m i c plachael de sig ne re xh ib itio n
biography Born in North Yorkshire, England in 1969, Michael C. Place is becoming a prominent figure in the international design scene, working out of his London agency, Build Studio. His fame continues to grow, after the popular 2007 documentary film, Helvetica by Gary Hustwit, featured Place in a segment alongside several prominent designers as Massimo Vignelli, David Carson, and Wim Crouwel as they discussed their take on the immense popularity of the typeface. “I love graphic design. I can’t think of anything else that I could do. I hate graphic design.
Michael Place opened Build on September 17, 2001, and with only seven years under his belt, has already attained much attention for the his simplistic, yet forward-thinking work. The studio’s motto is “Print with Love,” which is apparent in the work produced.
Fourteen years, 5,110 days,
Prior to running his own successful studio, Michael Place worked for Bite IT!, London
122,640 hours, 7,358,400
in 1990 with Trevor Jackson, then moved onto Designers Republic in 1992, where
minutes, 441,504,000 seconds, and counting. It’s all about detail. It’s a craft. I can’t switch it off. It’s an obsession; graphic design is an obsession for me.” — Michael C. Place
he contributed nine years of intense work on accounts such as R&S Records, Satoshi Tomiie, and Warp Records. His most recent projects outside the studio include a month long document of his life, examining the day-to-day life of a graphic designer. It includes blogs of his day, as he checks proofs, meets with his bank manager, and tours exotic locations. The experiment was to be published in the July 23, 2007 issue of Creative Review. Place continues to push the envelope when it comes to his designs, his favorite clients being those who “Let me do my own thing...” and “have a large print budget!” While some have questioned if he is walking the line between ‘fine artist’ and ‘applied artist,’ Place says he leans on the side of applied, never losing sight of the fact he is designing for
Michael C. Place
someone, which is the bottom line.
“ Last night I slept • With the monster under my bed Scratching myself against his rough fur • That was unexpectedly soft He bit what was a painful pleasure • And we snore the bed in two Now when I´m awake I feel nothing • Than my hair growing”
Michael C. Place
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Poem translation by Daniėl Dee.
Screen-printed poster design for the Poetry Club of The Netherlands.
Compact disc sleeve design for the Simple records release 'Simple Sounds'. Narrative/art direction and design by Build. Photography by Chris Allen. Bringing the brand/logo to life, set in urban, nature, work and leisure spaces.
Michael C. Place
Book cover illustration/design for Ted Hughes – ‘The Crow’, for Faber & Faber. Mimicking the bleak, anarchic energy of the mythic creature in the story. Build created this twisted intertwined typoillustrated cover for the book.
Using the everyday graphic language of symbols, Build created this poster. Screenprinted in phosphorescent ink. Limited edition of 100 prints only.
Michael C. Place
Postcard set enclosed in a custom foil blocked slip case. Forms part of the print communication of the D&AD ‘Global Nominations Awards exhibition 2007’. Under the title ‘Ideas are Fragile’ Build applied the Global Awards icons to sheets of glass, which were then dropped and photographed shattering at high speed.
To celebrate their first birthday Blanka commissioned 28 designers to create a set of posters in black & white; this exhibition was shown at the SEA Gallery. Build created the exhibition identity, look, and feel of the exhibition poster and catalogue design. The poster was the unofficial 29th poster in the exhibition.
Timothy Saccenti is a New York based photographer/ film-maker who wanted a beautifully made object to send out to promote his photographic work. Build worked closely with printers Generation Press on the possibilities of the print, adding details like die cutting to create the finished brochure. It was made of a number of die-cut, perforated, folded, loose leaved inserts held together in a foil-blocked outer slipcase.
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Compact Disc sleeve design for the Detroit Underground release 'Friendly Integration'. Comprising a die-cut CD O-Card slipcase giving a glimpse into the 12 page booklet/world created for this release.
minimalist Compact disc sleeve design for the inaugural release of LE:01 on the London Electrics label. London Electrics is a mixture of seven independent electronic music labels based in London. The sleeve was created entirely using only images, and layouts/illustrations using MacOSX ‘stickies’.
Michael C. Place
A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Michael C. Place
 Label identity / 12� Record sleeve & labels. House-bag design with cutout label view. Logo design/identity & print collateral including online ads. Aus is the sister label of Simple records.
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MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art (212) 708-9400 11 West 53 Street (Between Fifth and Sixth Avenues) New York, NY 10019 Museum Hours Saturday 10:30 – 5:30p Sunday 10:30 – 5:30p Monday 10:30 – 5:30p Tuesday Closed Wednesday 10:30 – 5:30p Thursday 10:30 – 5:30p Friday 10:30 – 8:00p www.moma.org Design by Melissa Leong. Credits: www.build.com, www.kriskrug.com, “Area_2,” by Phaidon Press.