FormFiftyFive™

Grafik magazine recently interviewed FFF as part of their Site Specific section. Glenn took some time out to talk to Caroline Roberts about the site, his background and why he now lives in an aircraft hanger.

Illustration by Parko Polo.

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Grafik Magazine: Tell us a bit about your background and what you do now.

Glenn Garriock: I was born in Hannover Germany and spent my childhood growing up there. My parents are originally from Scotland so when I finished School I moved back to the UK to complete my Highers and get into Art College. I studied Graphic Design at Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee and worked in Edinburgh for 3 years before making the decision to set up my own studio in Germany.

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What was the first magazine you read on a regular basis, and which ones do you read now?

I collected and read a lot of comics as a kid, so I didn’t get into magazines until later. My first regular purchase must be LoDown – www.lodownmagazine.com

These days I read anything from Grafik, Monocle, Creative Review & Computer Arts to Human Globaler Zufall, Neon, Novum & Null Acht.

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When and why did you start FormFiftyFive? 

On a cold Wednesday morning on 31st January 2007 Jack Daly and myself decided that we needed an easier way to archive all the links to exciting work that we kept sending each other. A year ago we asked Alex Nelson to sprinkle a little of his magic dust over the site and 3 years in we now have 34 contributors from around the world.

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Is it your first foray into blogging?

Yes indeed.

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How did you choose its name and how has it changed since you started it?

It just kind of happened. We try not to talk about the dark day on which I suggested to rename FormFiftyFive…

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Who originally designed it, and how often do you redesign the site?

The current site is a joint effort by Alex Nelson, Jack Daly and myself. If and when we have time we try to give the site a little facelift once a year.

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How many people contribute to it?

34 more or less.

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Do you run or write for any other blogs?

Just a personal blog for bits and pieces I find interesting or useful that don’t quite make it onto FFF.

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How often do you update FormFiftyFive and what percentage of your time is spent running your blog?

FFF is updated daily and personally I’d say I spend about 1 hour a day on the admin side.

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How do you juggle your blog and your day job?

Haha, yeah that can be tricky. My previous employer saw the benefit of me spending time on FFF and now that I run my own studio I try to force myself not to get carried away (hiding all apps with an internet connection from the dock is a good trick).

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Do you blog at the weekend or when you’re on holiday?

Weekend: Yes
Holiday: No (I’d get a slap)

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How many people look at your site on a regular basis?

We average around 5000 unique visitors a day.

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How do you make sure you get original content?

It doesn’t always have to be original, if something is genuinely good you see it spread across all the blogs in a mater of hours. And sometimes it’s nice to revisit a piece of work or a designer that we featured years ago.

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Have you ever been tempted to make FormFiftyFive into a commercial proposition?

We do have supporters that help pay us pay our ever increasing hosting costs, but other than that all additional funds are put into print projects and exhibitions.

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Have you considered doing a publication or events?

We did release a small printed publication last year called Six by Ten, which we’d like to continue… it’s just a matter of finding the time.

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Which sites do you visit on a regular basis and do you ever leave comments? If not, why not?

My GoogleReader tells me that I follow 176 sites most of which I’ll skim through. The ones I spend a little more time on include (in no particular order)…

http://www.aisleone.net

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew

http://www.designassembly.org

http://www.grafikcache.com

http://www.iainclaridge.co.uk/blog

http://madebysix.wordpress.com

http://www.itsnicethat.com

http://reformrevolution.com

http://thestrangeattractor.net

http://www.thinkingforaliving.org

http://www.archdaily.com

http://www.wearebuild.com/blog

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog

http://visuelle.co.uk

http://siteinspire.net

http://binkythedoormat.com

http://theblackharbor.com

http://www.designmadeingermany.de

http://www.grafikmag.com

http://www.ted.com

I’m sure I’ve forgotten some… apologies if you’re not on this list

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Do you ever stop thinking about graphic design?

No, but I don’t mind that. The tricky part is not to others know how obsessed you are. I try to stop myself from laying out my food in an orderly manner or writing notes in columns.

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Tell us a bit about your workspace

It’s difficult to explain in words… I live and work in Germany in one of 16 old Aircraft Hangars formerly occupied by the British Army
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/glenngarriock/sets/72157619194832889/detail/

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What are the best and worst things about running a blog?

+ You get to know an incredible bunch of extremely talented people that make you want to work even harder to become as great as they are.
– I sometimes feel visually overloaded.

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Where do you go for inspiration?

For a walk, a chat with my father, Berlin and of course FFF!

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What’s your favourite non-screen-based activity?

Sleeping, highly underrated.

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What’s your guilty internet pleasure?

http://www.youtube.com/show/insidegaming

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Will you be ordering an iPad?

Nope. Don’t get me wrong I’d love to own one, but I don’t see the use for me personally.

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What do you think of crowdsourcing?

There’s certainly a place for crowdsourcing in a sense of collaboration, but I’m against the use of crowdsourcing in Design. Nothing good ever comes of multiple parties competing for the attention of one client.

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What’s next for you?

Working closely with my brother on a new Gym he’s opening over the next 3 months or so. I’ll be able to live through the start-up of a company and hopefully have a better understanding of what some of our clients have to go through when they set up on their own.

After that I’m hoping to take some time to complete a few projects that have been on the back burner for a while now. One of which is of course a redesign for FormFiftyFive.

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Author: Jack
Posted: 18th March 2010
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