You Are Reading

OUGD502 - Studio Brief 1 - Tessellate Interview

A fashion communication student from our university got in contact with me and told me that she'd seen my work and wanted to interview me as part of a zine she is putting together called 'Tessellate'.

This felt really good to have someone I didn't know approach me and ask such a thing in relation to my work so I said I would. She sent me some questions and asked for some answers of around 3-4 lines each.

1. Who are your main inspirations to your artwork?

Being a graphic design student I tend to be influenced by a large variation of visual work. My favourite studios at this moment in time are Analogue, Passport and I Love Dust. The execution of both Analogue and Passport’s branding and identity work is something I admire greatly, and I Love Dust’s  clean yet aggressive style is second to none. One day I hope to produce work of that quality, and seeing their work definitely motivates me to push myself.


2. How would you describe your style and creative process?

I don’t believe a graphic designer should have a set style. I try and be as versatile as possible for each brief or client as each are directed at a different audience for different reasons and therefore will need to communicate in a different way.

3. How and what made you start Inanimate Apparel?

Inanimate Apparel was part of a personal investigation unit in my second year of college almost three years ago. I was researching the theme of adornment, went down the clothing route and created a clothing line as my final project. That was quite successful in college as there weren’t really any independent clothing lines around at the time. It grew and grew until trends started to change too quickly for the brand to keep up with and the only people that were interested in independent clothing were no longer my target audience. Even though I am now finished with it, I am still proud to know I have sold a rough total of 460 t-shirts overall.


4. What has been the best advice given to you as a designer?

I get given a lot of advice almost every day from a selection of people. But probably the best was something about my time management. It was probably my girlfriend as she goes on about it often enough. If my time management isn’t bang on then neither is my productivity or work quality.


5. Is there a project so far you have designed that you like more so than others, if so, why?

The piece of work I like most is a submission I entered in a competition to design the new single cover art for Korn. The title was called Love & Meth and so I created my design by cooking candy methamphetamine and then positioning the crystals in the shape of an anatomical heart. Unfortunately I didn’t win however I am still very fond of this design.


6. Do you feel Leeds as a city helps you produce new ideas?


Leeds as a whole is a wonderfully creative city full of interesting shops and places to eat with a vast amount of culture. Being a very visually stimulated person, I will always find inspiration walking through the city as well as having opportunities at local happenings to meet very interesting and creative individuals.

Once I had given her my answers she asked for a photo of myself as well as images for the Korn Love & Meth competition I entered and my old clothing line.






Comments for this entry

Leave your comment

 

Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.