has eects that you can’t do in Illustrator, like adding textures.

At ďŹ rst I created a face, then I built elements and shapes around it, to create a psychedelic landscape. At some point I got tired of the face, so I switched it for a Virgin Mary. I didn’t have much notice to create the artwork, so I did it in seven hours. I then had to send it to Converse and everyone had to approve it.

A er it had been approved, the owner of the building that we had rented for the mural said they didn’t want religious signage on the wall, so I had to change it back to the face. I was a bit mad, as it looked be er with the Maria. I also had some branding in the artwork, but Converse said I should get rid of it too.

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 88 -

DIARYËš 2 : M A G O DOV J E NKO

HOW I WORK MAGO DOVJENKO TELLS HOW A BRIEF BECOMES A MUSIC-INSPIRED MURAL

STAGE THREE Following feedback I made some amends to the artwork eventually ge ing rid of the Maria and the branding

STAGE SIX It was a hard job in sub-zero temperatures It took us days to ďŹ nish

STAGE FOUR You start a mural by drawing the outlines onto the blank wall in pencil

STAGE SEVEN The ďŹ nal piece looked exactly like the digital one We might do another in the summer

I start designing my artwork by freestyling. I use the $-inch Wacom Cintiq tablet, connected to my Mac, and work in Illustrator and Photoshop, going back and forth between the two. I also scan in things that I draw by hand, just to mix it up and add another dimension and a new vibe. I can draw well, but I’m never sure that when I draw things I might mess it up; so I mainly do things digitally. Most of the time – when I work for Nike, for example – the client comes to me with a brief. They tell me what they want me to draw and usually give me a sketch of theirs. I then freestyle it in my own style. Typically, what inspires me the most is music. I listen to a lot of rap, hip hop, electro and stu like that. When I start working, I put music on and then just let it ow and allow the music to dictate the mood of my artworks. So if it’s hard hip hop, for example, the work will be kind of grungy and dark, and then you have trippy music, which produces work very much like the Converse mural – very colourful.

MURAL VIRGIN

BEGINNING WITH COLOUR

BAGGED AND TAGGED

TAKING TIME

I didn’t know how to create a mural at all. We worked with a mural agency, and those guys had to teach me how to do it. You have to divide the image into a grid and then size it up. Then you paint that on the wall. We ďŹ rst drew the outlines onto the wall with pencil, which was such a pain. You can barely see what you’re doing.

Once the outlines are done, you can put the colour in. You have to start with the colour, and then put the black on a erwards. When you have a bit of colour on the painting you know where everything’s placed – although you’re still confused as the black comes at the end, so the colour still goes a bit beyond the stroke.

A er three days, some graďŹƒti artist tagged his name over the mural. It took us ages to clean it up the next day. We found him on Instagram and sent a note, but he came again and drew an even bigger tag. We said it was a commercial project; we didn’t mean disrespect. Later, his friends apologised and he didn’t do it again.

I never knew the process of creating a mural was so hard. We were there for seven days; then the weather got so bad that we asked Converse for more time. We stayed $ days in total and ďŹ nished it in $% I didn’t think it would come out the way it did. But the ďŹ nal piece looked just like the digital one – I couldn’t believe it.

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 89 -

TWININGS TEA: BAGS OF FUN IN A FANTASY WORLD Inspired by the era of multi-plane mastery, animation duo Parabella Studio pushed the possibilities of pixilation – and tea tag origami – to conjure a charming ode to Twinings

PROJECT FACTFILE BRIEF The brief by advertising agency AMV BBDO challenged Parabella Studio to create an ad in which the central character wakes up to a magical fantasy world created entirely out of Twinings’ multicoloured tea bag tags CREATIVES Parabella Studio www parabellastudios com Blinkink www blinkink co uk Stripeland www stripeland co uk Rob Hunter www robertfrankhunter com PROJECT DURATION Four months LIVE DATE February

THE DESIGN BRIEF Dan Ojari We were approached with a brief by London-based advertising agency AMV BBDO to pitch for a Twinings ad campaign. They wanted a character to wake up to a magical fantasy world that was made entirely out of Twinings’ rainbow-coloured tea bag tags. We really like briefs in which you have clear limitations – it was quite a fun project, since we had to think about how to make all these things out of one element. Initially, it was meant to be a lot more two-dimensional, almost as if it was COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 90 -

happening on a wall behind the character. But when we got to the test stage, we experimented with it being a bit more three-dimensional. For the pitch, instead of simply talking about how we would create the campaign and showing reference pictures, we produced a test example to show how we could use all these tags to make up a world and a have a person interacting with it. We achieved that in three weeks, and they really liked it.

DIARYËš3: PA R A B E LLA ST UDI O

DAN OJARI CO FOUNDER PARABELLA STUDIO An award-winning animation director Dan predominately uses stop-motion animation and scale models within his work He loves to tell stories cra tiny worlds and generally create things that shouldn’t normally exist

MIKEY PLEASE CO FOUNDER PARABELLA STUDIO An alumnus of Prior Park College The Royal College of Art and the University of the Arts London Mikey has made several music videos and short ďŹ lms – including his BAFTA-winning RCA graduation ďŹ lm The Eagleman Stag

WORK IN PR0GRESS Dan Ojari

Through initial sketches Parabella developed the idea of an immersive world made of tea bag tags

The ďŹ nal model set featured hundreds of ways of using tea tags to create dierent textures

PROBLEM SOLVED MIKEY PLEASE DESCRIBES THE INSPIRATION AND RIGGING USED IN THE PROJECT

We tried ďŹ nding references with uent movements and pixilation but it was really diďŹƒcult to ďŹ nd any that didn’t involve people lying down on the oor Actress Lydia Larson really got on board with the project We developed some rigging to support her body when she jumps in the air Where she’s at the top of a leap she’s holding her position for four or ďŹ ve minutes I’ve never seen the D performance realism that animator Andy Biddle and Lydia managed to get

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 91 -

The initial brief was quite clear, but simplistic. Once we took it on, we pushed it and made it a lot more immersive. We started storyboarding and working with the scripts – this was an important stage, as we were also looking at music. We wanted the animation to be in sync with a track, almost like it was a musical dance piece that the character was imagining in her head. The starting point was the visual language of multi-plane animation. We liked the idea of using the two-dimensional tea tags and layering them up. As the project progressed however, we began to realise we could make three-dimensional sets, but still keep some of that visual language. We then developed that into quite a detailed animatic, essentially a rough version of the ďŹ lm. Usually this is done through sketches put in a timeline, but we did quite a lot more than that. We worked with fantastic illustrator Rob Hunter. He worked up our sketches and storyboards to create a more reďŹ ned look for this animatic. We also developed a Photoshop ‘tag’ brush, which managed to create quite good representations of what the ďŹ nal models would look like. Once the animatic was signed o, we started working with our art department Stripeland, who created a pre-vis of each shot. But because we’re very hands-on in the way we approach our work, we also built white card models of each set, and put a camera in front of those so that we could play around with physical models. We had about 100 dierent ways of using the tea tags to make dierent textures; for example, we had ďŹ ve or six dierent brick textures and loads of dierent foliage arrangements. We had samples of all of them and could drop them over the white card models to visualise the eects. We also had to do a lot of technical rigging of some mechanical contraptions to help with scenes, such as the puddle splash.

’The dreaded shot four’ – the most complicated of the production

The sequence of the wall opening onto the tea tag town had to be shot backwards

The fourth shot in the ad, where the actor pushes the wall and it turns into a little town, took a lot of energy to achieve. It became known as ‘the dreaded shot four’. It was insane trying to figure out the maths behind it. When we did it for real, we shot it backwards. We made the whole town. There were two or three 3D objects on eight different panes, and then we would push them all closer to the camera. And as they push towards the camera, we destroy them and merge them back into the concentric rings. So when you play it forward it looks like the rings are pushed out as they transform. The other key challenge was the pixilation, casting the right character.

“The shot where the actor pushes the wall and it turns into a little town, took a lot of energy to achieve” Some scenes were created at human scale

CONCLUSION Dan Ojari The model makers really were the powerhouses of the project. A wall, for example, was made out of 100 tea tags, each individually scored and stuck on. The complexity behind it was incredible. More than 100,000 tea tags were used with 50 different paper folding styles. The crazy thing is, as a lot of the shots pass by, you focus on the character, but every square centimetre of screen you’re looking at, everything in it was an individual tag at some point. It was a great project to work on. It was quite a long project because we spent a lot of time in development, but it was incredible. The team had to rig a number of mechanical contraptions to help in certain shots

LESSONS LEARNED MIKEY PLEASE ON WHAT THE TWININGS PROJECT TAUGHT THE TEAM

PUT THEORY INTO PRACTICE Don’t spend all your time just theorising about what something could look like, just get in there and try it out. For the pitch, we did a test to show the client how the ad would work. You don’t always have the time, but if you do, go for it.

The model makers used different paper folding styles

PICK YOUR TEAM WISELY Make sure you set up a really great team. Then a lot of the elements you thought were going to be an issue are solved instantly. Pu ing care into who will work on a project, and what level of expertise they will bring right from the beginning, is crucial.

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 92 -

CULTIVATE A TEAM ETHIC A lot of animators, because of the nature of the form, are far more used to working by themselves or a small group of people. When you’re working with a big team, you have to be organised and ensure everyone is pulling in the right direction.

INTRODUCING THE ALL-NEW T3 ON SALE NOW!

FREE collectible magazine every month

4 brilliant new sections

152 pages of gadget advice and insight

LIFE’S BETTER WITH T3... GUARANTEE YOUR COPY TODAY AT www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/t3

NEED TO KNOW WORDS: Gary Marshall ILLUSTRATION: Becca Allen www beccaallen co uk

THE DESIGNER’S GUIDE TO STAYING HEALTHY How to ensure you have a long, happy and healthy creative career tep away from the stylus and get back from that Mac being a designer can be hazardous to your health The job you love could be doing serious damage to your body and to your brain Some of you already know this We used social media to ďŹ nd out how readers felt their jobs had aected their health

per cent reported back problems per cent headaches and migraines per cent eye problems and

per cent repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome per cent reported obesity and per cent circulation problems There were other serious issues too 0 per cent of you reported psychosocial issues such as stress and depression per cent sleep problems and 0 per cent relationship problems So what’s going on – and more importantly what can we do about it?

s

Dr Gail Kinman is professor of occupational health psychology and director of the Research Centre for Applied Psychology at the University of Bedfordshire she’s studied the eect work has on our physical and mental health As she explains creative people are at risk of certain conditions because we like what we do “It’s all about job involvement â€? she says “People who do this type of work breathe it â€? As Dr Kinman points out the ow that creatives experience – “when you are completely and u erly absorbed in what you’re doing when the demands of what you’re doing are slightly beyond your capabilitiesâ€? is good for your wellbeing but it can be bad for your health “You’re not aware of time passing you’re not aware you’re hungry you’re not aware that you’re si ing awkwardly â€? If you’re si ing with poor posture and poor

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 94 -

ergonomics for long periods of time back pain and repetitive strain injuries are likely to say hello sooner rather than later You can ward o many injuries with a bit of a ention – a good supportive chair and an ergonomically arranged desk good lighting a comfortable mouse and a posture that keeps you upright with your arms and legs at right angles – but one of the major threats to designers is lack of exercise If you’re solo or part of a relatively small team then the combination of tight deadlines and long hours can make it diďŹƒcult to ďŹ nd the time or the motivation to eat well and exercise regularly – and that can be fatal especially if when you go home you relax in front of another screen instead of doing something for your ďŹ tness The long-term consequences of poor diet and lack of exercise include obesity type II diabetes circulation problems

HOW YOUR EMPLOYER SHOULD PROTECT YOU Remember that you have a legal right to a safe and healthy workplace

back and neck problems heart disease and increased risk of some cancers Some creatives have decided that the best way to address that is to exercise while they work or at least to abandon the chair and work standing up Proponents of standing desks and treadmill desks – which are exactly what they sound like desks a ached to the kind of treadmill you’d ďŹ nd in a gym – say they help burn calories and help you live longer but critics point out that standing all day can cause arterial disease and varicose veins and if your posture isn’t perfect they can contribute to back problems and repetitive strain injuries You’re be er o taking regular walks – especially if they involve meeting up with people “I’d say do something physically dierent from being at work especially if your place of work is also your place of leisure â€? Dr Kinman recommends

While the ‘genius is close to madness’ clichĂŠ has now been comprehensively debunked the nature of creative work isn’t always good for your mental health Tight deadlines tough requirements job insecurity and the stress and strains of ge ing paid can make life miserable It’s particularly pronounced if you work from home or remotely where you don’t have the interactions you’d have with colleagues in the oďŹƒce “There is a very prominent model of job stress that is based on high demand low control and social isolation â€? Dr Kinman says Together those factors have been linked with serious illnesses including coronary heart disease and depression but you don’t need to change all three to make your work less stressful It’s the combination of all three that hurts so for example you might be juggling major deadlines working

By law employers must ensure that workplaces are safe In low-risk workplaces such as agencies that’s largely open to interpretation – the law says your employer must do what’s ‘reasonably practicable’ to ensure employee safety – but the Health and Safety Executive says that the employer must provide good ventilation a reasonable working temperature suitable lighting for the work being carried out and ‘suitable workstations and seating’ There are speciďŹ c regulations about the use of computers and tablets under the Health and Safety Display Screen Equipment# Regulations

Your employer must assess all workstations to ensure they meet the legal requirements plan work so there are breaks or changes of activity and provide eye testing and corrective glasses if necessary The Working Time Directive limits the working week to hours but many employers opt out Stress is a bit more complicated While one in ďŹ ve UK workers has suered workplace stress there isn’t a speciďŹ c law to address that It’s covered under the basic health and safety duties where employers need to ensure the health safety and welfare of their employees If you’re suering you have the right to request exible working although the employer can refuse# and to invoke the company’s grievance process but legally you can’t claim against an employer unless you can demonstrate that workplace stress is solely responsible for a serious condition such as depression that the stress was due to your employer’s negligence and that you made your employer aware of your worsening condition

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 95 -

BETTER LIVING THROUGH TECH Products that promise to make your life be er as a designer GriďŹƒn Elevator Stand If you’re a laptop user we’d strongly advise a stand when you’re in the oďŹƒce< it raises the screen to a level that won’t leave you with a sore neck and has the happy side-eect of keeping your hardware cool too The GriďŹƒn costs around {

“BEING A DESIGNER IS HARDLY ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS JOBS, BUT IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO LOOK AT WHAT YOU DO, WHEN YOU DO IT AND HOW LONG YOU DO IT FORâ€? all the hours God sends and missing your friends or loved ones “Social support is one of the most important factors â€? Dr Kinman says “What we need to do is to replenish ourselves and social support is a very important part of that â€? The support might be listening to you vent or taking your mind o things or practical support All of it helps Can you get the same support from social media? Dr Kinman isn’t convinced “Social support for creative people can be strange â€? she laughs “You want people when you need them but you want them back in their box when they start interfering with your work Social media is very good for that because you can do that management But of course that means you won’t have the deep social interaction that you need â€? As Kinman points out there’s a dierence between serious stress and depression and having a few bad days or

feeling overwhelmed by a client from hell “It’s about knowing your body and your mind and listening to the signals â€? she says “Depression and pre-depression can have a kind of a ening eect There are feelings of low self-esteem a lack of enjoyment of everyday activity a lack of concentration It’s like a narrowing of your ďŹ eld of vision Sometimes the people closest to you are be er than spo ing it than you are yourself â€? Being a designer is hardly one of the world’s most dangerous jobs but it’s a good idea to look at what you do when you do it and how long you do it for to make sure that your working life isn’t going to hurt your heart or your head In the words of renowned workplace health and safety expert Ice Cube you’d be er check yourself before you wreck yourself Next month Everything you need to

know about accessibility in design COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 96 -

Apple Watch Still trying to justify splashing out on Apple’s wearable? It can nag you to get up every hour tracks the steps you take and stairs you climb and can help you set monitor and achieve your ďŹ tness targets Plus it looks nice Standing desk If you’re convinced that a standing desk is a good idea but still like to sit from time to time the adjustable Rebel Desk range supports a range of conďŹ gurations including dual monitor setups and can be set as high or as low as you like Expect to pay around |

If you’re not in the US IKEA has also joined the standing desk bandwagon Its Bekant range raises from – cm at the touch of a bu on The range starts at { rising to { for corner desks Logitech Wireless Performance Mouse MX Logitech’s MX mice are well known for their exceptionally comfortable shape and superb scroll wheels They aren’t cheap – at the time of writing some shops want { -plus – but if you shop around you can ďŹ nd some for around { Herman Miller Mirra We’ve been using one of these for more than a decade and thoroughly recommend it It’s a cheaper but no less comfortable chair from the makers of the Aeron and while it’s pricey at around { you’ll ďŹ nd used and refurbished ones on eBay for less than half of that

NEXT MONTH

THE UNSUNG HEROES OF DESIGN SPECIAL REPORT

Five great typefaces you’ve never heard of, and why you should leave your comfort zone to find more E XCLUSIVE VIDEO

Behind the scenes at Turner Duckworth on recent packaging briefs for Miller Lite and Burger King Plus: inspiring work, current issues and expert analysis from the global design scene

ON SALE 26 JUN COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - -

o you’ve learned all about designing characters this issue My question is how have you developed your own character in real life? Do you even have one? Well let’s test that by exploring the trait of generosity When you’re out having dinner with friends are you the one who wants to split the bill or the type who calculates exactly what you had and who had that extra glass of wine? If it’s the la er and you’re not even poor shame on you! You lack character if you start to divide your life and activities around a currency What you’re doing is turning friendship into currency by dierentiating yourself from someone else The same goes for buying rounds of beers Just do it and don’t think about losing money A er all at the end of the year you’ll only have gained or lost about $ Believe in karma or something similar The main principle of paying it forward – money a helping hand or whatever – is that it always pays itself back somehow This brings us to the issue of generosity in the creative industry Don’t sit on your bu and cover your sketchbook Don’t sit silent

s

E N E M Y O F T H E M O N TH

Old men who act as if they meet with McKinsey & Company Recently we had a pitch meeting where two in a endance were old men who asked us about our turnover They acted as if they were meeting with McKinsey when in fact they invited us to talk about creativity and communication Chill down

in brainstorming meetings Share your ideas concepts and designs That’s precisely how you excel Don’t turn your character into a closed person because of some fear of people snaing your work That shit happens anyway no ma er how you do it Speaking of snaing we’ve seen our fair share Search online for ‘Kingsday Festival ’ and compare it to our MalmĂśfestivalen % piece Never before have so few changes been made and all for the worse2 a clear case of a highly commercial music festival being ‘inspired by’ work for a tax-ďŹ nanced culture festival

SNASK OFF!

SnaskiďŹ ed is a recurring column by Snask, the internationally renowned creative agency, that strives to challenge the industry by doing things dierently. They worship unconventional ideas, charming smiles and real emotions, and see the old conservative world as extremely tedious and as the world’s biggest enemy.

Fredrik Ă–st www snask com

On Saturday May we’re headlining OFFF and the Friday before – the day this issue goes on sale – we’ll be making the best Friday party you’ve ever visited in a brewery in Barcelona in partnership with Computer Arts We’ll have OFFF speakers behind the decks and the sweet boys from State Interactive present to give out free hugs You’ll be able to buy Snask beers in milk bo les by the litre and something tells me CA will have some great subs oers there too

GOSSIP

CA NDY

F I LT H

Q&A

T H U MB S U P !

T H U MB S D OW N!

Q You have your own festival track and ďŹ eld event brewery and now record label! Why? A" Because we do things we like  as should everyone Could it be fun to create a rock band? Yes Then let’s do it!

We are currently trying to create a fashion brand in China We can’t tell you more than that but it’s the most exciting project we’ve done in a long while

COMPUTERARTS CREATIVEBLOQ COM - 98 -

People who stand up in the plane as soon as it lands and tackle their way to the exit just to meet up at the luggage collection Needless!

Celloglas is the UK’s leading specialist in decorative print finishing. Decorative print finishes can be \ZLK [V KLSP]LY°PUUV]H[PVU HUK HKKLK ]HS\L PUJYLHZL \ZLY PU[LYHJ[PVU KLTVUZ[YH[L IYHUK JH[LNVY` SLHKLYZOPW LUOHUJL ZLUZVY` L_WLYPLUJL HUK L]LU Z[PT\SH[L KLIH[L PU ZVJPHS TLKPH JPYJSLZ 7\ISPZOPUN 7HJRHNPUN 4\S[PTLKPH 7YVTV[PVUHS .YLL[PUNZ Ask us about: Silkscreen applications .SVZZ <= 4H[[ <= ;PU[LK <= ;L_[\YLK *LSSV[L_ Water based varnish 7LHSLZJLU[ =HYUPZOLZ 9L TVPZ[ .\TTPUN Fragrance burst / scratch and sniff ;OLYTVJOYVTPJ 0UR 9\I HUK 9L]LHS 7OV[VJOYVTPJ 3PNO[ YLHJ[P]L -S\VYLZJLU[ 0URZ .SV^ PU [OL KHYR :PS]LY HUK NVSK SH[L_ 9\I HUK YLTV]L /P I\PSK <= .SP[[LY ]HYUPZO

High Speed coatings 5L^ .SVZZ HUK 4H[[ ]HYUPZO JVTIPUH[PVUZ ;L_[\YLK ]HYUPZO Fragrance burst / scratch and sniff Pearlescent varnishes =LS]L[ ]HYUPZO - 5L^ (UK THU` TVYL¯ Lamination Cellotouch - Soft-to-touch *LSSVNYLLU 9LJ`JSHISL HUK IPVKLNYHKHISL .SVZZ 4H[[ (U[P ZJ\MM ZPSR SPULU OVSVNYHWOPJ *LSSVS\_ 3\_\Y` SHTPUH[PVU Foil Blocking 4L[HSSPJZ 7PNTLU[ MVPSZ /VSVNYHWOPJZ :LJ\YP[` MVPSZ ;L_[\YLK MVPSZ

*HSS VY NV [V ^^^ JLSSVNSHZ JV \R [V VYKLY `V\Y ZHTWSL WHJR VM MPUPZOLZ Contact - 9LHKPUN! 3LPJLZ[LY! 3LLKZ! ZHSLZ'JLSSVNSHZ JV \R ^^^ JLSSVNSHZ JV \R

Ask a

bo

ut A divis www ion of Cello .mirr i.co.u glas k ( ^V Y SK S IYHUK VM T LHKPUN L[H and b SSPJ WHWLY oard

Mirri -

901 90 9 012 0

Where ideas take shape.

Bring your projects to life with Shutterstock’s diverse library of over 50 million images, videos, and audio tracks. Flexible payment and subscription options make creating even easier. Save up to 20% now. www.shutterstock.com

9 0 900 9000

NEW! Convenient monthly billing • NEW! No daily download limit • Innovative search tools

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.