Computer Arts - April 2018

APRIL 2018 JONATHAN ZAWADA BLURRED VISIONS Jonathan Zawada refuses to compromise on style, and values experimentation above all else... J O N A T H A N Z A W A D A A uniquely cross-disciplinary artist, Australian Jonathan Zawada weaves together both analogue and digital processes. With early roots in web design, coding and animation, he moved into graphic design, illustration and art direction for clients such as Nike, Bloomberg and BMW, and now works across object design, sculpture, video, installation and painting. www.zawada.art WORDS: Nick Carson IMAGE: Album artwork for Skin, by Flume C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 51 -

IN CONVERSATION APRIL 2018 Below: Jonathan L ike a creative chameleon, would know me for one of my like what I was providing to them, Zawada has Jonathan Zawada totally styles, and approach me for that. and ask about it. branched out defies categorisation in I’ve made furniture, and the people into product terms of either style or I work with don’t see the rest of It was my escape – my hobby design: this brass discipline. In order to my work. It’s off their radar. I don’t outside of hours – and got absorbed candle holder, express himself visually, really do pitching, so I don’t ever into my work. Now I don’t really entitled Both he’s proven equally happy send a portfolio to anybody. have any hobbies. Ends Burning, was sculpting chunks of inspired by the marble, applying oils to Having said that, I don’t know Your work is your hobby. Nokia game canvas or tweaking digital what I’m not getting because of my Yeah. Happy days. Snake, as well as nodes – and plenty in between. messy portfolio. But I want to do the Windows NT Following his inspiring talk at jobs where I’m employed to think, In your talk, you said you only Pipes screensaver. Antwerp’s Us By Night festival, we not to execute something I’ve done work for clients if you can directly chatted to the visionary – and highly before. If they’re thrown off by the interact with the decision maker. introverted – artist and designer fact there’s all this stuff here, that’s How do you ensure that happens, about what makes him tick... probably a good filter mechanism. and have you ever started a job... ...and then pulled out? Yeah, it’s a bad In your Us By Night talk, you What would be your advice for habit of mine. I’d routinely quit jobs said you have a “messy portfolio consciously trying to diversify? if they weren’t going my way. of random stuff”. How do clients I’ve always been drawn to learning respond to such an eclectic mix? different stuff; trying out different For a long time my invoicing In the past, everything has been mediums. If I went to the art shop policy was: ‘I will work for you for siloed. Agencies and art directors to buy pencil leads, I’d see a sheet of free. Pay me if you like what I do. chalkboard – where you scratch the If you don’t, don’t pay, but it’s mine.’ black layer to reveal the white – and I could use it for something else, or buy that too, to give it a go. evolve it, but the client didn’t get to tell me to change it. Some people specialise, I admire that, but I like experimenting, and It filters out clients who won’t playing around with stuff, rather accept that, which is arrogant, than really drilling down and and not something I recommend. mastering something. Those two But the jobs I tend to do, in terms things are hard to do at once. of dollar figure, are pretty small so it was never a big loss. I wasn’t It’s about curiosity... sacrificing $30,000 jobs. Yeah, and it’s for me the value is proven. I did lots of pencil work 15 It’d be more arrogant if you said years ago, and now I can come back they had to pay you. I guess it’s more and develop it more. Same with oil about not compromising your style? painting. It’s a bit like riding a bike: Yeah, or the idea. And it’s mostly once you’ve done some of the basic because I don’t have the stamina work, it doesn’t go away. to go through rounds of feedback. Many contemporary digital When somebody approaches me illustrators don’t necessarily have about a job, I’ll ask if anybody else traditional drawing and painting is involved in the decision making. skills – how did you develop them? Sometimes people are honest, and I drew and painted a lot as a kid, sometimes they say, ‘Yeah, it’s just but there was a long hiatus where me,’ and it turns out it’s not. I didn’t. I was building websites and doing digital stuff for 5–10 years. Over time you get a read on what sort of business it is; the way things That’s how my illustration work are set up. If it’s for a museum or came about. I had a sketchbook on something, there’s a fair chance of my desk. Art directors would see it, more people behind the scenes. I’m a filled with stuff that was nothing little cautious – I might set up a few more systems, such as kill fees – but I’m generally pretty relaxed. I just C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 52 -

APRIL 2018 JONATHAN ZAWADA The third in a series of covers for experimental music project Izniik. “The idea was to loosely explore the idea of AI, and the ‘uncanny valley’, while depicting granular detail of the sample-based music itself,” explains Zawada. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 53 -



APRIL 2018 JONATHAN ZAWADA Left: Three Each unique of Zawada’s 90 mushroom is limited-edition created from Rare Mushrooms a framework prints, raising of multiple awareness about interacting rare diseases. systems. try and read the person. If I feel I’m amazed that anybody can work like there’s a good relationship, I’m around anybody else. I’ve worked happy to go ahead. in small studios with two or three others, and I get very self-conscious. How collaborative are you once I feel I can’t mess around with stuff if you’ve started, if the client has someone’s watching, and they’ll ask legitimate constructive input? me what the hell I’m doing. I’m totally open to that. Most of my clients are in fashion or music, I’ve never had any problem with and can have incredible input that personal motivation. I now have really evolves things. Especially if a kid, and another on the way, so it’s not precise design feedback like, this has changed – but prior to that ‘Try nudging this 2mm over.’ I’d roll out of bed, do a whole lot of work, then have breakfast. Then just Make the logo bigger! keeping working into the night. I’d Yeah, that stuff. But I love abstract rather do that than anything else. creative input, and I’ll take as much as I can get. A band might work on Some people need a separate an album for two or three years, and studio to get out of the house, and they’re entrusting somebody else to keep interacting with people. I’m put an image on it. I totally get that the reverse: I don’t even answer my they want it to feel perfect, so I’ll phone. I don’t like talking to people. happily listen to the musician. Is that mostly from a creative I have little patience for feedback perspective, or are you just from A&Rs, though. They’re not personally happier that way? there to make the art – they’re I’m quite introverted. When I was there to make the business, and a little kid, we moved around a lot that’s totally different. and changed cities, so we didn’t have long-term friendships with Such frustrations aside, why anybody. I was always on my own. are record sleeves such a fertile breeding ground for creativity? I’d spend weeks at home by When you’re young, it’s something myself drawing and making you’re super-excited about. That’s a stuff, and I got really comfortable great place to start. Secondly, there’s doing that. By my early 20s, I was a ton of bands out there, so it’s easy more comfortable doing that than to find someone who needs a cover. going out and chatting to people. If The may not have much money, but I wasn’t working, I felt I was wasting they’re happy to take a chance on an time. And if I was getting drunk, I inexperienced younger designer. felt not only am I wasting this time, I’m gonna be wasting tomorrow too. Musicians spend a lot of time and effort working on a great body You stopped commercial work of work. It becomes its own universe, entirely for three years while you which triggers a lot of visual ideas. were in LA. What did that teach you about your creative process? It’s the perfect art medium, as you It taught me I find problem-solving experience it viscerally, temporarily. attractive; the fundamental aspect You can’t hold it; it passes through of design. It’s not just about making you. It’s really human, which makes my own stuff, without anybody it a great trigger for creativity. telling me what to do. You said you hate working in But I also found I could approach groups of people. Do you find it design work in a similar way to my easier to be creative when alone? art projects. I used to do the mental equation of how much the job was C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 55 -

C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 56 -

Above: Entitled worth, and therefore how much Manufacturing on the whole has Lots of snakes and spiders? Money Problems, time I could spend on it. I’d cut completely vanished, so nobody So many snakes. We went for a this oil painting myself off, or come up with concepts has the right machines for the job. walk the other morning and saw was part of the that would be executable within a five. And I was helping some guys Over Time show certain amount of time. Because of the film industry, do bush regeneration in the preserve at PRISM gallery, LA has little shops everywhere. and got bitten by an ant. It swelled LA in 2010. Google It wasn’t, ‘What’s the best Even in suburbia, at the end of our right up, and when I looked it up on search data for solution?’ but rather, ‘What’s the street there was a powder-coating the internet it was the world’s only the words ‘money’ best solution, provided I don’t spend company run by a guy younger than deadly venomous ant, which has and ‘problems’ more than two days on it?’ me. He was happy to test things out, killed five people in the last 10 years. was translated and I could chat to him like I chat into a fractal So I followed the artwork for a to most other people I work with. In But I love it. Occasionally it’d be landscape using few years. One painting might take Australia, it’s some 60-year-old guy nice to have no concerns, to be able Terragen. two or three weeks, which slowed who acts like you know nothing. to just wander out into the bush and me right down and helped me think. not have to be aware of a snake here, Facing page, top: I realised to make good work, I had Prior to LA I was in an apartment or a jumping ant or whatever. But Aflatoxin is a to divorce the money component in Sydney with no space. Everything part of the reason I moved back is pencil drawing of from it – at least in my brain. I did was digital, or very small. When I wanted something real. I have to Zawada’s personal I got there, I started doing enormous clear out the composting toilet, mow belongings, How realistic or sustainable that paintings – but I was also pining for the lawns, look after the bushland. weaved together is, I don’t know – but it rolled into a nature. I did all this work with florals in the molecular bunch of other decisions about how and plants because LA is a desert; I’d LA is totally fake. I heard structure of I needed to change. previously done lots of work about somebody talking recently about Aflatoxin – a mountains, because Australia is how over the last 100 years, career compound used You’re now back in Australia. What pretty flat. I didn’t realise I was doing has become the all-important thing, to make biological did you get from LA that you can’t it until I saw myself doing it in LA. and life decisions are based off that. weaponry. in your home country? Australia is a difficult place to get Where are you living now? People pick where they’re gonna Facing page, things done. My experience was only A place called Tuckombil, about live based on their career. They clockwise from in LA, but I could go to a marble three hours from Brisbane. There’s sacrifice relationships. When you’re bottom left: album yard, talk to the owner and he’d do 32 acres of preserved bushland either a parent, you don’t see your kids for cover for Eprom’s a job for us, however small, because side that nobody can build on. We most of it because of your career. Pineapple LP, there’s no welfare there – everybody have tanks to collect rainwater, and That’s such a bizarre prioritisation, inspired by the wants to do business with you. the house isn’t connected to a sewer when the career is the most artificial slang term for system – we have a compost toilet. thing we have in our lives. Food is ‘grenade’; album In Australia, unless you have It’s all pretty out there. more natural than a career. That art for Flume’s 30 grand, nobody wants to talk sounds a bit hippy, doesn’t it? Never Be Like You; about your weird little art project. more album art, for Under The Sun by Mark Pritchard. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 57 -

10 INDIE MAGS TO INSPIRE YOU C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 58 -

10 BEST INDIE MAGS Stack founder Steven Watson he Face launched in 1980, the year after S T E V E N W A T S O N Steven is the founder of Stack, the subscription service that delivers a different independent shares 10 of the hottest magazine every month. Stack subscribers never know what they’re going to get next, but they do know it will be a beautiful, independent print mags... T I was born. While you could say that in a intelligent independent magazine that they probably wouldn’t otherwise have come across. www.stackmagazines.com way I grew up with it, I was either too young or too geeky to catch it in its heyday. But with the release of Paul Gorman’s book, The Story of The Face, I’ve been able to delve deep into the title for the first time. I’ve been riveted by the risks that editor and publisher Nick Logan took, and fascinated by pictures of art director Neville Brody’s iconic typefaces and graphic design. That blistering creativity had begun to wane long before The Face finally closed in 2004, but its impact continues to be felt today, with many independent publishers still citing it as one of the influences that first made them fall in love with print magazines. Reading Gorman’s behind-the-scenes story, I was struck time and again by both the similarities and differences between The Face and today’s independent magazine makers. During the early years in particular, when the magazine was made by a skeleton crew of fanatics working in weird offices and sustained by passion rather than cash, there are strong associations with today’s independents. But the glaring difference is that anyone making a magazine today is doing so in the Wild West of 21st century publishing, where even the biggest media brands are struggling to find sustainable business models for once-great titles. The first issue of The Face sold 56,000 copies, and while the magazine was undoubtedly a phenomenal risk, it was also the only game in town for anybody who wanted a taste of London’s latest music, arts and oddities. That sort of reach and exclusivity is unimaginable for today’s independent publishers, and so they drill further into their niches, producing stranger, more experimental and more personal magazines. The result is a publishing scene becoming ever more chaotic, improvised and diverse, and ever more exciting for anyone paying attention. It would be impossible to represent all of the multiple trends and micro-trends to have emerged from independent magazines over the last year, but the following list will hopefully provide a useful overview of the editorial exotica that are just waiting to be discovered during 2018. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 59 -

MIGRANT JOURNAL BASED LONDON AND ZURICH | LAUNCH DATE OCTOBER | PRICE | FREQUENCY BIANNUAL aunched in 2016 in response to continued the journey into more unify its many disparate stories as well intangible types of migration, examining as give an other-worldly sheen. L the migrant crisis that rocked the movement of capital around the Europe from 2015 onwards, world, for example in high-frequency Migrant Journal’s designers Isabel Migrant Journal is a six-issue publication trading, while issue three is titled Seiffert and Christoph Miller created that considers the complex phenomenon Flowing Grounds and explores migration a distinctive typeface for their new of migration with a nuanced and artistic of humans and animals across air and magazine. “We wanted something sensibility. Issue one focused on the water, away from solid ground. contemporary, tough and serious, but countryside as the setting for many strange and kind of odd at the same types of migration, from Syrian refugees Text is accompanied by detailed maps, time,” explains Seiffert. “The hard edges trekking across the Balkans and South charts and graphs to bring these complex we use on some of the letterforms come American ‘illegals’ passing through stories into sharper view, alongside from the idea to have some sort of Mexico into the USA, to the movable photography that shows the different resemblance to borders, and these border that runs between Austria and types of migration first-hand. Each issue characters are then combined with more Italy high up in the Alps. Issue two uses a single metallic colour profile to humanistic shapes like the lowercase ‘a’.” C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 60 -

10 BEST INDIE MAGS BUFFALO ZINE he winner of Magazine of BASED LONDON | LAUNCH DATE APRIL | PRICE APPROX T the Year at the Stack Awards 2017, Buffalo Zine is a | FREQUENCY BIANNUAL fashion title that satirises the world it  celebrates. Each issue takes a completely different format – for example, one was in the shape of a hardback Victorian children’s book, and the current issue was released as a series of pastiches on interiors magazines. The issue that won at the awards was a relatively large format publication, and all of it was produced in and around the team’s office in Hackney. That meant persuading cover star Pamela Anderson to pose in the alleyway behind the office, and also gave the team licence to explore the place from every conceivable perspective, for example drafting in Iain Sinclair to write an essay on the history and psychogeography of the building and its surroundings. The hand-drawn masthead on the cover speaks to Buffalo Zine’s fun, free-wheeling energy. One of the editors, David Uzquiza, notes that while the team thought this would be the simplest issue so far, because they didn’t have to go anywhere, it actually ended up being the hardest as they tried to work around the constraints of the building. But Jeremy Leslie, founder of magCulture and one of the judges on the Stack Awards, thinks it was all worth it. Writing on the magCulture Journal the day after the awards ceremony, he said that while he had admired Buffalo Zine since the first issue, “last year’s fifth issue was an absolute tour de force of creative thinking and an exhilarating expression of the joy of making a magazine.” Overall, Buffalo Zine is exactly the sort of fun and invention we’re expecting to see more of this year and beyond. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 61 -

APRIL 2018 GOOD TROUBLE emocratic senator and civil BASED NEW YORK | L AUNCH DATE JULY | PRICE CONTRIBUTION TO WAR CHILD D rights activist John Lewis has spent a lifetime extolling | FREQUENCY “AT LEAST ANNUAL” the virtues of “good trouble, necessary trouble”, and at the end of 2016, one-time Dazed & Confused editor Roderick Stanley took up the call by launching online activist platform Good Trouble. When he was asked to create a printed version to coincide with an event on protest art, he turned to superstar art director Richard Turley, and together the two of them produced issue 23 of Good Trouble, a 12-page, large- format newspaper. Only 1,000 copies were printed, and readers were invited to pay what they wanted for the newspaper, which fizzes with Turley’s signature energy and humour. The art director is renowned for the work he did on Bloomberg Businessweek, and the sly playfulness he explored there is in evidence here too, for example with an entire page at the back of the newspaper given over to the source code used in the Grizzly Steppe malware. Presented as ‘probably the publishing industry’s first cut-out- and-keep Russian cyberweapon’, it’s a brilliantly funny and impactful use of the paper’s big pages, and a perfect example of its provocative tone. Good Trouble was one of last year’s most striking launches, all the more so for the way that it plays with the role of the newspaper. In an age when it’s quicker and easier to read the news on our phones, the newspaper needs to come up with a new purpose, and while most of the movement so far has been towards the newspaper as a luxury object – something to be enjoyed at leisure over the weekend – Good Trouble takes its readers on a more subversive and exciting path for newsprint. We can’t wait to see what’s next. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 62 -

MACGUFFIN BASED AMSTERDAM | LAUNCH DATE JUNE | PRICE | FREQUENCY BIANNUAL ne of the best-known and most rather than considered as an object objects like sofas, tables and even toilets, itself); the sink (a site of gurgling dark outside the gleaming perfection of the O widely respected independent holes and domesticity); and the current showroom and in the messy real world. magazines currently publishing, issue takes a closer look at the cabinet. MacGuffin joined the fray in 2015, and MacGuffin rethinks design and interiors it’s the overall quality of this Dutch magazines by focusing on the hidden It’s a neat editorial concept, and one magazine that makes it such a popular lives of objects. that fits within a broader trend of choice around the world. It all began with the bed (reasoning reconsidering the design magazine. It’s that it’s the place where most of us begin now 10 years since Apartamento began Co-founders Kirsten Algera and Ernst and end our lives, and yet we spend photographing the ‘real’ homes of its van der Hoeven work together as both relatively little time considering it as a interviewees, complete with artfully editors and designers, rather than piece of furniture) and since has focused crumpled bed sheets and bookshelves separating the roles, and having been on the window (something we look crammed with knick-knacks. Following celebrated at the Stack Awards for the through, rather than at); rope (normally that example, Dirty Furniture launched last two years, it’ll be interesting to see used to give form to something else, in 2014 with the mission to show design if they can make it a hat trick in 2018. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 63 -

INDUSTRY ISSUES APRIL 2018 NXS BASED AMSTERDAM | LAUNCH DATE MARCH | PRICE | FREQUENCY BIANNUAL ronounced ‘nexus’, NXS 21st century and represented on the cover “When we started the magazine, we with a Rorschach test inviting the reader decided that every issue will have its own P launched last year as a meeting to see what they will. identity and graphic style that best suits place for different perspectives the subject,” explains NXS co-founder arranged around a single theme. The Tall and thin, it stands out above other Monika Grūzīte. “All contributors are launch issue investigated the sexy titles on the newsstand, and is intended asked to respond to the essays, meeting place of people and machines to replicate the long screens we spend so interviews, illustrations or stories that with its theme of Cyber Sensuality, much time scrolling through online. came before their own, and we’re aiming expressed on the cover with a collection The two issues so far have switched up for a design that reflects on the created of glistening and rumpled CG textures. everything from the mastheads to the network of contributors and Meanwhile, the current issue is themed fonts and graphic design in order to communicates a specific mood related to around Synthetic Selves, digging down create a completely different look and the topic that is addressed in each issue.” into the competing ideas of self in the feel for each issue. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 64 -

10 BEST INDIE MAGS REAL REVIEW esigned by London-based BASED LONDON | LAUNCH DATE JUNE | PRICE | FREQUENCY QUARTERLY D studio OK-RM, published by architecture agency the Real Foundation, Real Review has its roots in architecture but works to a wide ranging remit best described by its unassuming strapline: ‘What it means to live today.’ So while the current issue includes features on 20th-century glass and London’s spatial politics, it also speaks to fashion photographer Juergen Teller about persona and confidence, and reviews the concept of doubt. Fittingly for its architectural foundations, Real Review rethinks the physical properties of the print magazine and introduces two ingenious innovations – one of which stands out immediately, and another that takes longer to reveal itself (if at all). Firstly, there is an extra fold to the magazine – by turning around the machine used to fold newspapers horizontally, Real Review has achieved vertical folds, creating two extra panels in every spread and allowing the magazine to concertina out into a super-wide format, or fold up into a condensed package. Stories always begin on the far right-hand panel, making it easy to thumb through the condensed version, and the designers play with their extra real estate to ‘hide’ images, extend illustrations or run text through the whole expanse of the concertina spreads. The team also made sure that the text itself also becomes an active element of design by creating an algorithmic typeface. Drawing upon a collection of different fonts, the algorithm responds to the text and characters already typed, and ensures that distinctive elements like ampersands and select capital letters are displayed differently each time. Check the covers of back issues to see the capital R on the masthead subtly shifting shape. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 65 -

APRIL 2018 HOTDOG ne of the most exciting BASED LONDON | LAUNCH DATE JANUARY | PRICE | FREQUENCY ANNUAL O things about independent magazines today is the speed and energy with which rules are being broken, as people who have no background as editors or art directors stumble across this newly democratised form of print. Companies such as Apple, Adobe and Google have radically simplified the process of going from files to printed pages, and today people all around the world are following their passions and a never-ending supply of free YouTube tutorials, and finding their way into print. Megan Conery and Molly Taylor are two such magazine makers, and it has been brilliant to watch the rapid evolution of hotdog, the poetry magazine they launched at the start of 2016. That first issue was published in newsprint (the cheapest, simplest way of putting ink on paper), while issue two took the step up to a glossy cover and staple binding, and the third issue emerged bigger and better than ever, with its perfect bound spine and literary journal format. The theme of this latest issue, ‘delightfully unprofessional’, is splashed across the cover in pure yellow block capitals, and throughout you’ll find an excess of colour gradients, InDesign grid lines and desktop iconography. It’s all there to emphasise the fact that the makers are outsiders – feeling intimidated and excluded by the poetry establishment, Conery and Taylor turn instead to the sort of pieces that mean something to them. It’s brilliantly unassuming, as well as being fresh and profound. Also notable is the fact that hotdog only publishes work by female-identifying, non-binary and transgender writers, though that is not made explicit anywhere within its pages. Instead Conery and Taylor prefer to let the work speak for itself, allowing readers to find their own way through the art and imagery. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 66 -

LOST BASED SHANGHAI | LAUNCH DATE OCTOBER | PRICE | FREQUENCY ANNUAL ll the magazines mentioned so Lost is a travel magazine published as a way to please both sets of readers, in Shanghai that tells first-person stories but as Ng says, “Sometimes you want the A far are published in either from travellers all around the world. This keyboard to stop, and just let the guitar Europe or the USA, but there’s a isn’t a Chinese travel magazine, it’s a solo for a while.” His musical huge interest in independent magazines travel magazine that happens to be made interpretation allows the Chinese and across Asia, and it’s growing particularly in China. The stories are presented in English texts to flow through the quickly in China. Chinese versions of both English and Mandarin, and founder, magazine, advancing or retreating in independent favourites like Kinfolk and editor and art director Nelson Ng does response to one another and set over Drift are distributed throughout the a beautiful job of presenting the texts lovely photography that places the reader country, and while censorship laws forbid alongside each other, describing them at the heart of the travel experiences. And unlicensed individuals from producing as being like instruments in a band. the exposed binding means that every their own magazines, there’s a growing spread in this big, thick magazine opens community of independent publishers Often the temptation with fully flat to show the lovely, balanced who are groping their way through the translations is to give the languages layouts to full effect. grey areas to find their way to print. equal space and prominence on the page C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 67 -

THE EXPOSED BASED COPENHAGEN | LAUNCH DATE NOVEMBER | PRICE | FREQUENCY WHEN THEY CAN! ugmented reality in a printed augmented reality into the storytelling on his trip and the strange world he itself. For example, its opening story is a found there. The experience is something A magazine sounds like an odd report from Masdar City, the ambitious like listening to a podcast while also concept. You point your phone development in Abu Dhabi that is browsing through a collection of at the page and suddenly photography seeking to become the world’s most associated photographs, and draws the springs to life or illustrations chase each sustainable eco-city. A series of pictures reader/listener deeper into the story. other around the place. This might be by photographer Etienne Malapert show good for a brief diversion, but is generally gas-guzzling supercars standing outside Elsewhere in the mag, video is used useless for taking you deeper into the eco buildings, and deserted dusty streets to similar effect, with the extra layer story, as the screen becomes a glowing in the would-be metropolis. Point your of media always adding to, rather barrier between the reader and the stuff phone at the pages and an audio than distracting from, the experience. actually printed on the page. narration begins by Malapert, giving Beautifully simple and completely The Exposed is a brilliant exception to more context and personal recollections engrossing, The Exposed is one of this rule, and it succeeds by building the most innovative titles around. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 68 -

APRIL 2018 10 BEST INDIE MAGS MOLD OLD is a relatively new BASED NEW YORK | LAUNCH DATE MARCH | PRICE | FREQUENCY BIANNUAL M magazine investigating the future of food, and I was pleased to deliver it to Stack subscribers in December in the run up to the seasonal indulgence of Christmas. Whereas food magazines normally focus on the beauty, seduction and fetishisation of the things we eat, as well as telling as what we should be eating, MOLD prefers to ask why we eat those things, how they affect our lives, and whether those habits will be sustainable as we face challenges like climate change and global population growth. The first issue was titled Designing for the Human Microbiome and focused on the opportunities presented by microbes in areas such as fermentation, digestion and decomposition. And the second took a close look at the objects we use to eat food, including cutlery, crockery, furniture and much more, examining how the design of such objects might create new rituals around food in years to come. It makes for an eclectic mix of stories, which is also reflected in the graphic design, as MOLD’s art director Eric Hu explained to AIGA Eye on Design: “It’s about eating bugs and eating dirt – the subject matter is strange and we wanted to create a design that was equally as strange. We also wanted to avoid the tropes of the word ‘future.’ A few years ago it was the highly geometric sans serif, all clean slick lines; but when you think ‘future’ now, a lot of designers try to make it all very dark, or use a bunch of evil corporate logos. We wanted to hold a mirror up to the fetishisation of food with its emphasis on happiness and tweeness.” Twee it is not. NEXT CRAFTS IN BRANDING MONTH The first in a two-part series shows how bespoke lettering can help define a brand. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 69 -

BACK TO BASICS APRIL 2018 _DIGITAL DESIGN SKILLS IMPROVE YOUR DIGITAL T YPOGRAPHY In the second of our series focused on digital skills, Tom May looks at how to transfer your knowledge and understanding of print typography to websites and apps PART 2 M  oving from print to digital, there’s one LEGIBILITY IS KEY obvious and important difference to “Just because a typeface is beautiful doesn’t mean This issue we look at it will readable in all sizes,” says Martha Lisboa, how to transfer your consider when it comes to typography. digital designer at CBA Paris. “So avoid crazy print typography skills typefaces, condensed styles and letterforms with into the digital realm. Unlike with print, in digital design, your thin strokes. And be aware that type effects such as shadows or bevels may look great at larger sizes PART 3 type is not going to remain static. but won’t work on small screens. NEXT MONTH “Printed type can be tightly controlled, with The third part of the the outcome exactly as the designer intended,” “In short, go with something simple and of series examines what says Jack Statham, mid-weight designer at Ragged a standard weight to ensure readability on all designers need to Edge. “But typography on-screen may be rendered devices, especially for long paragraphs of text.” know about coding. with varying levels of detail for different users, depending on their device.” When it comes to typesetting, hierarchy is That doesn’t mean typography loses its always important, but it becomes especially so importance, though; quite the reverse. “In recent when people are using your interactive design years, web and app design has rid itself of to achieve a goal, says Statham. superfluous decoration and now gives more space to content, and therefore to text,” explains “You have a limited area in which to set type Massimiliano Frangi, senior design director at and reduced navigation and wayfinding elements,” CBA Italy. “So the choice of a great font is now a he points out. “So a clear type hierarchy helps a key element for the success of a web project.” user to quickly find their way around the screen, Nowadays, specialist web fonts are optimised and acts as a bit of a shorthand for the user to to display as cleanly and consistently as possible digest the information on screen.” across multiple devices and screen resolutions. “Often, typefaces designed for print have ink traps Alexandra Lofthouse, senior UX designer and a high contrast in stroke-width,” says at Fifteen, agrees, and reminds us that people Statham. “Typefaces designed for the web usually don’t generally use apps to read massive feature more consistent stroke weights, higher paragraphs of text. “So text should to be easy to x-heights, and more open bowls and counters.” read and digest,” she stresses. “This comes down All this means that if your design is going to to the tone of voice used throughout the copy, work, look good, and be legible on multiple and the typographic style fusing together in an devices, screen sizes and orientations, then interesting and an engaging way.” choosing the right font carefully and displaying it correctly is essential. And of course, legibility is hugely important in digital. “Especially in long passages of text, the goal is to make typography ‘invisible’, in C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 70 -

APRIL 2018 DIGITAL DESIGN SKILLS CASE STUDY NOTTINGHAM HOSPITALS SENIOR UX DESIGNER ALEXANDRA LOFTHOUSE EXPLAINS HOW FIFTEEN APPROACHED THE TYPOGRAPHY OF THE NOTTINGHAM HOSPITALS SITE “Nottingham Hospitals Charity For the new website, we were persuasive style of asking the “Fifteen redesigned the supports health care for patients asked to explore some branding user for donations. Instead, we Nottingham Hospitals treated at the City Hospital, options. We introduced two new opted to take a more friendly website with the goal of Queen’s Medical Centre, fonts into the digital environment approach to these requests. driving donations to, and Children’s Hospital and Ropewalk – both Google fonts which engagement with, the House. The money raised by the allowed for accessibility and As well as strategic font charity. For body text, charity goes towards life-saving flexibility. The primary font used choices, we have used narrower the team put emphasis equipment, staff development, throughout the site is Cabin and containers throughout the site, on legibility, while medical research and improved this is used in either a Regular or allowing an easier reading they chose a friendly, resources for local hospitals. Bold weight. Most of the copy is experience on larger devices or handwriting style font created in title or sentence case desktop computers. to support the multiple Fifteen was asked to help for easy readability. calls to action.” modernise the charity’s existing Fifteen also provided website, (www.nottingham We also chose a supporting copywriting services for the hospitalscharity.org.uk), in order Google font that had a friendly charity, working with the to align it with its forward- handwritten style – Caveat Brush, marketing team to rewrite the thinking fundraising strategy, This most commonly appears on content in an emotive SEO- with a strong focus on raising the site as a call to action, as we friendly way that would draw donations online. didn’t want to have a pushy or users into the website and feel at the heart of the charity.” C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 71 -

BACK TO BASICS APRIL 2018 ZEGO “Zego is a new kind of insurance company, a digital-first brand centred around insurance cover you can switch on and off when you need it. As the brand would almost exclusively be encountered on digital devices, we chose to use Modern Era as the brand typeface. Created by OMSE Type Foundry, Modern Era is specifically designed to work well on screen. The large x-height, low stroke contrast, pronounced arcs, bevelled stroke joints and contrast of wider circular characters with narrower characters are evident across all three weights we utilised for Zego, and result in highly legible type, allowing for clear hierarchies of information.” JACK STATHAM MID-WEIGHT DESIGNER, RAGGED EDGE DOING THE MATHS that the user is able to pass over a paragraph quickly, without having to focus too hard on each Lee Carroll, interaction designer at Seymourpowell, letterform,” says Statham. outlines how he uses a type scale and formulae to create typography for websites and apps He advises you “pay attention to paragraph measure; keep them to between 45-75 characters. More often than not I start with typography before anything else. Type can say a Provide generous spacing between lines: aim for a huge amount about a brand, the personality of the typeface and the sizes, weights, minimum line height of 1.5 for body copy. Aim for capitalisation can all create a solid foundation for an ‘on brand’ design. a slight increase in tracking, to give type room to breathe. And choose a reasonable point size: I’ll begin with a type scale (www.type-scale.com) to establish my type sizes. actual character size varies between fonts, but I’ll modify these in the early stages if necessary, but otherwise stick to them 16px is a good minimum.” throughout. A type scale will create a harmonious visual hierarchy that will give your page rhythm and make it really easy for your viewer to find what they’re looking for. ACCESSIBLE TYPOGRAPHY Colour is also an important consideration when As a rule of thumb, I’ll use the line height of the body copy to establish the baseline it comes to legibility, he notes. “Backlit screens grid for the page, then use this throughout the design as a baseline measurement. can increase the contrast between pure black and Most other measurements are then multiples or divisions of this value. white, which can be tiring on the eyes, so using a softer black for text or pale grey background can For example, if body copy is 18 (as it mostly should be), my line height of 1.45 would make text more readable. Also there are a few be 26.1. Now 26 is the baseline and can be used for all manner of measurements. For apps, such as Contrast (www.usecontrast.com), example, if you make an image height 260px, you’ll find that it aligns perfectly with which we often use to help ensure any colour any text on the page. combinations in a body of text are compliant with current accessibility standards.” It will pickle your head as you first start working with it and you’ll feel like a crazy person scribbling equations and different type scales, until it clicks, and then you’ll Lee Carroll, interaction designer at have mathematical perfection and it will feel great! Seymourpowell, offers similar advice. “Watch out for lack of contrast between text and Work in rems – relative ems – because as much as I’d love it to be the case there background colours,” he says. “Use the Snook.ca just isn’t a one size fits all type scale for all of the different screen sizes, shapes, colour contrast checker to ensure the ratio is orientations and resolutions. You can use breakpoints to modify type rules for high enough for a double-A or triple-A standard different screens where necessary. of accessibility.” He also suggests remembering that it might not be the colour alone that needs to Finally, check that the typeface is a digital typeface (designed for screens rather change to solve some of these issues, sometimes than print) and will render well on the intended display. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 72 -

APRIL 2018 DIGITAL DESIGN SKILLS DE NIGRIS a thicker weight or bigger text is what’s needed 5 PRO TIPS to increase the contrast. FOR DIGITAL “We were asked to help reinvent TYPOGRAPHY the heritage Italian vinegar, De And all that’s just for starters: in 2018, the field Nigris. The website was designed is evolving at breakneck pace. “The technology EXPERT ADVICE TO HELP YOU NAIL to go deeper and captivate through that we use to view type is constantly changing, YOUR DIGITAL TYPE DESIGNS narrative, with the modular and so the requirements of type on screen is structure of the web page allowing changing too,” says Statham. 1 BUILD IN FLEXIBILITY for the creation of layouts with an editorial style. “Prototypo, for example, has some incredible “The biggest mistake you can make is to features in its typefaces which allow you to use imagine static typographic compositions as Today, compared to even a few one font file for several instances. You might have written in stone,” says Massimiliano Frangi, years ago, there’s a very wide choice finer serifs on your headlines than in your senior design director at CBA Italy. of fonts that can technically be captions at smaller sizes, say, or decrease the “Flexibility, readability and personality: these used on a website. But when using width of characters on narrower viewports. are the three fundamental characteristics these you still need to take some Browser support is increasing all the time, so when we speak of web typography.” precautions to make sure they are we’re hoping to utilise this soon.” readable and clear. 2 LIMIT TYPEFACES And staying ahead of this curve also means This was the case for De Nigris: being on good terms with your more technically “It’s important to not choose too many the Mrs Eaves font we used needed minded colleagues, says Dan Bradshaw, design typefaces, because this will crowd your to be displayed at a large size so as director at TH_NK. design,” says Martha Lisboa, digital designer not to lose detail and readability. at CBA Paris. “A maximum of two or three will Elsewhere, we used a font (Unna “One of the main differences with digital suffice, and this will allow for a lighter app by Google fonts) that had been typography compared with print is that once that can be loaded in a few seconds.” optimised for screen and works you’ve designed it, it needs to be built,” he points really well in print too.“ out. “So get friendly with a developer if you’re 3 TEST YOUR TYPE not too familiar with the code side of things, MASSIMILIANO FRANGI to ensure your designs can be brought to life “The most important thing is to test your just as you’ve laid them out.” designs on different device sizes,” adds SENIOR DESIGN DIRECTOR, Lisboa. “The more devices you try your text styles on, the better idea you will get about CBA ITALY how it works for the user.” 4 UNDERSTAND CSS “Use the same skills you’ve developed for print – hierarchy, pairings, colour - but also read up on how type is used when creating web pages,” says Dan Bradshaw, design director at TH_NK. “If you’re just starting out, getting an understanding of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and how they work is a good nerdy start. There are loads of useful tutorials out there, including this one: www.bit.ly/ca277css.” 5 GET RESPONSIVE “We’ve used responsive typography across many projects – it’s actually something our developers have actively encouraged,” says Bradshaw. “We use techniques like CSS locks (see www.bit.ly/csslocks for more information), as this allows you to smoothly transition between sizes depending on your viewport, as opposed to snapping from one size to another. From a designer’s perspective, this approach is still about considering your type sizes at the various breakpoints, getting it into your browser and testing it out.” C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 73 -

BACK ISSUES ISSUE 276 MARCH 2018 NEVER MISS AN ISSUE! Top 25 illustrators to work with in 2018 Catch up on anything you’ve missed by downloading our The 10 golden rules digital back issues on iPad, of logo design Android and more... Pro portfolio advice from top agency Handsome Frank ISSUE 275 ISSUE 274 ISSUE 273 ISSUE 272 FEBRUARY 2018 JANUARY 2018 DECEMBER 2017 NOVEMBER 2017 Have your best year ever with our We reveal the hottest colour Create brand 'you' and learn Discover the top 50 studios in this advice for conquering obstacles palettes for 2018. Plus: how to to harness social media in our year's UK Studio Rankings, explore and achieving your dreams in 2018. succeed as a designer-maker, self-promo special. We also share four different routes into freelance We also look at how to use brand build a global reputation overnight advice on conquering creative life, and find out how to improve guidelines effectively. and get better at typesetting. block, and thriving without ego. your artworking skills. GOT AN APPLE DEVICE? Download Computer Arts for your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch and enjoy streaming video and bonus image galleries. PREFER TO READ ON ANDROID, PC OR MAC? A digital replica of CA is also available on Google Play and Zinio, as well as Kindle, Nook, Windows 8 and more. www.bit.ly/CA-iPad www.bit.ly/CA-iPadUS (US store) www.bit.ly/CA-GooglePlay www.bit.ly/CA-Zinio

APRIL 2018 PROJECTS PROJECTS Computer Arts goes behind the scenes with world-leading designers as they reveal their working processes… VIDEO 76 INSIGHT BUILD A MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIO How East London-based studio Here Design brings together thinkers, writers, designers and makers to create beautiful and useful things, from branding to books to homeware 82 88 92 COLOURFUL EDUCATION CREATE STUNNING COLLAGE SUBVERT ONLINE DATING How Baxter and Bailey introduced Photomontage illustrator Eleanor Wieden+Kennedy New York reveals how vibrant colours and whimsical Shakespeare shares how she meets it collaborated with an Italian duo to illustrations to the brand identity tight deadlines, creates roughs and inject humour and irreverence into the of OUP’s Education division works with art directors world of online dating for OkCupid NEVER MISS AN ISSUE OF COMPUTER ARTS SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR PRO INSIGHT AND PRACTICAL ADVICE EVERY MONTH – SEE PAGE 40 C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 75 -

VIDEO INSIGHT APRIL 2018 VIDEO INSIGHT HOW TO BUILD A TRULY MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIO East London-based studio Here Design brings together thinkers, writers, designers and makers to create beautiful and useful things, from branding to books to homewares P roduct design, packaging design, together, which crystallised the nature of the branding and book publishing are all studio and how we could share our experience. well-established disciplines, filled KM: As it went on, we got more jobs in than with plenty of specialist, single- we could cope with just three of us. So, we focus agencies. So for a relatively slowly employed people to help us and it grew small studio to excel in all of them at once is very, very slowly. For a very long time, we did rather impressive – step up Here Design. all our own project management, finance, everything. We were the receptionists too. Here is also notable in the male-dominated realm of creative directors in that two of its We learnt what we could and couldn’t do very three co-founders are women. Driven by a well. Thankfully we now have experts in areas shared passion for creativity in all its forms, like finance, and a head of studio. They do a Caz Hildebrand, Kate Marlow and Mark Paton much better job than we ever did. continue to fly the flag for multidisciplinary design: Paton and Marlow tell us more... How have you structured the agency? MP: This year we’ve employed a new tier of Talk us through Here’s founding ethos... designer in the studio: design associates. We Mark Paton: We didn’t have a written ethos, have four now, each with a portfolio of clients. or any precise definition of what to do. We just shared a broad interest in food and drink, and We’ve struggled a bit to create a structure sharing knowledge. without being very hierarchical. We don’t buy into certain job titles. For us, it was important Caz wanted to do furniture design; Kate was to create our own definition. interested in textiles; I was doing other things. Initially it was about sharing infrastructure. We The design associates will take more of a lead had an accountant in common, and just wanted on certain projects, while the partners focus on a nice, creative environment to work in. It was developing the business, thinking about new really unstructured. sectors, and also some smaller projects. It may Kate Marlow: It was 12 years ago now. We left seem a bit counter-intuitive, but we still want to our respective jobs: Mark and I were in branding; design, so are happy to pick up speculative work Caz in publishing, in book design. We wanted to that’d be a burden for the studio to do. work together in a small environment, designing for brands we believed in. Have you struggled to stay hands-on? KM: No, in fact we’ve probably struggled to be As Mark says, there was no master plan, hands off. We need to learn to do that more, so no big idea. We got on well, and had a shared the other designers can work their way up. ethos about what good ideas were, and how to articulate them. We’re passionate about all our projects, and as partners we lead teams and are really Did the studio evolve quite organically? collaborative with the design associates and MP: It’s been super organic, and a huge senior designers, right through to the juniors. learning curve: we’ve had to learn about all of decisions we should have made at the beginning. Many agencies specialise in packaging, but Here covers a wide range of other disciplines as Early on, we pitched to rebrand an organic food well. Any advice for staying multidisciplinary? shop, and surprisingly we won. That suddenly MP: We have had conversations about whether gave us a body of work that we were working on we need to specialise, but I think part of what C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 76 -

APRIL 2018 HERE DESIGN HERE DESIGN Here Design is a multidisciplinary design studio crafting “quietly powerful design” for a client list of individuals, brands, charities and institutions. These include Bacardí , adidas, Penguin Random House and Fortnum & Mason. www.heredesign.co.uk Watch the videos on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/ca277-heredesign C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 77 -

VIDEO INSIGHT APRIL 2018 makes Here interesting is that we work on Left and below: Here Design’s such different topics. We very pragmatically rebrand of Bacardí taps into believe that if a designer works across a book, a the brand’s rich heritage, and pack, an identity and a digital application, they includes some beautifully will become a better designer. tactile flourishes. How do you choose who works on a project? Bottom: Challenged to link KM: Sometimes, one of us is just a really adidas Originals stores good fit for a client. That might be based on explicitly with the areas personality, or previous experience – or it that surround them, Here might be that one of us actually hasn’t got translated the physical much experience in that field, and that’s what we geography of the streets find exciting. They could come up with things you into architectural models. wouldn’t necessarily think to do, because they don’t know that genre so well. WATCH THE VIDEO NOW AT www.bit.ly/ca277-heredesign Do you often work with external collaborators? MP: A lot is done in-house. At college you MARK PATON HOW TO EXCEL AT EVERYTHING didn’t have the option to commission someone: AND KATE MARLOW you had to get your paints out and do it. Creative partners In our first video, creative partners Mark Paton Mark and Kate co-founded and Kate Marlow discuss how their disparate but We advocate the guys having a go, but Here Design with fellow complementary interests built the foundation for there are instances where it’s beyond us, so creative partner Caz the studio – and how Here has built a reputation we commission out. But the lion’s share of Hildebrand, and have since for creating stunning work in many disciplines. illustration, for instance, is done in-house. added strategy partner Tess Wicksteed to the senior It’s partly a cultural choice: it’s nice to have team. They lead the creative, people making marks and creating images. It and remain hands-on with makes for a richer experience. design as much as possible. How do you attract and retain the right talent? MP: From the moment we started in Caz’s kitchen, we recognised the importance of the moments that weren’t designed. Making lunch together was a bonding experience, which sounds a bit cheesy, but it was important. We came from quite ordered environments, and wanted it to feel more homely and casual. When we were lucky enough to design this space, a creative kitchen was the first thing we set up. On a Friday, everyone tries to have lunch together and different people cook. The strength of the studio is the people within it. It’s not really us as partners – we are not necessarily the embodiment of the company. We’re just kind of trying to create a way of working that everyone can benefit from. Recognising people and allowing them to flourish –almost autonomously – is another thing that happens here that maybe doesn’t elsewhere. A junior designer can come in, be given a live project and see it through. We review things democratically too, so there’s an opportunity for everyone to speak up. I think that openness, and the fact that the opportunities are quite apparent and quite quick, makes people stick around. A lot of people have been here for a long time – we’re very lucky. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 78 -

APRIL 2018 HERE DESIGN Below and right: A selection of Here Design’s many 4 WAYS TO EMPATHISE book publishing projects, including The Grammar WITH YOUR CLIENTS of Spice, Herbarium, and a playful book about punctuation entitled This Is Me, Full Stop. Tess Wicksteed and Philip Cowell share their advice for better WATCH THE VIDEO NOW AT understanding clients’ needs www.bit.ly/ca277-heredesign 1. Use your own client-side experience TESS WICKSTEED GIVE YOUR CLIENTS A VOICE If you’ve ever worked client-side, draw on Strategy partner that. Writer Philip Cowell was originally PHILIP COWELL Our second video sees strategy partner Tess a client of Here’s:“It helps with empathy,” Senior writer Wicksteed and senior writer Philip Cowell he says.“You can understand some of the Responsible for the strategy discussing how they lock down exactly what pressures, and the things that drive them.” and writing side of Here’s the client needs to say, and find the perfect offering respectively, Tess brand voice in which to say it. “Our business is all about empathy,” and Philip work closely agrees strategy partner Tess Wicksteed. together. Philip was “It’s that artificial thing: ‘Clients versus us.’ originally a client of the We’re all on the same side.” agency, before moving into copywriting and Cowell agrees: “It works better when finally moving in-house. I’m literally on the side of the client: a face- to-face meeting,” he adds. “It’s great to chat about what drives them.” 2. Get inside their heads “It’s a form of acting, putting yourself in those people’s heads,” explains Wicksteed. “I genuinely think that when Phil’s writing as, say, a 55-year-old Scottish brewery man, he can really understand what that is. And it comes from lots of conversations with the guys up at the distillery, and really trying to get to their way of speaking and thinking.” Cowell cites Robert Frost: “The ‘sound of their sense’ is what we’re trying to capture on those visits,” he adds. “It’s the sound of the brand, or object, we’re creating.” 3. Keep an open mind “Briefs can get repetitive,” says Wicksteed. “If you’ve had the same brief five times in a week, the challenge is to talk about it in an original way. ‘Let’s make whisky groovy for young people.’ Not again.” Open-mindedness is key, although it’s crucial to find the right balance. “Too much of it can be a struggle,” confesses Cowell. “I’m always researching new ways to bring a brand to life with words, but then it’s about being definitive about which to use.” 4. Stay true to their roots “Cultural context is where authenticity comes from,” says Wicksteed. “If it fits, it doesn’t feel like you’ve made it up –because you haven’t.” “The bitchiest thing we say about a brief is that it’s ‘FMCG’,” she grins. “By that we mean ideas that aren’t located anywhere, or rooted in real things.” C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 79 -

VIDEO INSIGHT APRIL 2018 3 TIPS FOR MAKING Left and bottom left: One BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS of the clients to benefit from some of Here’s lovingly Production manager Nikki Stuart crafted bespoke objects and designer Harry Bingham is The Balvenie whisky, share how Here Makes operates which received a beautiful wooden display box. 1. Forge relationships with craftspeople “We’ve built up a good bank of specialists Below: Here created three that we know we can trust, and even just handmade, mouth-blown consult on something,” explains production crystal decanters for luxury manager Nikki Stuart.“Every week there’ll cognac Otard, with gold leaf be someone coming in to show what they’ve detailing. Each was contained been working on, or show a new technique.” in a bespoke presentation case, covered in silk, leather, Collaboration is at the core of the studio, gold leaf and lacquered wood. adds designer Harry Bingham:“There are many different specialisms in the building. WATCH THE VIDEO NOW AT We’re always thinking about collaboration: www.bit.ly/ca277-heredesign who can do this, who can help with that.” NIKKI STUART CREATE BESPOKE PRODUCTS 2. Convince clients of the value Production manager “If you’ve got this idea for a 3D product that HARRY BINGHAM In our third and final video, project manager you think a client should commission, you Designer Nikki Stuart and designer Harry Bingham can make it as beautiful and as useful as Previously at Habitat, Nikki explain the role that product design plays at you like, but convincing them to invest in joined Here Makes three Here, and how the studio develops bespoke it is half the battle,” says Bingham. months ago to head up the objects for its branding clients. expansion into different 3D “Our project management team helps products. Having started his build those relationships, and trust, so we career at Rose, followed by a can make recommendations confidently,” stint as a freelancer, Harry he continues, and Stuart adds:“Having joined Here’s 12-strong something tangible and physical really design team 18 months ago. helps enforce a brand’s message.” 3. Know your limits “Sometimes we don’t make the final thing,” explains Stuart.“We might design it, and work together to make sure it can be made. But sometimes it’s more beneficial for the client to make it themselves.” While there’s always a bespoke aspect to Here Makes’ process, sometimes the studio needs to pick its battles.“If there are a few things that need to get made, it might only be the ‘hero’ object that’s entirely bespoke,” explains Bingham. Sometimes the team realise that tooling up for a one-off object isn’t practical, and then the challenge becomes to make an existing product feel bespoke without changing its form.“We give the client lots of options,” adds Stuart. Watch the videos on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/ca277-heredesign C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 80 -

01/06/18 entry deadline Submit your best branding Enter the Brand Impact Awards 2018: &RPSXWHU$UWV·DQQXDOFHOHEUDWLRQRI WKHZRUOG·VEHVWEUDQGLQJ For a full list of categories, entry instructions and previous winners visit: www.brandimpactawards.com

PROJECT DIARY APRIL 2018 PROJECT DIARY INJECTING COLOUR INTO LEARNING How Baxter and Bailey introduced vibrant colours and whimsical illustrations to the brand identity of Oxford University Press’ Education Division C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 82 -

APRIL 2018 BAXTER AND BAILEY FOR OUP MATT BAXTER Creative director, Baxter and Bailey Matt has been part of a series of award-winning design studios since 1995. His experience spans arts and culture, retail, property and the built environment, education and charity. Clients have included Land Securities, The Body Shop, Orchestre de Paris and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. GETTING STARTED Matt Baxter The Oxford University Press Education Division needed a new brand strategy to drive communications that would inspire educators, parents and pupils, and tell a coherent story. It’s a dream brief in so many ways. To be invited to work with a well-known brand which clearly values creativity and intelligence, and which has a peerless reputation in its field? Yes please! OUP Ed-UK has a brilliant design team who are constantly producing great creative work, but without strong visual identity guidelines, that creative work can become eclectic and disparate. This was further complicated by the fact that within OUP Ed-UK’s output there are multiple sub-brands and products. After the initial excitement, our response was a very early thought that clever illustration could be coupled with really good copy to solve the brief. DEVELOPING BRAND STRATEGY Matt Baxter Working closely with the team at OUP Ed-UK, we needed to produce a brand blueprint, discovering its key attributes, such as offer, mission, values and positioning. Our early stage of work on the project, which we call the Discovery stage, included a thorough visual identity audit of OUP Ed-UK as well as its competitors. We needed PROJECT FACTFILE BRIEF: At the heart of the brief sat one problem that the new identity needed to solve – the Oxford University Press Education Division has a rich history and an exceptional reputation for quality, but it was failing to tell an inspiring, compelling and coherent story about its reason for being. CLIENT: Oxford University Press, global.oup.com/education AGENCY: Baxter and Bailey, www.baxterandbailey.co.uk PROJECT DURATION: 15 months LIVE DATE: November 2017 C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 83 -

PROJECT DIARY APRIL 2018 RORY BRADY EMMA GRENCIS Designer, Baxter and Bailey Designer, Baxter and Bailey Rory has worked in design and branding for over Emma has been working in design and branding 12 years. He has a special interest in visual identity for over four years. She has a particular interest and editorial design, and in great ideas executed in campaigns and great ideas. Clients have simple and beautifully. Clients have included included Goldsmiths University, Brighton Women’s Prostate Cancer UK, Imperial War Museums, Centre, Brickworks, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Wimbledon Tennis and Royal Mail. FilmNation and Bog Eyed Books. to delve into OUP’s market to fully understand their audiences and their challenges. The second stage is Definition. During this phase we use all the knowledge gained during the Discovery phase to make strategic recommendations. It’s important that all our design work is based on solid strategic foundations, so this stage is really vital. We worked collaboratively with the OUP to get the brand blueprint right, and this involved several rounds of going back and forth, taking on board their feedback so that we could write something meaningful and genuine that everyone could sign up to. THE LOOK AND FEEL 02 01 03 Rory Brady 01 The classic 02-03 Here a to complete Early on, we discussed and sketched a number Oxford tab sketch by Iker a typical piece of concepts with the potential to be worked up (bottom left) Ayestaran is of messaging into something more, and after development, highlights the progressed under the newly we focused on two main concepts: the ‘Oxford active word in alongside copy developed OUP O route’ (see Unused Ideas, below), and what we the tagline. by Lindsay Camp Ed-UK brand. called the ‘blue tab route’. Of the two, the blue tab route was chosen for development. Here, a range of key phrases written by our copywriter Lindsay Camp were selected, with the key words appearing in a blue tab that links to the familiar blue Oxford University Press logo at the bottom right of the communication. OUP Ed-UK has a very complicated brand architecture with numerous sub-brands for both primary and secondary education. The identity needed to work on its own but also alongside UNUSED IDEAS One route that we considered was based around the distinctive serif ‘O’ from the Oxford logo – using it in various expressive THE ‘O’ ways as a way of discovering the world of education. We FACTOR experimented with the ‘O’ as a magnifying graphic to highlight certain messages along with different illustrations. While it Matt Baxter explains provided playful juxtapositions or reveals, there were a few why branding around reasons it didn’t work out.The flexibility in the style and variety the letter ‘O’ didn’t of content actually worked against it, and examples lacked make the cut unity.You could only use it to juxtapose two things at a time, and it wasn’t right for such a wide-ranging visual identity. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 84 -

APRIL 2018 BAXTER AND BAILEY FOR OUP Cachetejack are an energetic, humorous Spanish duo. Adam Larkum was chosen for his Daniel Frost’s concepts are simple loose, sketchy children’s book style. and sometimes quirky. ILLUSTRATING THE MESSAGE Andrew Selby has a painterly style and Iker Ayestaron’s figurative work has uses clever metaphors. a more mature feel to it. Imagery was critical to the look and feel of the new identity. Emma Grencis explains how the illustrators were selected and briefed… Visual content has always been at the heart of the OUP Ed-UK brand so we decided to commission a range of illustrators to bring an intelligent, editorial feel to the core branding. The typography established a crisp and graphic look, and the illustrations would contrast that with an element of the hand of the artist. We wanted a variety of illustrators that would give us the scope to work across both primary and secondary school applications, in the UK and abroad. We plastered our studio walls with the work of the 50 illustrators on our long-list, and debated until we had a shortlist of 10. This was shared with our client and the final list was then reduced to six. The chosen six illustrators were briefed via the brand story that we’d developed, along with a key set of messages created by our copywriter Lindsay Camp. The illustrators took inspiration from the overall tone and theme of the brand story and we asked them to create a hero illustration alongside between two and four spot pieces. That way their main image could be used as a cover and we’d also have some smaller illustrations for internal use. Each illustrator was given the choice of three ‘free range’ colours to use alongside the brand colours that are in the guidelines. Although there were restrictions in the brief, we wanted to give the illustrators the freedom to respond in their own way, which also made it more fun for us. Lo Cole was introduced by OUP and brings a lovely graphic approach. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 85 -

PROJECT DIARY APRIL 2018 HEATHER ATKINSON KATE KUNAC-TABINOR Marketing director, OUP Ed-UK Design director, OUP Ed-UK With nearly 20 years’ experience in brand marketing, Kate has been involved in book publishing and Heather has been with OUP for eight years. She branding for over two decades. Leading OUP is currently developing the OUP brand across the Education’s internal team, she is overseeing the primary, secondary and vocational, children’s books implementation of the new identity across the and dictionary sectors. company’s publishing and media formats. 04 05 06 the sub-brands. It also had to communicate in both academic and consumer contexts, and 07 to different audiences and work in different also communicated to teachers, parents and the applications from top-level marketing to product learners themselves. brochures and a microsite. THE VERDICT To cover these objectives, we refined everything from the size of the tabs containing Heather Atkinson and Kate Kunac-Tabinor the messaging, to the messages themselves. When we work with Baxter and Bailey, it’s as if We looked extensively at colours and the style of they are part of our in-house team. There is an illustration, and introduced the white border as understanding of who we are and how we work, a way of framing the illustrations while helping which in a large global company like OUP can OUP Ed-UK stand out from the other divisions. sometimes be fairly complex. We appreciate their honesty and their insight, and their passion The colours are deliberately bright and to get the right solution. vibrant, conveying a sense of fun being at the heart of learning. The brand typeface is Museo We’re just delighted with the result. They have Slab – a really well-crafted slab-serif that strikes taken our Oxford brand and given it the respect the perfect balance between being friendly and it deserves, adding energy and excitement functional. It works at large and small sizes, and with a beautiful set of visual and messaging is happy in academic and consumer usage. guidelines that carry our story forward. We’ve recently applied the branding to all 22-plus Before our involvement, the Oxford logo catalogues across our publishing lists and it’s existed in a variety of sizes and formats. We been applied to all key marketing on social media unified it so that OUP Ed-UK uses the simple and in print. This very exciting and worthwhile blue tab logo consistently and exclusively. project is already having a huge impact within This means it can then be incorporated into the the UK Education division. The collaboration with range of visual messaging. the illustrators has been a huge success and is a differentiator for us versus other companies. For us, the main challenge along the way was checking that what we created always worked C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 86 -

APRIL 2018 BAXTER AND BAILEY FOR OUP 04 Baxter 05 Simple and 06-07 Examples 09-11 These 12-13 The and Bailey direct copy of the branding on posters were new branding demonstrated coupled with a product, and designed to also extended how a catalogue whimsical extended to an express the new to practical, cover would work illustration set OUP tote bag. brand. The colours educated-related under the brand the tone for these are deliberately objects such guidelines it two marketing 08 An extended vibrant to tie fun as notebooks developed. leaflets. z-fold brochure. in with learning. and pencils. 09 08 10 11 13 12 C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 87 -

WORKSHOP APRIL 2018 WORKSHOP HOW TO MAKE STUNNING COLLAGE Eleanor Shakespeare reveals how she creates photomontage to tight deadlines C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 88 -

APRIL 2018 CREATE STUNNING COLLAGE ELEANOR SHAKESPEARE 01-02 Eleanor 03-04 A work Illustrator and designer Shakespeare in progress Eleanor is an illustrator and designer working in South London. She is used this original cut out of the best known for her photomontage style, which has featured in leading photo (left) of central image for newspapers and magazines both in the UK and abroad, including the women jumping a commission Guardian, The Pool and The Washington Post. She has also had three over hurdles to for BBC World books published, and teaches part-time at a secondary school. create a self- Histories (art www.eleanorshakespeare.com initiated piece directed by on the theme Susanne Frank), of International plus the final Women’s Day. image (below). 01 02 03 THE STARTING POINT back round full circle to why I fell in love with 04 this style in the first place. Eleanor Shakespeare I’ve been working as a freelance illustrator for The contextual integrity of the source nearly five years. At university I flapped around, material can really matter. When creating unsure of my visual language and how to adopt the illustrations for my book Stormy Seas, a style that suited me and what I wanted to say. I worked closely with the publisher to make I discovered collage at the end of my second sure the images I was using were historically year of study, after realising that my love of film and contextually accurate. When creating photography and the aesthetic of the prints non-commissioned work, I am much more could be incorporated into my illustration. free in what I use. Last year, I was producing Ever since then it’s been a case of refining and a self-initiated piece of work in response to reflecting in equal measure. I’ve made a lot of International Women’s Day, and was looking mistakes, learnt a lot of lessons and become for material to inspire me. I came across an old more confident in the way that I work. photo of three women jumping over a hurdle, and it summed up exactly what I wanted to My process has twisted and changed over convey (see 01-02). The images I find can have so time. It’s essential for me to work quickly and much power on their own, and it’s really exciting efficiently, particularly when it comes to working to enhance and breathe new life into them. on a fast turnaround for editorial clients – sometimes you’ve got five hours from brief to THE COLLAGE PROCESS final. Time really is money, so I’ve found ways to ensure I can deliver quality artwork on time. Once I’ve gathered my images, I cut them out in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet. I use the THE IMAGE SEARCH Eraser tool and cut round the object. I find this method most closely represents the process of My priority initially is to make sure I can source physical cut and stick collage. It’s then a case relevant material for the brief. I use copyright- of layering, dragging, resizing and playing with safe archives and free stock image sites as a the composition and colours. I have archives first port of call. The material can really dictate of handmade textures that I’ve collected and the direction of the illustration – it does mean produced over time, as well as found material I have slightly less control, but equally gives which I then use to make my work distinctive and space for happy accidents and experimentation bring depth to the illustration. Sometimes I just to take place. Clients also provide me with use one key photograph, and find a concept to source material they’d like me to include and hang the image on (see 03-04). Other times, I also take or use my own photos, bringing us C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 89 -

WORKSHOP APRIL 2018 05 it’s about stitching together a whole range is so dependent on found imagery, so I loosely 06 of different material. Either way, I find that a put together a rough of what I imagine the final limited colour palette and rich, inky textures and to look like, using materials I plan to use. “My job is most found ephemera make my work unique. enjoyable when ACHIEVING COHESION my vision is in FROM ROUGH TO FINAL line with the One factor that can define how an image will vision of the I’ve worked on hundreds of editorial jobs and the take shape is the layout and composition of art director” experience differs hugely depending on factors the page. With both editorial and books I try such as client, deadline, budget and topic. to consider how the page will look as a whole, Ultimately, I have to remember I’m working for and I love it when there is flexibility with the other people, so must find a balance: creating layout. In a recent illustration for the Guardian artwork that I’m happy with, but that also (see 05-07), I created the main image – there satisfies the brief and client. was no time for roughs – and then we used spots to bring cohesion to the whole spread. Although I am usually working exclusively Occasionally, clients will have specific colour with the art director, they are serving as the go- palettes they’d like me to use, which can be between for me and the editor, designers, their because of other illustrations featuring in the client, sometimes the writer too, so it is vital that publication or because of the tone of the article. I stay flexible and open-minded. Simultaneously, I’m also often restricted by the dimensions given I am a professional image maker, so it’s okay for to fit the illustration into. All of these challenges me to push my ideas and make suggestions. help keep my portfolio diverse and me engaged and excited about what I do. It’s great to see Illustrations develop naturally from roughs an illustration unfold with the guidance and to finals and my job is most enjoyable when my support of talented art directors. vision is in line with the vision of the art director. I don’t tend to draw sketches because my work C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 90 -

APRIL 2018 CREATE STUNNING COLLAGE 05-06 Some of directed by Chris 08-09 Rough 10 The finished the elements, Clarke) developed. images for a piece for the textures and commission for Canadian paper. colours changed 07 The final layout The Globe and as this piece for included spot Mail, art directed the Guardian (art illustrations. by Jason Chiu. FINDING BALANCE 08 07 09 This particular Guardian commission was for 10 CREATE YOUR OWN COLLAGE publication in the launch week of its new tabloid format, so I wasn’t willing to turn it down. At ELEANOR SHAKESPEARE’S BOOKS the time, though, I was stranded in New York, For more inspiration and tips on creating your meaning there was a five-hour time difference own collages, see Shakespeare’s books: Cut, on an already tight six-hour deadline, not to Paste, Create; and Collage and Keep. She has mention that I was simultaneously negotiating also recently designed and illustrated Stormy flights home and fighting fatigue. Seas, which tells the tale of five refugees. www.eleanorshakespeare.com/books My tendency is to say yes to a commission and figure out how to do it afterwards (caffeine!), because once I’ve agreed to a job I have to do it. There are certainly a few tips I’ve learnt along the way to make the fast-paced nature of this career more manageable. I read and reply to emails as soon as I can, more than three icons on my desktop make me feel sick and there are always lists, notes and Post-Its. I’ve learnt that this level of organisation categorically makes my working life easier, but maintaining work-life balance is important too. The flip-side is that I am working with amazing clients on a wide variety of really exciting projects and that makes any moments of stress totally worth it. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 91 -

PROJECT DIARY APRIL 2018 PROJECT DIARY A FRESH TWIST ON ONLINE DATING How Wieden+Kennedy New York helped OkCupid subvert the acronym DTF through cheeky copywriting and colourful photography C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 92 -

APRIL 2018 W+K FOR OKCUPID JESSICA SHRIFTMAN Art director, Wieden+Kennedy, New York Prior to W+K, Jessica Shriftman worked at agencies including Droga5, BBH and 72 & Sunny, with clients including Delta Airlines, Equinox, Google, Johnny Walker and Facebook. As well as New York, she’s lived in São Paulo, Hamburg and Madrid. She’s been accused of making people cry too much. PROJECT FACTFILE GETTING STARTED BRIEF: Online dating company OKCupid wanted to establish a unique, ownable Jessica Shriftman position in the densely populated landscape of dating apps, and do so in a OkCupid came to Wieden+Kennedy wanting provocative manner – through an online and out-of-home campaign. to establish a unique and ownable position in THE AGENCY: Wieden+Kennedy, www.wk.com the landscape of dating apps, and to do so in a PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART DIRECTION: Pierpaolo Ferrari and Maurizio Cattelan provocative manner. This was going to be the www.toiletpapermagazine.org first marketing campaign OkCupid had ever CLIENT: OkCupid, www.okcupid.com run, and we were so excited to do something PROJECT COMPLETION: January 2018 bold and provocative for the brand. The idea to use the acronym DTF – Down to Fuck – in some capacity came from OkCupid’s chief marketing officer Melissa Hobley and we immediately wondered how we could build a campaign around the idea of redefining the term. We knew that we wanted the work to be eye-catching, so we kept saying internally that the work should be an attack on the retina. The typography and the photography would have to be bold and colourful, and the tone needed to be unapologetic and playful. What’s different about OkCupid is they are able to constantly add questions to their user experience. It’s one of the only dating apps that truly reflects back the tough and taboo conversations that play out in the real world. Users currently have the opportunity C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 93 -

PROJECT DIARY APRIL 2018 PIERPAOLO FERRARI MAURIZIO CATTELAN Freelance photographer Artist The Italian photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari works Described by the Guggenheim as ‘a provocateur, mainly in the areas of fashion and art, working with prankster and tragic poet of our time’, Maurizio clients including Wallpaper*, Kenzo Paris, Maison Cattelan is a sculptor whose subjects have included Kitsuné, Moschino, Trussardi and many more. He Pope John Paul II (with a meteor landing on him), co-founded Toiletpaper magazine with Maurizio Adolf Hitler and the middle finger. His controversial Cattelan in 2010. artworks sell for millions of dollars. 01 02 to respond to more than 3,000 questions to Trump Filter and a partnership with Planned help them connect with like-minded people. Parenthood. DTFall Head Over Heels, DTFinish 03 We wanted the campaign to reflect OkCupid’s My Novel, DTFly the Red Eye were some of the mission to bring more substance back to dating, lines that reflected the range in user lifestyles MODEL BEHAVIOUR and especially to incorporate some of the more and ways of thinking. One of the funny ones taboo topics users can talk about on the site. that didn’t make it was DTFerment Kimchi. DEVELOPING THE CONCEPT THE EXECUTION Initially, we shared about four concepts Originally, we’d thought of just using bold with OkCupid and DTF was one of them. The typography for the campaign, but then our team liked a few of the ideas, but DTF really head of art production, Deb Rosen, introduced resonated right from the beginning. In the initial us to Toiletpaper magazine, a colourful, eclectic presentation we used pencil sketches. In the and postmodern style mag from Italy. It’s second round, when we’d had time to consider created by the artist Maurizio Cattelan and the the craft, we presented the typography and photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari. We thought photography and that probably sealed the deal. their approach was fun and provocative and We all saw its potential to stand out from the knew that working with them on this would sea of same in the dating app market. take our work to the next level. The big drive for this campaign would come We wanted Maurizio and Pierpaolo to do from the copy. To really subvert the acronym what they do best, which is to bring a quirky DTF and what it really stands for in the world twist to each visual. So we presented them of online dating, we needed phrases that with a list of ideas and together we decided on captured the nuance of what OkCupid offers our visuals. They brought colour, humour and and would make people smile and remember boldness to each image. The shoot was a really the campaign. We brainstormed more than 100 fun atmosphere with music, props and a big phrases to get it down to the final selection. wardrobe to choose from. It was also very high- DTFight About the President and DTFilter Out energy since everyone knew we were on a tight the Far Right were in there, with this campaign timeline and only had two days to shoot. following on from OkCupid’s much talked about THE VERDICT NO EXPENSE SPARED The campaign is now live online, and on out- Pierpaolo Ferrari explains how the photoshoot worked of-home billboards, wild postings and public transport in Austin, Portland and New York. We’d long been dreaming about working with a dating app, so when In New York, we are also doing a big, painted OkCupid came to us we felt like we were in heaven. We shot in the most mural with Colossal just outside House of beautiful country in the world, Italy, using incredible golden lenses that Yes, a major venue in Brooklyn. Working with we had built specifically for this project. For the casting, we had the Maurizio and Pierpaolo was really collaborative models fly first class from all over the world, including people who flew and they are friendly photographers whose work from Australia, South Africa, Anatartica and Hawaii. is outstanding. We’d definitely work with them again in a heartbeat. As our team is so terrific, nothing is impossible when we’re on set. Our secret is to be very playful and have fun, and that means the result The OkCupid team are happy with the is always good. We love all the pieces in this campaign, they are all campaign as part of their mission to deliver challenging, provocative and very exciting to deal with. But if I had to a better online dating experience, and to truly choose one, it’s definitely Down To Fart. reflect what is happening culturally – playing a part in the wider conversation about dating. At Wieden+Kennedy, we are really proud of what we’ve created and can’t wait to see it roll out over the next few months. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 94 -

APRIL 2018 W+K FOR OKCUPID 04 05 06 07 08 09 11 10 12 13 01-03 Toiletpaper C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M magazine caught - 95 - the attention of Wieden+Kennedy. 04-10 The DTF campaign focuses on a wider context of shared interests, emotions, politics and humorous elements. 11 Copywriter Ian Hart aimed to bring an extra zip to online dating with the ethos that online daters deserve better. 12-14 While out-of-home advertising has been created, the social campaign will promote OkCupid online with the same humour and irreverence. 14

PHOTOGRAPHY MEETS DESIGN APRIL 2018 The Association of Photographers (AOP) was first formed in 1968. It aims to promote and protect the worth and standing of its members, to vigorously defend, educate and lobby for the interests and rights of all photographers, especially in the commercial photographic industry. www.the-aop.org PERFECT PICTURE In the second part of our series in partnership with the AOP, we look at the value of teamwork on a photography shoot W hat are the vital ingredients of a successful campaign? Does a photographer need to be left to their own devices, or is teamwork really important in getting the best out of a creative team? We talk to AOP photographer Susan Bell, whose stunning work in food photography has earned her recognition at the Pink Lady Food Photography Awards for the last two years, to find out... Who do you consider the key Left: Untitled, Right: Chickpea salad. See more of Susan Bell’s work on the AOP website at www.bit.ly/susanbell people to work on a brief?  For me, the more communication does with it can make or break Who has the creative vision – photographer play and try before a job, the better.  So, if it – a good layout or typeface can is it you or the art director?  things without jumping on little the art director has brought me elevate everything, and vice versa! The art director sets out their details that they have probably on board, ideally I would like to ideas, and then I get to play and already noticed. It’s good to let a know as much as possible and If shooting food, however, the create new things in that space.   photographer ‘get into the zone’ be as involved as possible before key element is the food. If it isn’t With the art directors that I like rather than jumping in too much we actually get to shooting. right, there is little that can be most they will start sending me at first. Photography is such a Often this would also involve done. So if I had to choose one or things before the shoot: ideas, strange combination of technical, recommending a food stylist and the other, I’d choose a food stylist.   pictures, random thoughts, and physical (shifting things around) prop stylist who would work well.   so on. I start jotting things down, and creativity – it’s good to let How much do you collaborate sometimes sketching, thinking them get into the flow. For smaller budget jobs, are there to deliver a finished image? about colours, props. I’ll gather any must-have people? Is a good In food photography collaboration things that I think will work What makes the process easier?  art director more important than is key. It is a real team effort, for the project, think about the Good planning – mood boards, a food stylist, for example? so picking the right team and light, the tones. What’s the story? shot lists, the context in which This is a tricky one. They are both working well together is vital. Also I like this forward visualising things will be seen, book text, important and can make or break working with people with whom because then when you’re under layouts, picture sizes, overlays. a project. The art director has you’ve built up a relationship time pressure in the studio or out such a pivotal role in between the means you can move into a job on location, ideas start flowing Are there any areas of your job client or book editor/author and and create something beautiful and coming together. that you don’t want input with? the team who will be shooting.  based on previous work. The I like to be free to construct the A good art director will have work gets stronger the more you Any advice for art directors, shot – in particular the light, but understood the project, and collaborate with good people. I’m copywriters and design teams?  also the props I’m using. I need interpret and communicate that fascinated by what happens when Have ideas, but then hand over to be able to feel a shot, and the really clearly. Also when you have you work with others – you bring to the photographer and give wrong colour or texture can created a beautiful image, what something, they bring something, them space to create.  Let the totally throw things off. the art director or designer then and hopefully, magic comes. C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 96 -

NEXT MONTH IMPROVE YOUR PORTFOLIO SPECIAL REPORT Crafts in branding, part one: how bespoke lettering can help define a brand VIDEO INSIGHT Behind the scenes with the passionate, highly driven team at Aardman Interactive Plus: new projects, current trends and expert analysis from the global design scene ON SALE 29 MARCH C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 97 -

DESIGN ICON APRIL 2018 Louise Kyme is a brand consultant specialising in the charity sector, and working with various brand agencies. Here, she describes how her Telecaster inspires her music – even if she doesn’t play it. Yet. HARMONIC PROGRESSION I’ve always thought the Telecaster an enough for the Telecaster, and I know it. Louise Kyme’s guitar odd guitar design. When I was a kid, To perform with a Telecaster, to really play, playing is spurred on I didn’t think it was that beautiful, you need to have reached that peak of by her Telecaster. unlike a Gibson Les Paul or Gretsch touch, timing and creativity that lets you Anniversary. I wasn’t that impressed. stop thinking and just be. and beautiful sound. Right now, it’s perfect. I’ll keep progressing, inspired by But now I’m older, I understand. It’s the In the meantime, my dad – always the warmth and encouragement of this functionality of a Telecaster that makes keen to encourage my endeavours – very beautiful guitar. But one day, I’ll graduate it beautiful; its pared-down axe-shaped generously donated his Joe Pass Epiphone to that Tele, sitting in the corner of my body, not the bells and whistles. to me, with its hollow body, P90 pickups room: heavy, black and demanding. And when I do, I’ll own that sound, that stage, You can’t hide behind it. It has a job that audience. I’ll growl with that guitar. to do, and you need to know what you’re And I’ll know I’ve earned it. doing. Like Chuck Prophet on stage at the Continental Club in Austin, Texas, you have to own that guitar. You need swagger. Or James Burton, playing on Ricky Nelson’s Hello Mary Lou, with the twinkle in his eye and confident moves. It’s not just the notes you’re playing that matters, but how you play it, how you stand with it, what you do around it, the confidence of a clean sound, sharp timing and an aggressive growl. This guitar has to embody you, your music, and your personality. Otherwise it just doesn’t work. You find the peak of creativity when you forget where you are, what you’re thinking, who you are, and you just be. You stop trying, and you just express. But to get to that point, you need to have perfected your craft. Forget about ‘expressing yourself’ and ‘being creative’ as practised in many art college foundation courses; I’m talking about doing the work and perfecting the skill. For some people this comes quickly and easily – these are the people the world defines as ‘naturally talented’. For others, it takes pure persistence. I’ve been surrounded by guitars all my life, so not to play one seems more unnatural than to keep going. So I do, and with time and effort I’m getting there. But not ‘there’ C O M P U T E R A R T S . C R E AT I V E B L O Q . C O M - 98 -

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