FormFiftyFive™

Our pals at MoreSleep, the Berlin based creative venture, have launched a brand new portfolio site packed with some high-profile projects. Check it out!

Some lovely design and art direction from Joseph Burrin, currently design director at W&K Amsterdam.

CONTAINER is a new publication about the nature and culture of objects, published and produced by ARTOMATIC and manufactured in the UK. Each issue comprises a collection of original physical items, each created exclusively and specifically for each edition by a number of contributors. The objects are gathered together in a container, which is itself specific to the individual edition. Subsequent editions will have different themes and different contributors.

Tim Milne is the brains behind the operation and explains his thinking:

Magazines have long fascinated me and there’s no shortage of publications capable of identifying and attracting the most obscure audiences. Yet, the fluid notion of a magazine—changing content, different contributors—seems at odds with the restrictive fixed format of a printed book. While various attempts have been made to deviate from this—notably Aspen, Visionnaire, Gasbook, The Thing Quarterley and fashion titles like Centrefold—the vast majority conform rigidly to bound pages.

The original meaning of the word magazine means storehouse—a place to keep things in. So, it seems—to me—obvious that a collection of three dimensional objects, varying in size, shape, format, materials and construction might be a better—or at least different—way of expressing the fluid nature and model of a published magazine.

The first edition, CONTAINER #1: Hot&Cold features objects from the following contributors:

Accept & Proceed | James Bridle | Daniel Eatock | Malcolm Garrett | David Hieatt | Leila Johnston | Mother | Rebecca and Mike | Nic Roope & Violetta Boxill | John V Willshire

CONTAINER #1:Hot&Cold will be produced as a limited edition of 200 and will be available to buy exclusively here from 2 July 2013. Understandably it will not be a pocket money purchase (think 3 figures) even so Issue 1 is expected to sell out quite quickly – but anyone who registers on the site will get first dibs when they go on sale.

We’ve teamed up with Freunde von Freunden to bring you an exclusive look into the lives of creatives from around the world. Starting off with Fons Hickmann, who founded Fons Hickmann m23 in 2001 in Berlin with Bjoern Wolf.

Their work focuses on the design of complex communication systems and is working mainly in the cultural field, ranking among today’s most awarded design studios. The studio lends its expertise to everything related to events, communication and visual identity.

Here’s short excerpt from the interview…

Which clients are your favourite?

I really appreciate clients from the cultural and social sector. Semperoper, theatre festivals, music labels, Amnesty International… it is a great gain to work with cultured people who respect and understand what we do. It was a hard road to be where we are now, to be able to choose for whom we want to work for. But the work was worth it and continues to be. Working with equally respected clients means that both sides will profit, be feared, and will learn from each other. For me it is very important to work with people I like. This is a good idea: never work with assholes.

Can you tell us about your journey as a designer that turned you into what you are today?

I don’t consider myself as a designer. I also studied philosophy which still influences me today. During my studies I mainly did artistic work, even though I couldn’t truly handle the etiquette of art and design.

I did my diploma under a painter, Dieter Glasmacher. This man put an immense amount of life into his teaching. He showed me the true importance of passion in work and that one should be willing to burn for it. At the end the medium of expression didn’t matter – I still don’t know how to paint. However, the work needed to express an idea. Something you feel or something that shows a bridge between heart and brain. I underwent this journey until I understood that design was best for my expression. It was so beautiful to realise that people understood what I did. The idea that design is not something hermetical but should communicate with words and prove its relevance.

Of yours, Uwe Loesch also influenced me greatly, under whom I studied in Wupperal. Still to this day he is one of the smartest designer celebrities that I know. That’s how I became a designer.

Do you have a favourite piece of furniture or object in your flat?

I really like my action figurines. The salamander figures come from the shoe store of my parents. As a child I used to play with them in the shop windows. My books are also really important to me, both literature and novels. Books change over the years, they live! Even the stories of a book alter, the content always changes. Just like Heraclitus said, one couldn’t step twice into the same river; for the other waters are ever flowing on to you.

Check out the full interview at Freunde von Freunden.

Through yesterday’s twitter debate on design choices for iOS7, Apple still managed to impress with the new Mac Pro and this little gem of an animation.

Spotted on Collate

Ariel Di Lisio, aka Negro™ is a graphic designer from Argentina, specialising on the craft of typography, logos, and print. His work is a fine mix between fresh and modern, always thinking about the functionality and the range of possibilities for the types he creates, showing a great love for shape and geometry. There is nothing he enjoys more than to create his own types, for both personal and commercial projects. He takes deep pleasure in the process, from making decisions about the concept and mood, through the production stage, and then seeing them on their final output.

Hello Ariel, can you tell me a little about Negro™?

Negro™ has been around for approximately 10 years. At first it had a traditional agency format with several people but eventually I decided to work by myself. This allowed me to get back to something that has always been a big itch, which is typography. I needed more time to work in a precise way in the treatment, design and development of fonts.

Today Negro™ divides its time working on design and typography. It specialises in developing Corporate Identity and Typography. Of course typography conforms an important part of my design work; practically all projects are made with my fonts. Negro™ seeks to provide quality design with a high degree of simplicity. I believe in the simple ways of saying things through design, in the right choice of typography, in a tailored colour palette for a project, and a careful respect for white space.

What are you passionate about?

Design and Typography are my main passions. When I speak of passion I’m talking about working on it for hours and hours without ever getting tired. Sometimes I feel lucky to be working for something that really excites me, it is a privilege. Also I love hanging out with friends, playing soccer, going out to eat and see shows.

I know you travel a lot, what do you like about the design culture in Argentina and the other countries you have visited?

I have traveled for work to Chile, Venezuela, México and the United States, also many other countries as tourist. Currently I’m in Buenos Aires, where I live. I like the design culture in Argentina, there is a lot going on all the time: design events, festivals, conferences, etc. It is good to have this kind of events where young designers can learn from the experience of professionals. I think these events are very helpful for the design environment and I like to connect with designer friends and talk about our realities. Besides, I admire many of them.

Read more

Sad that we didn’t make it to OFFF Barcelona again this year. Especially after watching this year’s amazing Main Titles by From Form. Next year we’ll do our best to cover the event for you and get some new interviews filmed!

I can’t believe we’ve never before featured Alistair Hall! – the brains behind We Made This. He’s responsible for some stunning work for the likes of Penguin Books, the National Trust, the Crafts Council, the Tricycle Theatre, and Historic Royal Palaces.

Alistair is also a talented photographer, runs the excellent We Made This blog, teaches at the Graphics Summer School at Central Saint Martins and is art director of the excellent children’s writing charity, the Ministry of Stories (and its associated shop, Hoxton Street Monster Supplies). His flickr is brimming with interesting observations – from naked cyclists to fairground ride type – and if that wasn’t enough excitement he also finds the time to tweet.

Dave from Glad got in touch to tell us about their latest project for Factory Nights – a series of working sessions in which visual artists, photographers, writers, poets, musicians and film-makers come together in a previously unrealised space to collaborate and create work that responds to the environment.

The publication, designed by Glad, serves as a record of projects realised between 2011-2012 and a promotional tool for future events.

Factory Nights is about discovery and exploration; discovering fascinating unused spaces and exploring the possibilities of their use. To reflect this core idea, silver scratch-card latex has been used throughout the piece, allowing curious recipients to scratch below the surface and discover something; hidden text, unexpected detail or project information. The document provides an experience above and beyond simply reading; recipients essentially become participants in the Factory Nights ethos of discovery by interacting with the document to uncover and discover.

Factory Nights was printed by Team Impression.

Illustrator, designer, typographer and FFF regular Alex Trochut has been at it again! He has invented an ingenues (and now patented) print technique through which two completely separate images can be shown on one surface. One which appears in light, and one which appears only in the dark.

Following the publication of his book “More is More” Alex became interested in the duality that could be represented in one two-dimensional work on paper. Binary Prints was the result of his research, a collaboration with some of the premiere electronic musicians of our time – James Murphy, Caribou, Four Tet, Damian Lazarus, Acid Pauli, John Talabot, Lucy and many others. The portraits explore the people behind the music. These nocturnal portraits “wake up” in the dark, just as the DJs “come alive” at night.

Manchester based independent graphic designer Dave Sedgwick is one of those people who politely refuses to sit still – you might remember his name from the brilliant BCN:MCR exhibition from earlier in the year. There’s some great work showcased on his site but (as is increasingly the way) the best method of keeping up with his progress is via his Instagram and twitter.

It’s over 3 years since we last featured Matt Stevens – in the time since he’s continued to produce great illustration, branding and design (You might remember him from the Nike Max100 project) Follow him on twitter and check out his blog.

This years’ prize for ‘Best loading animation gif’ goes to Santtu Mustonen, an artist interested in “colorful mud, moving images, 3D design, art direction and contemporary illustration”.

Check out her mesmerising portfolio and hire her for your next project through Hugo & Marie in the US and Pekka in Europe. Two agencies that can do no wrong!

Stumbled of the excellent portfolio of designer and illustrator Matt Luckhurst this morning, who is currently working at Collins in NYC.

Los Angeles based illustrator and designer Roxanne Daner’s hand-painted work has a lovely calming quality. Looking forward to seeing more from her in the future!

She is also part-owner and lead designer at design studio Ludlow Kingsley.