20180201ComputerArts (Scene RS)

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I PLEDGE TO M AKE 2018 MY
14BC #
R E S O L U T I O N 1
QUIT MY BORING JOB
R E S O L U T I O N # 2
START A NEW SIDE PROJECT
YEAR #
WIN A DREAM CLIENT
FIND MY IDEAL WORK-LIFE BALANCE
EVER #
BUILD MY REPUTATION
FEBRUARY 2018 C O V E R A RTI S T
Making
the cover
Left and below: Areas to be
die cut needed to be simple
and subtle enough not to
threaten the structural
integrity of the cover; so we
slightly rounded the corners
of each lozenge to reduce
the chance of torn edges.
Editor Nick’s original brief – ‘one of those secret Below: While this schematic
shows two separate layers,
agent-style encoded messages’ – was wonderfully the two different foils are
evocative and seemed simple enough in principle, actually laid on one plate
– the fluted effect on the
but in practice, this proved one of our most headline (right) is achieved
difficult cover treatments to execute. by embossing once the foil
plate has been printed.
Maintaining the clarity of the exposed cover
lines in the body of the text (printed on the thick, S P E C I A L C O L L E C T O R ’ S E D I T I O N
C O M P U T E R A R T S I 3 4 B 8 6 = < 0C C 4 A B I
Pantone red insert card) was an editorial challenge 2 0 2 0

ISSUE 275
in itself, but nudging and tweaking that copy to 1 7 FEBRUARY 2018

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accommodate our fluted foil headline resulted I PLEDGE TO M AKE 2018 MY

FEBRUARY 2018 ISSUE
in several rounds of refinements. A 4 B > ; D C 8 > = # 1

275
Equally, creating the die cut to punch out the

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A 4 B > ; D C 8 > = # 2
cover lines should have been simple enough, but

as with any additional manufacturing process, A 4 B > ; D C 8 > =
# 3
the need for absolute accuracy – 5mm error either A 4 B > ; D C 8 > = # 4
way would make the cover lines illegible – led to

COMPUTER ARTS.CRE ATIVEBLOQ.COM
palpable levels of anxiety in the art department. A 4 B > ; D C 8 > = # 5
Watch the cover being die cut by our print finishing

partner Celloglas, as well as many of our other special
covers, at www.bit.ly/ca-printfinishes MARK WYNNE
Nick and Mark worked so closely on this
cover, they brought to (Mark’s) mind the epic
Spice Girls smash, Two Become One (which
Mark has only just discovered is about sex).
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W EL C OM E FEBRUARY 2018
Editor’s letter FEATURING

MATT BAXTER
Quit your job. It’s a pretty empowering statement: if Matt is creative director of award-
you’re not creatively rewarded, feel like you can’t reach winning branding studio Baxter and
your full potential, or are generally under-appreciated, Bailey, based in Brighton. On page
don’t just sit there and take it: make 2018 the year to 20, he argues that the best designers
always find time to think.
make your dreams a reality.
www.baxterandbailey.co.uk
When we put a tweet out asking for stories of people
who had done just that, the response was overwhelming.
We explore the topic in detail this month, part of an issue
dedicated to making those new year’s resolutions count for KATH TUDBALL
something. Whether it’s finally launching that side project Design director at The Partners since
2016, Kath was previously at Johnson
that’s been on the back-burner, tackling your stress levels to
Banks. As part of our feature on quitting
find a better work-life balance, or landing a massive client your job in 2018 (page 42), she gives
as a portfolio centrepiece – it’s up to you to make it happen. advice for those looking to move studios.
Our rather special collectable cover is all about making www.the-partners.com
a promise to yourself: a pledge to make 2018 your best year
ever. The specifics, of course, are up to you – we’ve provided
some suggestions, and some advice to get you started – but
JASON SMITH
only you know what your list of goals looks like. Co-founder of Bristol studio Fiasco with
As our video profile demonstrates, sometimes there’s no Ben Steers, Jason shares how he grew
substitute for unswerving passion and hard graft: the co- an award-winning creative business
founders of Bristol-based studio Fiasco threw themselves from two inexperienced guys with
into business seven years ago with no prior experience laptops – see page 76.
www.fiascodesign.co.uk
whatsoever, and ended up with a BAFTA and a D&AD
Pencil within their first few years of business.
It may not work out all the time, but you can learn from
that too. In a one-off special feature, we’ve replaced our MARIAN BANTJES
regular behind-the-scenes project diaries at the back of the Marian is a Canadian designer, artist,
mag with private diaries instead, in which Marian Bantjes illustrator, typographer and writer. One of
three designers who share their unseen
and Michael Johnson share creative concepts for clients
sketchbooks on page 82, she reveals a
that never made it off the drawing board, but are still project that never saw the light of day.
inspiring pieces of work in their own right. www.bantjes.com
Next month, we bring you our hotlist of illustrators to
watch this year – an invaluable reference guide for your
next big commission or collaboration. See you then!
EMILY OBERMAN
Emily is a multidisciplinary designer and
NICK CARSON partner at Pentagram. On page 98, she
Editor discusses what her childhood love for
[email protected] MAD magazine has taught her about
humour and going against the grain.
www.pentagram.com
KEEP IN TOUCH WITH…
@computerarts /computerarts
@computerarts /computerartsmag
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FEBRUARY 2018
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FREE
CONTENTS
CULTURE
ISSUE 27 5
F EBRU A R Y 20 18
CA HANDBOOKS
WORTH £54!
Take part in our
survey – p49
10 TRENDS
How mental health considerations are moving
focus towards the brain-body connection
14 MY DESIGN SPACE
LA illustrator Robin Eisenberg discusses the joys
of having her own work adorn her studio’s walls
15 NEW VENTURES
Why Scottish studio O Street has crossed the pond
to set up a new branch in Denver, Colorado
16 EVENTS
Nick Carson discovers the power of creative
experimentation at Antwerp’s Us By Night
18 INSPIRATION FEED
Daniel Aristizábal on the ‘moods’ of his feed
INSIGHT PROJECTS
20 PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

Matt Baxter explains that the best
designers always make time to think
76 VIDEO INSIGHT
The co-founders of Fiasco reveal
how they built their award-winning
Bristol studio from scratch
22 DESIGN MATTERS
What are your design-related
new year’s resolutions for 2018? 82 SKETCHBOOK SPECIAL
Top designers share unseen work
from their archives, including
23 WHY THIS YEAR’S ABOUT ME

CA’s Rosie Hilder on why she’s
forgotten and rejected concepts
prioritising her wellbeing this year

92 REIMAGINE A CLASSIC SONG
How Valentina D’Elfilippo
24 MOONPIG REBRAND
We get three perspectives on the
gift company’s latest rebrand
visualised Bowie’s Space Oddity
from 10 different angles
SHOWCASE
26 ATYPICAL DESIGN
Hot new work, including an eclectic
identity for Montreal event, Atypi

-8-
C O N TE N TS
SPECIAL REPORT INDUSTRY ISSUES
42 WHY TO QUIT
YOUR JOB IN 2018
Unhappy in your current role? We
explore why you should quit your
job in 2018, and what it takes to find
something more creatively fulfilling
BACK TO BASICS
58 BEST YEAR EVER!
Discover how to make your creative dreams a reality this year as we reveal
how to overcome common obstacles and put your plans into action
IN CONVERSATION WITH
50 WILFRID
WOOD
The eyebrow-raising
sculptor discusses
life as a satirical
sculptor, and why he
loves creating nudes 70 HOW TO USE BRAND GUIDELINES
The last part of our junior designer
manual focuses on brand guidelines
REGUL ARS
96 ILLUSTRATOR ADVICE
AOI members Luisa Rivera and
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE UP TO 49 % Shotopop on working with agents
Never miss an issue of Computer Arts. Subscribe today for pro advice and practical
insight every month, and save up to 49%! See page 40 for more details 98 DESIGN ICON
Emily Oberman reveals her childhood
obsession with MAD magazine

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- 10 -
AREPA BY ANGUS BROWN
Each month, our Trends section is curated by experienced
CULTURE TRENDS PEOPLE EVENTS INSPIRATION creative consultancy FranklinTill www.franklintill.com
T R E NDS
TRE N D S
BRAIN POWER
Mental health considerations are increasingly
moving focus away from body performance,
and towards the brain-body connection instead
euroscientist Dr Tara Swart, founder of The Unlimited
N Mind, teaches techniques to achieve mental reliance and
peak brain performance. She focuses on five fundamentals
of neuroscience: rest, which examines the sleep best for your
brain; fuel, looking at foods that are brain boosting; hydrate, which
ensures enough water is consumed to allow proper neuron function;
oxygenate, which encompasses the types of exercise that boost
brains for successful ageing; and simplify, which takes in mindfulness
in the form of meditation, yoga, mindful eating and mindful walking.
Brain-optimising products, services and experiences are coming
to the fore in the form of nootropic consumables, tech add-ons and
tailored exercise regimes. Brands are working with neuroscientists to
infuse their products with brain-optimising features. Using technology,
and natural and synthetic chemicals, innovative designers are creating
products and services that enable us to program efficiency and
optimisation into our cognitive activities.
Dr Swart has recently been offering an overnight experience called
the Brain Power Package. It includes a menu of nutrient-rich meals,
mindfulness sessions, heated marble floors claimed to help neutralise
the effects of electromagnetic interference on the brain-body system,
blackout blinds to aid sleep, treatment sessions, a series of talks on topics
from the science of the brain to politics, sleep pods for power napping,
and a Brain Lab where guests can learn to develop mental resilience.
Created by food technologist Angus Brown, and developed in
collaboration with neuroscientist Dr Andrew Scholey, Arepa is a
juice-based drink containing L-theanine, as well as other supposedly
mind-enhancing ingredients, such as pine extract. The fruit of four years’
development at New Zealand's The FoodBowl food innovation centre,
the apple and blackcurrant flavoured drink is said to stimulate alpha
brain waves, claimed to boost creativity and reduce depression.
Developed in collaboration with neuroscientists, Brain.FM is an
artificial intelligence music composer that delivers tailored musical
treatments claimed to affect cognitive activity. The musical vibrations
promote one of five cognitive states: focus, relax, meditation, nap and
sleep, and are said to complement the brain's natural frequencies.
HeadStrong is a new Equinox group fitness class that combines brain
and body training to push physical and mental boundaries in a four-part
‘active regeneration’ workout. Described as the intersection between
high intensity and mindful movement, the 60-minute class has four
key sections, each with a customised soundscape.
California-based start-up HVMN believes humans can be quantified,
optimised and upgraded. It designs and develops products that enhance
key biometrics relating to our cognitive, physical and metabolic output.
Its Nootrobox comprises four products – Rise, Kado-3, Sprint and Yawn
– that focus on key aspects of brain health and performance with the
aim of providing a sophisticated way to nourish our sophisticated brains.
NOOTROBOX BY HVMN
BRAIN.FM
FRANKLINTILL STUDIO
Design Futures / Material Futures / Colour Futures
FranklinTill Studio is a forecasting agency and creative consultancy that
works with lifestyle brands across the disciplinary spectrum to provide
research-based insights that drive creative innovations in materials,
colour and design. It creates reports, publications, exhibitions and events
with the aim of making its research both accessible and inspiring. It also
edits and produces two magazines, published by View Publications,
which you can buy from www.viewpoint-magazine.com.
VIEWPOINT DESIGN
Viewpoint delivers visual, editorial and statistical information to brands,
designers, agencies and consumer insight teams determined to create
lifestyle products, campaigns and environments that anticipate consumer
demand. Written by professionals in the branding and design business,
BRAIN POWER each issue explores how a significant trend will impact consumer
PACKAGES AT THE behaviour and the global design landscape.
CORINTHIA HOTEL,
LONDON VIEWPOINT COLOUR
Launched December 2016, Viewpoint Colour offers visual inspiration,
design direction and a global perspective on colour. The inaugural
issue provides an in-depth analysis of the personality traits of emerging
colour stories, explaining why they are relevant now and how they are
currently being applied.

- 12 -
CU LT U R E FEBRUARY 2018
Robin Eisenberg is an artist and illustrator based

in Los Angeles. Past clients include Broadly,
ASOS, Nickelodeon and Apple Music.
www.robineisenberg.com
M Y DES IGN S PA CE IS . . .
VIBRANT YET CALMING

LA artist and illustrator Robin Eisenberg discusses the joys of having a leopard on her desk
iming to combine bright my desk makes me feel like my of years also keeps her inspired. my drawings have my back while
A clean walls with lots
of colour and texture,
brain is happy and focused.”
That focus can also have its
“When I first moved back to LA
in 2015 after being away for a few
I’m working on new stuff,” she grins.
She also enjoys having her
Robin Eisenberg created her LA downsides, however, as Eisenberg years, I discovered the pin-making books and piano (4) close by. “If I’m
home studio in her two-bedroom admits she is sometimes “not as world and was inspired to start ever having a moment of frustration
apartment in early 2017. It’s the present” as she’d like to be in other making my own pins and selling with a project, I’ll take a break and
first time the artist and illustrator parts of her life. A collection of them. Starting a shop and meeting play the piano, and I always feel
has had her own studio space, objects given to her by her parents other pin makers was so exciting, calmer afterwards,” she says.
and she absolutely loves it. and husband remind her of “life and it really changed a lot of things Eisenberg’s coloured pencils (5)
“I genuinely get to so excited outside of art” (1). “The geode Lady for me as an artist,” she says. were a gift from one of her closest
about working every day,” she Cave is by Chaparral Studio and One wall of Eisenberg’s studio friends, and although the leopard
says. “I love being in spaces that I am so in love with it,” she says. is adorned with her own art (3). is actually a case, she doesn’t keep
feel vibrant and lived in, but also A sample of pins (2) she’s “I like having my work up behind anything in it. “I just like having a
calming and organised. Being at collected over the past couple me, it kind of makes me feel like leopard on my desk,” she shrugs.

- 14 -
FEBRUARY 2018 P E OP LE
The O Street team. Josh

Peter (second from right)
is returning to his native
1
America to set up the
new studio.
N E W VE N TU RE S
AMERICAN DREAM
Josh Peter, who is heading up O Street’s new Denver division,
reveals why the Scottish studio has decided to cross the pond
2
uring a trip to the US supported these relatively lean so far. The benefits
D by Scottish Development
International, O Street found that
are limitless: new opportunities, new clients,
higher fees and the opportunity to have
Denver, Colardo was a booming place for a real cultural impact on a new place.
new businesses, start-ups and tech. The
team liked it so much they decided to set What are the main differences between
up a studio there. We asked Josh Peter how US and European (or UK) design?
this new venture will work in practice… The States is such a massive place, it’s not
really fair to paint the whole industry here
Why were you drawn to Denver? with one brush. However, there does seem
Denver has a vibrant arts culture, a great to be an approach being championed more
climate and is one of the craft beer capitals obviously in European design studios at
3
in the world, making it an amazing fit for the moment: a depth of strategic thought
our expertise. With the population rapidly paired with a strong aesthetic sensibility.
growing, the culture out here is fresh. It The O Street approach is to begin every
feels like it’s just getting started. project with a focus on research, the end
users’ needs and finding design solutions
How will the studios work together? that yield results. We finish those projects
When our UK studio is winding down its by making sure we have created something
day, our US studio is just getting started, that looks and feels beautiful.
meaning the former can easily hand work
off to the latter. We’ve retooled our meeting How do you think US clients will find your
schedule to accommodate a designated approach compares to US agencies?
time of 4pm GMT and 9am MST. It’s going The tradition of Swiss modernism runs deep
smoothly so far, but we’re just getting started. on the European side of the Atlantic. Even an
4
At the moment, it’s the UK studio that’s offbeat studio like ours will impress American
doing the lion’s share of the work but we clients with the care and thoughtfulness we
envision it becoming 50/50 as the US family bring to their design needs.
grows. The early creative stages of projects
will be cross-studio and collaborative, and for What are your plans for future growth?
quality control, it’s likely that one studio will We plan to grow how we always have:
then see the project through to production. doing good work while being ourselves.
As for managing, it’s communication, Our goal is to pick up steam until we have
communication, communication. a few designers working for us in Denver,
then repeat the process in another city.
What are the risks and the benefits of With the US studio currently in a co-working
setting up a new studio in the US? space, we’re yet to see how that will work
The obvious risks are upfront business out physically – but we’re excited about this
5 modern era of re-evaluating workspaces.
costs, though we’ve managed to keep

- 15 -
E V E NT RE PO RT: U S BY N I G HT
KEY INFO:
Location
Parkloods Noord,
Antwerp, Belgium
KEEP EXPERIMENTING
www.usbynight.be At Antwerp’s second Us By Night festival, Nick Carson was struck by the
When
inspiring results that freeform creative experimentation can yield
23–25 November 2017
or the second year in which it’s possible, and more Meanwhile, for Nike Lab’s
Attendees
1,700 per day (5,000
F running, Us By Night
– formerly known as
importantly, fruitful.
“Testing out new technologies
Ryan Belmont, innovation and
experimentation is the order of
total over three days) OFFF By Night – took over a vast can inspire you,” was CATK’s take. the day every day. “It’s like being
warehouse space in Antwerp with Notable for its surreal combinations back in college,” he grinned.
Key speakers giant LED screens, artisan food of organic shapes and colours, the “We’re just playing, seeing what
CATK, Ryan Belmont, stalls, an array of ping pong tables Berlin-based agency demonstrated works.” One fascinating example
Jonathan Zawada, Studio and retro games, and of course a one such experiment in action: was an installation at Milan Design
Feixen, Hugo & Marie, three-day programme of inspiring Shrooms, a psychedelic feast for the Week dedicated to the theme
Aaron Duffy, Saiman talks from some of the world’s eyes that got a round of applause of movement, which featured
Chow, Neville Brody most exciting creatives… from the assembled crowd. everything from high-tech motion-
Diverse topics ranged from CATK’s first major commercial capture technology to a lo-fi stack
multi-sensory VR experiences, to project came in 2012, working with of shoeboxes, arranged into a
Aaron Duffy’s ‘10 signs you’re an Wolff Olins on the new Windows sweeping, dynamic curve.
advertophile’ – but a sentiment 8 packaging. Despite the huge Belmont also showcased Nike
shared by many speakers was the corporate nature of the client, the Lab’s collaboration with a small
value of creative experimentation, final illustrations were all freeform group of fashion students from top
and how to create an environment creative experiments. design colleges, which expresses

- 16 -
FEBRUARY 2018 E V E NT S
some of Nike’s material innovations mess around in, not consciously Clockwise he confessed. Like Zawada, he is
through costume design and dance. visualising the outcome.” from left: prickly about client intervention:
Diversity of style is another likely Animator Saiman Chow, when Us By Night’s “I want to explore things that I want
byproduct of experimental spirit. As discussing the lack of consistency in Living Room to explore, not the things my clients
Jonathan Zawada revealed in his his practice, shrugged that he’s “not stage replaced want me to do,” he shrugged.
talk, his illustrations have evolved wired that way” – in no small part traditional Boutique Swiss agency Studio
enormously over the course of his because of his ADHD. conference Feixen has its own system to aid
career. He’s even pledged to never “I look for new challenges,” he chairs for rugs freedom of expression: “We think in
let the client dictate the look and explained. As a teenager, Chow’s and sofas; one games,” explained co-founder Felix
feel of a piece, valuing creativity family emigrated from Hong Kong of the giant LED Pfäffli. “Our process doesn’t lead to
over cash – if they don’t like it, to LA following the Tiananmen screens, and one outcome, but a set of rules that
he won’t charge so long as he Square massacre. Adaptation was ping pong table; govern many outcomes.”
can use it for his own purposes. tough, and themes of social isolation festival branding; One example was an education
In fact, for almost three years permeate much of his work. Jonathan Zawada project that explored how a group
Zawada decided to stop working “In school, the most fun I had showing some of people can design something
commercially almost entirely in was huddled in the corner painting,” of his creative truly collaboratively. One group
order to focus on oil painting he recalled. Like Zawada, Chow had experiments; established a system whereby half
experiments in Los Angeles. He’s a epiphany: he decided to focus on two cars painted of them would try to write the word
since moved back to a remote part himself and consciously dial back white acted as ‘play’ using a grid of paper titles,
of his native Australia so he can do the commercial work. “Money is freeform canvases while the other half tried to destroy
the kind of work he loves without not my motivation,” he insisted. for creativity. it by ripping them up. A second
the constraints of LA’s cost of living. Mario Hugo, co-founder of New group turned the creative process
”I have a system underpinning York-based creative agency Hugo into a dance, passing shapes and
the way I make work – a system for & Marie, mischievously described colours around between them.
curiosity, to explore ideas,” he said. his own creative direction process As all these examples attest,
“Often, it’s about designing without as like drink-driving. “My thinking is formulaic thinking and box-ticking
intent. Creating an environment to cyclical, disorganised and spiralling,” will get you nowhere creatively.

- 17 -
I N SPI R ATI O N FE E D
Daniel
Aristizábal
Daniel Aristizábal is a graphic designer and visual artist
from Medellín, Colombia. His work focuses on surreal
and odd imagery that speaks about his inner world
and how he envisions life. He describes it as “a journal
on my quest to find and create beauty, which is
perhaps my biggest obsession.”
Aristizábal sees Instagram as a great way to gain
an audience who engage directly with his art and
experiments. It also allows him to discover talented
artists and inspirational feeds.
“I believe I’m a very moody person, and these
swings are reflected in my work and subsequently
in my feed,” he admits. “I can trace moments of joy,
sadness, confusion, and curiosity just by looking at
the colours and themes of my Instagram account.”
www.instagram.com/darias88

- 18 -
The number one destination
for graphic design news,
views and how-tos
EcrApc_rgtc
@jmobgpcarrm
wmspgl`mvugrf
mspuccijw
ep_nfgabcqgel
lcuqjcrrcp
Graphic design Art Web design 3D Digital art
www.creativebloq.com
I N SI G H T FEBRUARY 2018
INSIGHT ESSAY
Strong opinion and

analysis from across the
global design industry
MATT BAXTER
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
BAXTER AND BAILEY
www.baxterandbailey.co.uk
Matt is creative director of award-winning brand

design studio Baxter and Bailey, based in Brighton.
Over his 22-year career, he has worked with brands
all over the world – his favourites include Land
Securities, The Body Shop and The Australian Ballet.
ROSIE HILDER
OPERATIONS EDITOR
COMPUTER ARTS
www.rosiehilder.com
Rosie is a journalist and editor. She joined the

CA team in 2016, after working as deputy editor
of Time Out Buenos Aires in Argentina. On page 23,
she reveals her editing nightmares, and why her new
year’s resolution is to take more care of herself.
Pause for thought

Baxter and Bailey’s creative direor,
DESIGN MATTERS: What are your new year’s Matt Baxter, argues that the be
resolutions for 2018 – page 22
designers always make time to think
PLUS: We dissect Moonpig’s rebrand, created by
its in-house team and Ian Styles – page 24
Illustrations:
Anna Higgie
www.annahiggie.co.uk

- 20 -
FEBRUARY 2018 M AT T B A X T E R
ately, I’ve been thinking about thinking. business. The first thing we did, before buying a Mac
L Almost every weekday morning, I walk
down the hill from home to the Baxter and
or a chair or a bookshelf or a bag of coffee beans, was
to sit down for a day in a borrowed Covent Garden
Bailey studio in central Brighton. It’s a lovely walk, meeting room and design a thoughtful business plan.
downhill all the way (and consequently less lovely on We thought hard about client sectors that we already
the homeward leg), and is a half-hour window to get enjoyed working in or had good track record in, and
my thoughts in order before diving into the emails, we actively avoided sectors we didn’t like. We thought
phone calls, catch-ups, discussions and the demands hard about mistakes we’d made in our design pasts
of the studio day. Every morning for the past week, and made firm commitments not to repeat them.
I’ve walked past the same flyposter. It appears to be When thinking about and writing this business
promoting a gallery show and it says this, in glitchy plan, we also tried to ensure that the design business
and distressed uppercase typography: KEEP we were creating allowed us to be thoughtful outside
MOVING, STOP THINKING. of the studio too. Dom and I were both already dads
The poster achieved exactly half of its stated aim, by this point and consequently were becoming
in that I did indeed keep moving. But what it failed experts in dad jokes and dad
to convince me to do was to stop thinking. In fact, it dancing, and were in danger
did the opposite. And what it made me start thinking of developing an irrational Designers who think deeply
was: ‘Get off my case, glitchy typographic poster, fondness for fleeces. So we
we need more thinking not less.’ In fact, other than committed to think hard about and widely about their work
perhaps JUMP IN THIS POOL OF LAVA or POP ways in which our business
YOUR HEAD INSIDE THIS JUICER, I can’t think of could be ambitious, brave and are already rategis in the
many all-caps commands that are more guaranteed brilliant while allowing us to
to keep me moving very fast in the opposite direction be good parents too. We were broade sense. They think
while thinking very hard. keen not to fall into all of those
KEEP MOVING, STOP THINKING is all very well classic design studio shabby about how the work meets
if you’re running away from bees or the Terminator. habits: habitual late hours,
And while it’s true that in this industry, the ability weekend working, neglectful the brief, and marries with
to move – to develop, to evolve, to move forwards parenting. And while this
towards a solution, to relentlessly pursue an idea – thoughtful approach doesn’t the brand rategy
are all vitally important attributes, what we really always work perfectly in
need are thinkers. The best designers are thinking practice – I’m typing this on
designers. All of my design heroes (and I’m guessing a Sunday afternoon – we’re
some of yours too) are thinkers. Some are conceptual giving out-of-hours thoughtfulness our best shot.
thinkers with one foot in the fine art or craft camps In recent years, as the studio has grown, this
– people like Alan Fletcher, Tibor Kalman, Jim thoughtful approach is still embedded in our DNA
Sutherland, Vaughan Oliver or Paula Scher. And some and informs how we look out for great new designers.
are more commercial thinkers, always with an eye We’re firm believers that good designers are thinking
on the brand or the system – people like Michael designers. I’d go a bit further, and say that designers
Johnson, Michael Bierut or Margaret Calvert. who think deeply and widely about their work are
What unites this disparate bunch of genii is a already strategists in the broadest sense. They think
thoughtfulness in their work: they make brainy, about how the work meets the brief, how clearly it
deep work that means something to them, their will communicate, how well it marries up with the
clients and their clients’ audiences. brand strategy or aims or ambitions. And, if they’re
And while I’m as easily seduced by a beautiful really good, they’ll think about all of this carefully
aesthetic as the next fickle designer (and just as likely and make it look brilliant too. And if they’re nice
to exclaim: ‘Ooh, just look at that fluoro spot colour people with excellent taste in biscuits too, we’re sold.
and foil detailing!’), the design work that really Maybe it’s time for a flyposting campaign of our
delights me is the stuff that’s clearly been thought own. I can see it now: clean, clear, bold and brilliant
about. When I see thoughtful, clever or intelligent all-caps typography. Not a glitch or a distressed
work, the reaction isn’t quite, ‘I wish I’d done that’, texture in sight. And the copy? KEEP MOVING BY
but more: ‘I wish I’d thought of that.’ ALL MEANS, BUT FOR GAWD’S SAKE, THINK!
When we founded Baxter and Bailey five years Is thoughtfulness important to your design practice? Tweet
ago, we decided straight away to build a thoughtful your thoughts to @ComputerArts using #DesignMatters

- 21 -
DISCUSSION
What are your New Year’s

resolutions for 2018?
JANNE EGELAND LEANNE MALLINDER MATTHEW TWEDDLE

Design and marketing manager, Freelance graphic designer Co-founder and CD, Only
Data Design System www.leannemallinder.co.uk www.onlystudio.co.uk
www.janneegeland.com
“Less Netflix and chill, more design “For me, this January marks surviving “It’s very easy when you’re running
and thrill. I have to admit that I’ve been two years of self-employment. Working a small studio to become completely
spending far too much time binge as a freelancer can be somewhat feast consumed by the job you’re working
watching one series after the next over or famine – either I’m too busy for side on. Often weeks go by in a relentless
the past few years, and I really want projects, or I’m spending my quieter pursuit for perfection as everything
to cut down and start putting my periods trying to drum up more work, else is put on hold. One thing I’ve learnt
personal design projects first. One feeling guilty at the prospect of over the last few years, is that your
of the things that I rarely get to do spending a couple of days learning best work rarely comes from working
in my day job is animation, and it’s something new. Entering year two with in this way. In 2018, I would like to
something I really miss doing. It’s regular clients and a more consistent remember to take a step back, even
work I’ve always found enjoyable workflow feels like a good time for when the pressure is on. If something
and creatively revitalising. That’s some creative resolutions – to learn isn’t working, not to force it – and to
why I’ve decided to set myself a doodle some of the other Adobe CC apps that give myself the time to make sure it’s
challenge for the next year: one I already pay for, practise hand right. To try and ensure this happens,
animated doodle every month. Partly lettering more and improve my I’m moving our daily studio catch ups
because I don’t want to lose the skills photography skills. I also need to to the end of the day – the idea being
I already have, but more importantly just pick up a pencil or pen and draw that this should act as a consistent
to gain some new ones too.” more, even if no one sees it but me.” reminder to go home and rest.”
TWEET @COMPUTERARTS OR FIND US ON FACEBOOK
CATHERINE THEO LOUISE NATHAN DUSO @T_MMYPARKER @GHOSTCOGS

To study JavaScript for SPANGET-LARSEN To work in my sketch To be more selective To stop being so scared
my multimedia course, and I want to take some more book every day. Not with the work I take that I’m not good
to finish up my illustration responsibility, and use my just once a month. on, so I don’t burn out. enough. I can do this.
series, where I push myself design skills to solve social
to experiment with and environmental issues.
different techniques. We need better, not more.

- 22 -
FEBRUARY 2018 R OSI E HI LDE R
COLUMN
Why this year’s about me

CA’s operations editor Rosie Hilder
very year, I make the on why she’s prioritising her wellbeing everything until I get a solid
E same new year’s
resolution: to stop
eight hours? (Sorry people with
young children, but some of us
biting my nails. I then badly are still chasing that dream.)
paint my poor stubs for about a week until my boyfriend complains The more I talk about this, the more I find that it’s not just me. I’ve
of the smell of nail polish remover and I have an excuse to give in. also come to realise that while some of my best ideas have been in the
This year, I’m not bothering with the facade. I’ve finally accepted that middle of the night, I’m perfectly capable of thinking and creating
biting my nails is linked to anxiety, and if I’ve got any hope of growing during working hours, as long as I’m well-rested. A surplus of ideas is
them, I’d better address the underlying issue instead. useless if you’re too tired to execute them properly.
Like many creatives, I’m a perfectionist, and this urge for perfection I think we all need to remember that however important we think
is both a blessing and a curse. While it means I strive to do the best job our work is, a job is just a job. It’s not worth losing sleep over. It’s not
I possibly can, sometimes I completely lose perspective. My nightmares worth working yourself to the bone and neglecting everything and
are made of misplaced apostrophes, misspelt names and unchecked everyone else, not worth feeling the need to check your emails outside
facts. Just the thought of a past mistake is enough to send me on a spiral of work hours. Most of all, it’s not worth neglecting yourself.
of despair, and while I know I’m good at my job, all it takes is one error That’s why this year, my new year’s resolution is to make a conscious
and I’ll disregard a whole project as a failure. effort to tackle my anxiety head on, and give myself both the time and
That creative drive also means I get obsessed easily. I get so gripped space to do so, regardless of the state of my nails. I’m determined to take
by an idea that I find it hard to think or talk about anything else. The more care of myself, to take a step back when I feel things getting on top
problem for me comes when my sleep is disturbed – that’s my red of me, to prioritise a good night’s sleep and to find more time to do the
flag, and I have to remind myself to do something about it before the things I love, outside of work. I urge you to do the same.
obsession quickly becomes sleep itself. How many hours did I get How are you going to take better care of yourself this year? Tweet your
last night? Why did I wake up at 3am? Can I get away with cancelling thoughts @ComputerArts using #DesignMatters

- 23 -
REBRAND FOCUS
Focus on: Moonpig rebrand

We bring you three perspeives on the gift site’s fresh identity
IAN STYLES CHRISTOPHER MATTHEW HAUKE

Founder and creative COLOURYUM Senior designer, BrandPie
director, Ian Styles Graphic designer www.brandpie.com
www.ianstyles.com www.colouryum.com
“Working with Moonpig’s creative director “This is a fantastic example of concept-driven “I never minded the charmingly kitsch original
James Turner and his in-house design team, branding. Whoever came up with the snout brand of Moonpig. Yes, it wasn’t particularly
my own team and I adopted an ‘inside-out’ lockup, I tip my hat to you for keeping a sophisticated, but it still tried to convey a sense
approach to this rebrand. Basing ourselves strong playful element without that godawful of joy and wonder for gift giving. But like many
in Moonpig’s office, surrounded by its weird illustration. Bravo. I also love the animation dot-com era brands, its identity aged, and to
and wonderful products, we quickly got application of the logo to give the sense of keep up with modern gift-focused outlets
to understand the company, its customers space. This is a really solid rebrand and the such as Not On The High Street and Etsy, it
and culture. We interpreted Moonpig’s application of it is gorgeous. One thing I was desperately needed to be updated. The rebrand
new positioning into a simple idea: ‘Life is interested to see is whether the design team shoots for the moon and nails it – striking a
more light-hearted on the moon.’ With this would change the jingle to match the dropping fantastic balance between sophistication and
thinking at the core, we were able to entice of the .com ‘moooonpig dot com’. (Sorry if playfulness. It’s charming, clever and modern,
people into our weightless world. A key part that’s now looping in your head.) Interestingly, allowing it to sit with other gift sites easily.
of this was the commission of a bespoke font they have dropped the ‘.com’ and replaced it The playful typography, the soft pastel colours,
by Face37 in three styles: lift, wobble and with a whistle. I’m unsure how this will pan the snout icon – all exemplify the joyful sense
shake. To create more stretch to the visual out, and whether they will drop all the spoken of gift giving in an incredibly simple manner.
identity we designed a fun app icon – our words for the tonal melody of it all, so it More importantly, it transitions Moonpig from
pig’s snout – based on the two ‘O’s, and an currently seems a bit unfinished.” a last-minute, quick-fix solution for cards into
extended version of the logotype, to interact the go-to place for gift giving.”
with its signature jingle.”

- 24 -
FEBRUARY 2018 M OONP I G R E B R A ND
The logotype has been

playfully redesigned
as a subtle reference
to a pig’s snout.
Moonpig’s brand
voice has also been
overhauled, using
cheeky humour to
“bring a glimpse of
life on the moon”.

- 25 -
SHOWCASE
Computer Arts selects the hottest new
design, illustration and motion work
from the global design scene
TYPOGRAPHIC TAPESTRY
ATYPI IDENTITY
by Julien Hébert
www.julienhebert.net
Entrusted with the design of the 2017 identity for Montreal- “The design had to convey Montreal’s dualities, quirkiness
based typography conference ATypi, graphic designer Julien and boldness,” recalls Hébert. “I wanted each element of the
Hébert took the opportunity to challenge the traditional identity to feel special, while maintaining a common graphic
conventions of type design. Channelling Montreal’s “multiple language. As the communications leading to the event were
personalities”, Hébert pulled together a wide variety of numerous and published over very long period, it was crucial
loud typefaces and beautiful custom lettering to create to create a flexible system that wasn’t redundant.”
a joyful typographic tapestry.
S HO W C AS E FEBRUARY 2018
COM PU T ER AR T S .CR E AT I V EBLOQ .COM

- 28 -
FEBRUARY 2018 S H O WC A S E
A variety of different typefaces were “My favourite part is the posters The typographic choices behind
used throughout the identity to featuring custom lettering, and the schedule design reflect the
channel the “multiple personalities” Guillon, the secondary typeface by theme of the event: atypical.
of the event’s city, Montreal. Feedtype,” says Julien Hébert.
The logo balances exaggerated

The programme booklet for the Inside the programme, information letterforms with perfect spacing
61st edition of the ATypi conference about the event sits alongside pages to create an experimental,
sports elegant custom lettering. of stunning typographic treatments. contemporary final design.

- 29 -

- 30 -
POIGNANT TONES
I AM TOO YOUNG TO MARRY YOU
by Paul Blow
www.paulblow.com
Illustrator Paul Blow tested his narrative capabilities during a “I broke the story down into three events: the treatment of
recent project with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the young girl as a commodity, the threat of violence she had
which helps those affected by the world’s worst humanitarian to endure and the final homecoming,” explains Blow. “I wanted
crises. Briefed via his agent Handsome Frank to produce three to convey a strong sense of place, which involved researching
web-based illustrations for an article on forced marriage – and absorbing the South Sudanese landscape. I also wanted
entitled ‘I am too young to marry you’ – he worked closely the young girl to be identified quickly and graphically, so the
with the IRC team to bring to life an interview in Rumbek use of a wedding dress was simple and effective.”
with ‘Rachel’ and her 13-year-old daughter ‘Helena’.

- 31 -
THE SCARY ROOM
SPIN/ADVENTURES IN TYPOGRAPHY 2
by Unit Editions
www.spin.co.uk
London design studio Spin embarked on

a journey into typography’s darkest recesses
in the second issue of Spin/Adventures in
Typography, aiming to promote an interest
in experimental design and typography.
“Our aesthetic approach was driven by
play, trial and error, and a desire to go into
what we call ‘the scary room’,” says Spin’s
Tony Brook. “That said, we hoped to make
it enjoyable to engage with.”
Making the physical experiments
work was challenging at times, he admits.
“We didn’t really have a clear idea of where
we were heading.” However, these are
his favourite parts of the final publication.
“It was so exciting and kind of hilarious to
see them coming together,” he adds. “They
are reassuringly unexpected and weird.”

- 32 -

- 33 -

- 34 -
CRAFTY BRANDING
FIERCE & NOBLE IDENTITY
by Halo
www.wearehalo.co.uk
Bristol studio Halo was approached to create a strategy, name, brand identity
and packaging for a new craft brewery in St Werburghs, Bristol. The name
– Fierce & Noble – represents the brewery team’s fierce independence and
respect for the heritage of the craft, while the bold creative, custom type and
bespoke patterns reflect the local vibrancy of its location.
“The product needed to jump out on bar and shelf,” explains Halo design
director Andy German. “And what with the brewery being in a creative vibrant
area of Bristol with other craft breweries in it, it made sense for the building to
stand out and be seen. The main pattern for the brand was based around the
ampersand we made – my eyes went a bit fuzzy creating this one.”

- 35 -
ENCRYPTED TYPE
IBM ILLUSTRATION
by Sawdust
www.madebysawdust.co.uk
When IBM Systems Magazine asked

Sawdust to illustrate an article about a
paradigm shift in the industry – from
selective encryption, to simply encrypting
everything – the duo looked to the cyber
world for inspiration. “We were asked
to visualise the text ‘Paradigm Shift to
Pervasive Encryption’ in a way that spoke
to the written piece,” recalls designer Rob
Gonzalez. “We liked the idea of super
computers and giant servers being the
typography – who wouldn’t?”
Finding a balance between image
and type, proved challenging. “It’s a fine
line and often what can happen is one
becomes compromised by the other,”
adds designer Jonathan Quainton. “That
balance is always a challenge to get right.”
UPS AND DOWNS

WHAT IS BIPOLAR DISORDER?
by Uncle Ginger
www.uncleginger.com
Commissioned by TED-Ed – TED’s youth

and education initiative – UK animation
studio Uncle Ginger created an animation
responding to the script by Helen M. Farrell,
‘What is Bipolar Disorder?’
“We wanted to find a way to aid
the script by simply and sensitively
communicating the disorder to people with
little knowledge of it, without oversimplifying
or belittling the huge effect it has on so
many people on a daily basis,” explains
Uncle Ginger co-founder Hugh Cowling.
“We looked initially at ‘60s and ‘70s
medical journal and book cover design
for the way they intimately communicate
subject matter that’s both poignant and
complex,” adds co-founder Owen Gent.
The pair quickly discovered that by
limiting themselves to just shape, colour,
motion and sound, there was very little to
hide behind. “Each tiny detail had to be
just right,” says Cowling.

- 37 -
LOOKALIKE LABELLING
STEFANO SAUCES BRANDING
by lg2
www.lg2.com
Montreal-based agency lg2 took an original

approach to its branding of the first ready-to-
eat products from well-known chef Stefano
Faita and his partner Michele Forgione.
Featuring a jovial, energetic caricature of
Faita, the identity gives each sauce a unique
typographic treatment – with nutritional and
legal information presented in an unusual
vertical fashion outside the shape.
“It was a major challenge to differentiate the
brand in this type of category, where all brands
merge into one,” says David Kessous, creative
director at lg2. “The concept’s originality
produced a real, appealing identity and
packaging that leaps out.”
COM PU T ER A R T S .CR E AT I V EBLO Q .COM

- 38 -

- 39 -
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I N D US T R Y I S S U E S FEBRUARY 2018

- 42 -
FEBRUARY 2018 QUIT YOUR J OB I N 2 01 8
Unhappy in your current role? Julia Sagar discovers why you should
quit your job in 2018, and what it takes to find something better
ILLUSTRATION: Thomas Burden www.handsomefrank.com

- 43 -
ould your current role be holding you

back? What do you want from your
job this year? Progression? New skills?
More experience under your belt? Maybe
you’re motivated by the prospect of a pay
rise, or recognition from your peers.
No job is perfect. But if you’re no longer
being creatively challenged at work, or feel
that your skills aren’t being fully utilised
or appreciated – or you’re just not giving it
your all anymore – we have good news:
there’s never been a better time to quit.
First, a caveat: we don’t mean wildly
sticking one to your boss after Christmas.
These are politically and economically
unpredictable times, after all. We’re
talking about using your initiative to find
something more rewarding – and there
are plenty of opportunities out there.
According to Gov.uk, the number of
jobs in the UK’s creative industries rose by
five per cent in 2016, compared to a 1.2 per
cent increase in the wider UK workforce.
So what are your options? And how can
you make them happen?
CHANGE STUDIOS
Kath Tudball spent almost 15 years at
leading London agency Johnson Banks
before joining The Partners as design
director in early 2016. “I chose to move on
when I did because the small physical size
of the agency meant there was a natural
limit to how far I could progress,” she
explains. “Joining a larger company gave
FEATURED CREATIVES
K AT H S I M O N T O M ST UA RT R E I S SH I N D S
TUDBALL WAT E R FA L L M O LO N E Y YO U N G S Currently brand
Design director Simon is creative Tom is a senior Founder and strategist at
at The Partners director and brand strategist creative director Studio BLUP,
since 2016, head of at London’s Koto. of Studio Texture Reiss joined the
Kath was previously a senior operations at Samara, Prior to this, he worked in and Texture AI, Stuart was London agency as a junior
designer and team leader at Airbnb’s in-house design client services and strategy previously a partner at brand designer on a three-month
Johnson Banks. and innovation studio. for NB Studio. consultancy Purpose. placement in .
www.the-partners.com www.samara.com www.studiokoto.co www.bit.ly/ca275_youngs www.studioblup.com

- 44 -
QUIT YOUR J OB I N 2 01 8
HOW TO SCOPE OUT

THE COMPETITION
FIVE WAYS TO EXPAND YOUR
CONTACTS BOOK AND FIND
YOUR NEXT STUDIO
01 LOOK ONLINE
“Whilst the market is far more
complex than it used to be,” begins
Stuart Youngs, “it’s still comparatively
small and there are so many more ways
to discover who’s interesting through
blogs, social media, magazines and
awards, for example.”
02 GO TO EVENTS
The best way to scope out
the competition, though, is real life
networking. “We’re an industry awash
with events,” says Youngs. “My advice
is to get to them and get chaing.
You’ll learn and you’ll connect.”
03 ENGAGE WITH
THE COMMUNITY
“Engage in the wider creative
community in any way you can,”
agrees Kath Tudball. “Find your voice
on social media, immerse yourself in
creative culture, aend the talks, ask
questions, have an opinion and share
it. Get out there and talk to people.”
04 STUDIO
CHECK CA’S UK
RANKINGS
Every autumn, we poll Britain’s leading
creative directors and studio founders
to find out which studios they’ve been
most impressed by over the last
me the opportunity to lead my own team, “IF YOU DON’T months. The results feed into our
work across more projects, experience a annual UK Studio Rankings Top,
wider client mix and take on greater HAVE ENOUGH which makes for valuable reading if
you’re looking for a new job. See CA
overall responsibility.”
She says that one of the biggest dangers OPPORTUNITIES issue or read the latest list online:
www.creativebloq.com/features/
of staying at a studio too long is becoming
too comfortable, and not being creatively COMING YOUR uk-top-50-studios
challenged. “Too much of the same
routine can lead to complacency and,
at worst, stagnation,” she says. “It’s better
WAY, TRY TO 05 PUT OUT CONTENT
Don’t just scope out the
competition, let them see you, too.
to always feel just a little bit scared. Doing CREATE THEM” “Put out content on a daily basis on
unfamiliar things may be daunting, every visual platform – Instagram,
but it’s also incredibly motivating. If K A T H T U D B A L L Tumblr, YouTube – that’s relevant
you don’t have enough new challenges DESIGN DIRECTOR, THE PARTNERS to your discipline,” says Reiss Hinds.
or opportunities coming your way, try “Also, use LinkedIn and a personal
to create them. But if that doesn’t work, blog to get your work in front of
it might be time to move on.” every potential new employer that
your work is congruent with.”
Her best advice for finding the perfect
new job is to do your research. Find out as
much as you can about the agencies

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FIVE WAYS TO
GET A PROMOTION
HOW TO CHANNEL CAREER
RESTLESSNESS INTO
SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE
01 KNOW YOUR GOAL

Promotions don’t just occur
with time anymore. You must clearly
demonstrate how you meet the
requirements of a new role – so make that interest you and aim for the ones specific skills. If you feel like this, it’s
sure you know where you want to whose work, philosophy and overall a clear sign that you’re in danger of
be and exactly what that position approach you genuinely admire. “Real becoming institutionalised – and the
entails, and then look to take on more enthusiasm and shared passions will only way to tackle it is to initiate change.
responsibility in your current job. come across and increase the chances of a
great fit,” she points out. “So who do you START YOUR OWN STUDIO
02 CHANGE HOW THE
STUDIO WORKS
One of the best ways to prove your
really want to work for, and why?”
She continues. “Also, don’t be shy – try
If you’re not feeling fully satisfied in your
current position, another option is to start
getting in touch directly with the people your own studio – which is exactly what
value is to make your studio more
you admire for an informal chat. A Studio Texture founder Stuart Youngs did
efficient or save the team money.
Pay aention to processes, and look personal connection or recommendation in March 2017. Previously a partner at
to other departments or studios for of some sort always helps. Just remember: brand consultancy Purpose, he launched
inspiration. As well as saving resources, don’t act like a stalker.” Texture for one reason: autonomy.
streamlining workflow also shows an Koto senior brand strategist Tom “I believe it’s crucial for studios to
understanding of the bigger picture. Moloney agrees that asking people you explore, experiment and take risks in
admire for career advice is a good move. pursuit of progress,” he explains. “It’s our
03 SEEK FEEDBACK
You’ll need to get your
boss on side for a promotion, so
“Ask your mates and colleagues who they
rate; where they’ve worked; who they
creativity and ability to innovate that
makes us attractive to clients. But to
know. Just don’t say, ‘I’m thinking about pioneer takes time, investment and an
book a meeting to find out what you
moving on…’ first,” he laughs. “Also, get awful lot of practice. In my experience,
need to do to get to a higher level
your shit together – your CV, website, that’s more difficult to do in a studio with
within your studio. Ask about your
manager’s objectives, too, so you can portfolio; whatever it is. There’s no bigger overheads and demands, where
focus on helping them be successful. shortcut. Just start doing it.” failure is often not an option.”
Communication is key, so seek Moloney took the opportunity to In his new role, Youngs is no longer
feedback from your boss as well refocus his career by moving to Koto in accountable to a board. He has sole
as other team members. September, after six years at NB Studio. accountability to his family, team and
“It was a combination of things: a very clients. And although he admits this is far
04 DEMONSTRATE
COMMITMENT
Striking a home-life balance is
personal desire for a new challenge, and
a professional ambition to focus on brand
more pressure, he can now move faster
and is free to make mistakes. “It’s
strategy,” he explains. “By moving to Koto, sharpened the mind and, interestingly,
important, but if a crucial project
I was able to achieve both of these.” made me more purposeful,” he reflects.
deadline is looming, volunteering to
He agrees that when it comes to So what about Brexit? Given our
work late – or simply to take on more
work or help in an area outside your knowing it’s time to move on from your current political and economical
normal job role – shows commitment. current role, there are warning signs to backdrop, is there an argument for staying
(Just make sure working late doesn’t watch out for. “If you’re not looking secure in a role – even if it isn’t creatively
become expected.) forward to going to work the majority of satisfying anymore? Not according to
the time, or your motivation is dropping Youngs. “The age of security has long
05 UI NSIET IYATO UI VRE

Don’t sit around waiting to be told
and you know that you’re not giving the
role or your work your best effort, then
since gone,” he says. “The world is moving
too fast for that. Today, it’s essential to be
it’s time to move on,” he says. “But that looking to tomorrow.”
what to do – if you can see a way to doesn’t mean that it’s easy to leave For Youngs, the single biggest industry
help a project or add value, suggest
somewhere, or to find a new job.” threat faced by designers who want to get
it. A well-timed ‘I noticed that [certain
This is especially true if you’ve been a new job is fear, and the paralysis it
task] needs doing – I’ll do that now’
will go further than you might think.
out of the job-seeking game for a while, perpetuates. “We can’t afford to sit still
or you’ve been too comfortable in one and hope,” he says. “I believe we’re on the
role for too long. Many long-serving cusp of the biggest transformation our
employees report a creeping uneasiness industry has ever seen. We’re about to
about the transferable value of their enter the age, not just of artificial

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FEBRUARY 2018 QUIT YOUR J OB I N 2 01 8
“I WAS LOOKING FOR A VERY

SIMPLE THING: I WANTED TO
CHANGE THE WORLD”
S I M O N W A T E R F A L L CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SAMARA
intelligence, but the more profound
augmented intelligence. The consequence
is even more pressure on creativity and
ideas; on originality and distinction –
where the machines can’t compete.”
That said, don’t feel you have to move
jobs for the sake of it. “Nobody should feel
uncomfortable just from being in a studio
for a long period of time,” he points out.
“If you’re challenged, progressing and
fulfilled, you should stay put. The grass
isn’t greener. Promise.”
And don’t move purely for money.
“If you’re moving for money, you’re
missing the point. Move for opportunity.
Money will follow if you pick the right
opportunities and you’ll be much happier.”
GET A PROMOTION
Of course, you don’t have to change
studios to find new opportunities.
Your studio might not be advertising
new job roles, but if you can make yourself
invaluable to the team, you’re in a strong
position to negotiate a promotion.
Reiss Hinds started at multi-
disciplinary design agency BLUP on
a three-month placement as a junior
designer. During that time, he paid
attention to the daily process and
workflows used by his directors. “Email
was the biggest one,” he recalls. “We were
going back and forth so many times for
alterations, so instead I suggested that we
use Basecamp as our project management
tool. It’s cut down our email time and kept
all client services projects in one place.”
He continues: “I tried to provide my
directors with as much value as possible
– no job was too large for me to tackle.
When my three months came to an end,
I suggested that there was a need in the
PHOTOGRAPH: @mr_pixelhead
business for someone to help streamline

and execute on brand strategy, for both
our clients and for Studio BLUP’s brand.”
His advice? “Find a gap in either the
market or in someone else’s business
that you know you can enhance, and

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I N D US T R Y I S S U E S
FOUR WAYS TO GO
IT ALONE INSTEAD
CAN’T FIND A FULL-TIME
JOB? HERE ARE SOME
OTHER OPTIONS FOR 2018
01 GO FREELANCE
If it’s really time to move on
from your current job but you can
find the right opportunity, then one
option is to go freelance. Get yourself
a website, business cards and separate
business bank account, and once
you’ve got some clients you’re good to
go. (For more info, read Four Routes
into Freelance Life, see CA .)
02 TAKE ON SHIFTS
Your favourite local agency
might not be hiring – but they might
occasionally need holiday cover or
extra resource for a big project. If
you can become a trusted freelancer
“MONEY WILL FOLLOW IF YOU PICK
through shi work, you’ll be first in line
when a suitable position does come
THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITIES AND
up. And if nothing else, you’ll have
broadened your portfolio.
YOU’LL BE MUCH HAPPIER”
S T U A R T Y O U N G S FOUNDER, STUDIO TEXTURE
03 SET UP YOUR OWN
CREATIVE BUSINESS
Not sure about going it alone? Then
pool your resources and set up a in return you could end up becoming you address these points, there are only
collective or studio. With the laer the next big creative in your space.” a handful of companies – and most are in
option it’s a good idea to seek out a Silicon Valley,” he continues. “Working
business partner with complementary MOVE CLIENT-SIDE inside means you’re already in charge of
skills to yours – and make sure you Sometimes finding a better job involves the biggest asset: the community and
draw up a contract, too. playing the long game, as creative audience you want to change.”
entrepreneur Simon Waterfall explains. When you’re aiming for the stars, like
04 DO SOME PRO
BONO WORK
Charity work can be a good way to
The former D&AD president first started
talking to Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia
Waterfall, reaching your goals isn’t going
to happen overnight. He says you have to
balance an unsatisfactory day job. If in 2014. Three years later, it took Waterfall be prepared to really grind – and advises
you pick the right project, it’ll give you – who’s co-founded a number of leading being patient. “Big dreams need time to
valuable experience and develop your digital studios and consultancies, solidify,” he reasons.
portfolio, making you more employable including Poke, Fray, Social Suicide and And he agrees that the biggest industry
when that perfect job does come up. Deepend – a total of 29 interviews over threat to designers isn’t the likes of Brexit
So think about where you want to be, six months to land his new job as creative and a flailing economy, but simply sitting
and look for a local pro bono project director of Samara, Airbnb’s recently still. “It’s the tiny, almost unnoticeable
that might help you get there. launched design and innovation studio. threats that are the real killer,” he says.
That many interviews might have put “Murder by Powerpoint; death by
off other candidates, but not Waterfall. meetings about meetings. Don’t go
So why was he so committed to moving quiet, my friends: scream into the page
client-side at Airbnb? “I was looking for and tear it up. Good luck 2018.”
a very simple thing: I wanted to change
the world,” he explains.
10 GOLDEN RULES OF LOGO DESIGN
“How many places, people or brands NEXT Logo Design Love founder David Airey
can do that? Where are they? What do
MONTH reveals his ultimate checklist for a
they do? Have they done it before? When successful modern brand identity.

- 48 -
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you just the right balance of
insight and inspiration, with
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you do your job better. But
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I N CONV E R S AT I ON FEBRUARY 2018
SKIN
DEEP
Some raise a smile, others eyebrows, but
one thing’s for sure: Wilfrid Wood‘s
sculptures are never boring...
W I L F R I D W O O D _ London-born Wilfrid grew up in rural Sussex, before studying

graphics at Central St Martins. After a stint in publishing, he trained as a ‘headbuilder’
for satirical TV show Spitting Image, then set up shop as a freelance sculptor, now
based in Hackney Wick. His work is provocative and playful in equal measure, and
some pieces may cause offence to some readers. See more at www.wilfridwood.com
WORDS: Nick Carson SELF-PORTRAIT: Wilfrid Wood

- 50 -
W
ilfrid Wood are celebrities, making use of his who doesn’t? Any situation can be
doesn’t shy away experience crafting political puppets enhanced with an element of nudity.
from a bit of for satirical TV show Spitting Image, Nude nude nude. See, I can’t stop
artistic nudity, but increasingly they are the result of saying it now.
as the piece on private commissions. In other words,
the previous page people who want to be sculpted, and You have an artistic family, and you
attests. “In all are happy to pay for the privilege. said in your Something Good talk
Facing page: my glory,” was One thing’s certain: of all the that it was hard to find your own
Theo. Ever the coy one-line response to our talks at Bristol’s Something Good voice. How did you go about it?
resourceful, Wood
has previously
request for a self-portrait image. festival in October, Wood was I read an interview with the actor
sourced live His portfolio includes some more certainly the most memorable – so Michael Douglas, son of Kirk
models for his sexualised curiosities too, that may we were curious to find out more... Douglas, who said ‘the children
projects using not be to everyone’s taste: Trainer of famous parents tend to be slow
dating app Grindr.
Fetish features a teenager playing What did Spitting Image teach you developers’. I found it reassuring.
Below: Entitled with himself while sniffing one of about the craft of caricature – any The artists in my family weren’t
Transvestite his shoes, and other subjects include lessons you still apply today? exactly famous, but they were well
Selfie, this piece
rent boys, sex dolls and BDSM. It was a panicky and hilarious job, known within their fields. They
sits at the more
risqué end of But much of his less risqué work with tight deadlines, burning hot were strong personalities and had
Wood’s portfolio. is pure caricature – some subjects glue, noxious gases and puppets traditional views about how art
with squints. I had no technical should be done. At college, I was
background and barely knew how very bunged up with these received
to drill a hole. I mainly fitted up ideas. I envied people whose parents
eyeballs and blinks – it wasn’t very were accountants, who weren’t
creative – although I did go on to hamstrung by artistic convention.
make a few heads and animals. I tried to be a designer, then an
I got my best practical tip a couple illustrator, and for a while I wrote
of months ago. I was watching an a lot of stories – none of which
interview from the ’80s with my amounted to anything. Aged 30
old boss Roger Law. He simply said I started sculpting, which released
that it’s not the eyes, or the nose, or me. Even so, it’s only over the last
any other features that are the key few years that I feel I’m doing
to getting the likeness of someone. what I really want to.
It’s the overall shape of the head.
How did you carve a niche for
Many of your sculptures feature yourself as a satirical sculptor?
nudity, usually in a comic way, and There were painters and designers
your experience of sourcing life- and illustrators in my family, but no
drawing models on Grindr was a sculptors. I think that’s one of the
particularly memorable anecdote. reasons I’ve always liked doing 3D
What’s the fascination? stuff, because it was different.
Nudity is something you can get The satirical bit is influenced
away with in art that you can’t in by my time at Spitting Image, plus
everyday life. The only legitimate my tendency to try and make jokes.
way most people get to stare at live Now I think of myself as more of a
naked bodies is a life drawing class. portrait artist: I’m mainly drawing
We’re all nude, but cover it up and sculpting real people I know
with clothes! Of course I love nudity, rather than celebrities.

- 52 -

- 54 -
FEBRUARY 2018
Facing page, What’s your usual process when other people they follow. You follow seeing? Presumably it’s not their
clockwise from creating a new sculpture? classy people, you’re shown classy essence; their soul – that’s supposed
top-left: Freddie
Mercury; Roy
Getting reference these days is a stuff. That’s basically it, isn’t it? to be intangible.
Hodgson and piece of piss: type it into Google. If Most of Instagram is crap, but Do people end up with the face
Harry Redknapp; it’s a private individual I’m sculpting, there’s so much there that if even they deserve? Why do we associate
Mick Jagger; Keith I photograph them, then do some one per cent of it is brilliant, that’s beauty with truth? I love these types
Vaz MP (and rent
boy); Caitlyn
drawing, sometimes make a rough enough. I’ve bought art, met people of questions. We all love looking at
Jenner as goat maquette, and go on to make the and been commissioned from it. people; we are insatiably curious.
deity Baphomet; finished thing from polymer clay.
David Cameron
I don’t do loads of drawings, a You also quoted Victor Hugo: Do you have a favourite type of
on holiday.
lot of the development goes into “The flesh is the surface of the caricature, either visually or the
Above: Wood’s two the actual sculpture. One annoying unknown.” Besides your subjects’ ‘world’ the person occupies, such
Michael Phelps thing is when the maquette turns appearance, how much attention as politics, music or film?
sculptures explore
the champion
out to be more immediate and do you pay to personality and As an artist who does portraits,
swimmer’s dynamic than the finished thing. behaviour in your work? I should be able to tackle anyone.
distinctive face I want the finished thing to look That quote kind of sums up what Slightly strange faces are the most
and physique. fresh, but not slap-dash. I’m trying to do. Or it could say, attractive to me, but any face can
‘Does the flesh tell you something look strange from certain aspects.
You said in your talk: “When you about the person inside, or can it Sports people are great to sculpt:
think the world’s run out of ideas, be equally misleading?’ they’re usually fit, slightly weird
there’s always something nutty How much can you deduce and manically focused, which is an
on Instagram.” How do you get by looking at someone? If a mass amusing character trait to portray.
the most from the platform? murderer walked past you in the I think my Michael Phelps is one
I love Instagram. You follow people street, would you notice? When of my best, but only because he’s
you like, and it suggests you look at you look at your lover, what are you such a brilliant subject.

- 55 -
Have you ever been tempted I can’t tell from your portrait.’ I was prominent nostrils. I happen to like Facing page: The
to caricature President Trump? pleased to have frustrated him. prominent nostrils, but that’s beside result of a private
commission for a
Trump is both too easy and too the point. I possibly exaggerated French family, and
difficult to caricature. What can What was the hardest satirical them a bit. And when he saw the shown in situ in
I add? There have been hundreds sculpture you’ve worked on? drawing he said, ‘The nose is awful.’ Wood’s studio.
of brilliant cartoons about him. In general, I find women more There is often a conflict of
Above: Wood’s
To most reasonable people Trump difficult than men. Pretty women interest between what the artist sculpture of
is weird. No one needs another are particularly tricky because they and the sitter are looking for Angela Merkel,
caricature pointing this out. The are by definition somewhat bland in a portrait. The artist wants complete with
enigmatic smile.
more some people are lampooned, and symmetrical. Men generally a dramatic, atmospheric or
the stronger they get. have bolder features. characterful drawing. The sitter
I also assume that women are often wants simply to look attractive.
Do you feel any responsibility to more sensitive about their looks; If I sense a conflict looming, then
provide a critical, satirical voice sexist of me I know. A good female I make it clear to the sitter that I am
on particular issues? friend asked me the other day how not a portraitist who flatters. If they
I don’t have a clear feeling for I know that. It’s a good question. want a beautified representation,
politics, and certainly don’t feel I don’t know it: I assume it. they should go elsewhere.
any responsibility to comment.
I usually sit on the fence and am Have you ever had a strong Finally, what advice would you give
equally convinced by both sides of negative reaction from a subject? to an artist or illustrator looking
the argument. To be honest, I hate I actually get disappointingly little to make a name for themselves in
political ranting in any direction. feedback from my subjects. I imagine satirical drawing or sculpture?
My sculptures aren’t direct famous people would see me as a Who would try and make a name for
political satire. A while ago I sculpted potential pain in the ass, so don’t themselves in satirical drawing or
Angela Merkel, just for fun. I gave like to comment. sculpture? About eight people a year?
her a broad grin. A friend of mine Sometimes when I draw people It’s not really a thing to get into,
who is very political said, ‘But what the model is clearly disappointed. is it? I’d probably trot out some cliché
do you actually think of Merkel? Recently I drew a guy with very like, ‘Draw from nature.’

- 57 -
INDUSTRY ISSUES FEBRUARY 2018
I PLEDGE TO MAKE 2018 MY
BEST START A NEW SIDE PROJECT

QUIT MY BORING JOB
YEAR
WIN A DREAM CLIENT
F I N D MY I D E A L WO R K- L I F E B A L A N C E
EVER BUILD MY REPUTATION

- 58 -
FEBRUARY 2018 B E ST YE A R E V E R
Got a big ambition for

this year? We reveal
how you can overcome
common obstacles, put
your plans into practice,
and start to make your
creative dreams a reality
WORDS: Tom May

- 59 -
“I found the initial few months gruelling to

say the least... but I’m now working more
flexibly and creatively than I was before”
L I S A M A LT B Y F R E E L A N C E A R T D I R E C T O R
W
hat would you like Whenever you want to achieve it. Sometimes, when things get
to achieve in 2018? something outside your main really busy, I get up an hour early
Clockwise from top left: customised trainers; Herd of Sheffield elephant; High Hopes screenprint; Glorious Book of Curious Cocktails.
To kick-start that working hours, the clock always before work to squeeze in extra
passion project seems to be against you. Between passion projects, or get cracking
you’ve been dreaming of? Leave the office, your commute and daily on my lunch hour.”
your full-time job and go freelance? household life, there never seems That might sound like a tough
Learn a new skill? Publish your to be a spare minute. regime, But Strange – whose
first book? Start your own studio? Are things that bad, though? self-published book Do Fly serves
Sell your designs on Etsy? Shane Mielke, creative director as a motivational tract for creatives
We all have a dream, and and author of Launch It – a book – sees it more as a matter of
everyone’s is different. But perhaps of career advice for creatives – creating good habits. “It’s about
the more important question is: suggests your time might not be finding the right pattern for you,
what are you doing about it? A new as limited as you think. or adapting how you already work,”
year is the perfect time to come up “Take an honest look at your he explains. “There’s no right or
with a plan, and start actively day,” he advises. “Find things you wrong way to do it. The hardest
working to achieving it. might be wasting time on that are part is starting, but once you’ve got
So what’s stopping you? Well, for less important than your goal, or a tiny bit of momentum, it gets
many people, quite a lot actually: that you could be doing more better and better.”
The mortgage. Self-doubt. Low efficiently. Things like social media,
energy. The seeming unavailability video games, commuting and CHALLENGE TWO:
of hours in a day. The demands of inefficient work habits can all suck FIND THE ENERGY
children, or parents. Lack of skills bits of time from our lives. If you But what if you do manage to eke
or experience. Feeling that you’re can free up 30 minutes every day, out some extra hours, only to find
too old, or too young. that adds up to 180 plus hours in a you don’t have sufficient energy to
But while these are all genuine, year. Excuses are just excuses.” use them productively?
real-world issues, they shouldn’t be Gavin Strange, who works at “I think the amount of energy
the death knell for your ambitions. Aardman in Bristol by day and you have – or you think you have
Over the next few pages, we’ll pursues multiple fascinating side – relates to the amount of passion
walk you through some of the most projects by night, offers an example you have invested in your goals,”
common challenges in pursuing of how that might look in practice. says Ariana DeLuca, a New
your dreams, suggest ways to “For me, I find a routine that I try York-based art director. “This is
overcome them, and hear from and stick to during the weekdays,” why I called my side project The
creatives who’ve done just that. he explains. “I finish work at 6pm Passionate Project (see page 67),
and then come home, eat dinner because making it was like falling
CHALLENGE ONE: with my wife, watch a 30-minute in love. I was so excited, I had great
FIND THE TIME TV episode (anything longer eats energy, I had butterflies. I was
Let’s deal with the most common into the night too much) and then getting home from work and I was
issue first: finding the time. get cracking on ‘round two’, as I call staying up till 3am. To get on the

- 60 -
QUIT MY BORING JOB
LISA MALTBY FREELANCE ART DIRECTOR, ILLUSTRATOR AND LETTERING ARTIST WWW.LISAMALTBY.COM
For some, having a baby might she says. “But I’ve since gone
be a good reason not to leave on to have some amazing
the financial security of a commissions and opportunities,
full-time job. But for Sheffield- and I’m now working more
based illustrator and designer flexibly and creatively.”
Lisa Maltby, it was actually the And that’s important to
catalyst to do so. her psychologically as well
She’d been working at a as financially. “My creativity
design agency and things had has always been part of my
been going well, she recalls. self-expression, as well as
“But I’m a real ideas and wanting it to be a career,” she
creative person, and there stresses. “So it was almost my
wasn’t a lot of opportunity to way of survival: that I wasn’t
push ideas as much as I wanted just knee-deep in nappies,
to. I didn’t feel as challenged as that I had something else.”
I did when I first began.”
So just a few months after
having her second child, she
thought to herself: ‘Life’s too
short.’ “I think kids make you
feel like that,” she says. “They
bring this fresh sense of life,
where they’re limitless in their
imaginations, and you kind of
want some of that too.”
After striking out on her own,
she hasn’t looked back since.
“I found the initial few months
gruelling to say the least,
working on four hours’ sleep
and going to meetings with
baby puke down my back,”

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INDUSTRY ISSUES
R E S O L U T I O N
# 2
BUILD MY REPUTATION
AMY KILNER FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER WWW.AMYKILNER.CO.UK
Left: Eat Sleep Rave Repeat poster; Absolut Vodka promotion for a Tiki bar in Cardiff, in collaboration with White Sky Creative.
FEBRUARY 2018
B E ST YE A R E V E R
“I’d never completed my design degree

because I got a design job in my second
year, but I realised I needed to finish it”
A M Y K ILNER FREEL ANCE GR APHIC DESIGNER
After five years working at design computer and create this, and fires are at. But that doesn’t mean
agencies across Yorkshire, people know I was doing something you can’t still play mental tetris
thought Amy Kilner was crazy to I absolutely loved, gave me that with, say, the logistics of a side
chuck in her job and go back to extra shot of energy.” project, in those moments of the
college. But the 24-year-old from Carolyn Porter, a graphic day that don’t have your complete
Rotherham was adamant. “I’d never designer from Minnesota, tells a attention: when you’re working
completed my design degree because similar tale. Her love of old-time out, in the bathroom, on your
I got a design job in my second year handwriting propelled her to create commute. The organisation and
and left uni,” she explains. “But as her own font, which mimicked the planning of a project or goal is the
I got older, I realised I needed to go script of a real-life wartime letter. foundation and support of the
back and finish it.” That project subsequently spun physical action of the idea.”
She eventually did so, funding into a book, Marcel’s Letters: A And when things get sticky,
herself through a mix of student Font And The Search for One Strange stresses one key word:
loans and freelancing. And as an Man’s Fate, which she based on the positivity. “Just approaching
unexpected byproduct, she ended research she’d done into the letter’s everything you do with a positive
up selling a piece of her student original author. “I think if you find mind state can work wonders,”
work to superstar DJ Fatboy Slim. a project that you’re passionate he enthuses. “It presents obstacles
“It was a typography project for about, you just have to be relentless as opportunities, which helps
my course,” Kilner explains. “The brief and tenacious about bringing that immensely when it’s 1.30am and
was to create a poster based on song project to life,” says Porter. “It may you’re not sure if you can succeed.
lyrics, anything we wanted. I chose the not be fast, it’s not going to be easy. You need all these little boosts to
words to Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat. But it’s ultimately worth it, and you help you through all of your
When I’d completed it, I posted it on just need to be tenacious.” creative endeavours.”
Instagram, tagged it, and didn’t think
any more about it.” CHALLENGE THREE: CHALLENGE FOUR:
A few days later, the star’s manager LIFE GETTING IN THE WAY FIND THE MONEY
emailed to ask if he could buy the All this can be easier said than Sometimes, your dreams don’t just
illustration. Kilner agreed, and then done, of course, as life has a habit demand your time and energy;
the DJ himself emailed, requesting a of getting in the way. A child or they need a bit of seed money too.
signed copy to display in his home family member gets sick. The roof You might need some cash, for
alongside artwork by Banksy, starts leaking. You’re handed a example, to pay for that course,
Chemical X and Jimmy Cauty. “I was huge project at work and have to print your own book or magazine,
like, ‘Oh my God, this is not real!’” work later hours than usual. or to get you through the first few
It’s one of many successes she’s The solution? Accept that life is months of going freelance.
had since returning to education, not perfect, sure… but don’t give The most obvious approach is
convincing her she’s made the right up, and try to find new ways to to start watching the pennies and
decision. “I haven’t taken the normal hang on to your goals. save up a nest egg. That’s not a
career route,” she admits, “but it’s got “Sometimes life or other projects particularly fun prospect, but make
me to where I am, and I’m happy.” are more important,” says Mielke. a few lifestyle sacrifices and keep a
“In life, you have to go where the careful eye on your budget, and it

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WIN A DREAM CLIENT
ROSE WATERSON FREELANCE ILLUSTRATOR WWW.ROSEWATERSON.COM
Clockwise from left: Rose Tinted Glasses; Stag Beetle; Manchester Bee; illustration for Nike Pant Studio.

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FEBRUARY 2018
“I’ve always used Instagram, but I’ve

realised the power it has now, and the
difference it can make if you invest in it”
R O S E W AT E R S O N F R E E L A N C E I L L U S T R A T O R
Rose Waterson may have been a

talented illustrator, but she wasn’t should be achievable. Plus of book’ for children, The Glorious
really aware of it. The fine art graduate course, if you’re foregoing that nice Book of Curious Cocktails. She
and freelancer lacked confidence in bottle of wine or subscription to managed to raise £5,600, although
her work, and didn’t expect to attract Sky, it’s only going to help you find creatives commonly ask for, and
clients outside of her hometown of that extra time you need to pursue often get, larger sums. Be warned,
Brighton. So it was something of a your creative goals. though: even free money doesn’t
surprise when she got a call from Nike. But what if you’re impatient come for free, and you’ll probably
It all stemmed from a logo and to get started right now? That have to do a lot of hustling in order
poster she had designed for a group in shouldn’t be a problem, says to meet your target.
Brighton called Girls Can’t DJ. “They’d Mielke, it’s just a case of which part “Running a Kickstarter was like
posted it on their Instagram account. of your plan you get started on. having another child; it was quite
And then later on, they’d done an “Google is free, and so research and a challenge,” recalls Maltby. “I have
interview with Nike about women in planning costs you nothing other a wide network of people I’m
the music business,” she says. than time,” he points out. “So connected with, so I was able to
When Nike saw Waterson’s work switch gears to a part of your plan push for a few things, pull a few
on the group’s Instagram, it was a case that might be more organisational strings. But even then it was really
of good timing; the brand had just and can be done during free time at tricky to get articles about the
decided to collaborate with seven night or on weekends. For example, campaign published, to get people
female artists to promote their new if you’re wanting to self-publish a to share it on social media. You are
workout pants line, Nike Pant Studio. book about your favourite design your own campaign, so you’ve got
So the company got in touch and topic, there’s nothing stopping you to fully drive it all the time. I got
commissioned her for the campaign. from researching how to get your the funding, which is amazing, but
“It was about three days before the book on Amazon, or making a list this sort of campaign is not to be
deadline,” she recalls. “They contacted of possible printers who might taken lightly. It’s really hard work.”
me on a Monday and wanted my print your physical book.”
illustration on a Thursday. It was very Of course, saving is not the CHALLENGE FIVE:
last minute but I managed to do it only solution to money issues. BUILD A STRONG NETWORK
somehow. The campaign came out Alternatively, you could visit the Even if you consider yourself a
about a month and a half later; the bank and see whether they can self-starter, the success of your
whole thing was quite swift.” offer you a loan, or equity release creative dream often lies in the
Working for Nike has raised on your home. If they say no, try hands of other people. So having
Waterson’s profile and been a big boost another bank or building society. a strong network of contacts will
to her self-confidence, she says; plus We’re still in an era of quantitative help enormously, whether you’re
it’s taught her two main lessons. easing, and you might be surprised seeking work as a new freelancer,
“Firstly, the importance of Instagram. how willing financial institutions looking for the right partner for a
I’ve always used it, but I’ve realised the are to lend to anybody with a track collaboration, or searching for a
power it has now, and the difference record of having a regular income mentor as you develop your skills
it can make if you invest in it. And and good credit score. in a new creative field.
secondly, you never know who your Another source of potential Building up a decent list of
contacts are going to be. I had no idea cash might be crowdfunding. contacts you can rely on doesn’t
that this DJ group had any connection Lisa Maltby, a Sheffield-based just happen by accident, though.
to Nike, which is a bit mental if you illustrator profiled on page 61, Getting out there and introducing
think about it.” used Kickstarter to finance her yourself to people, both on social
‘disgustingly distinguished recipe media and in the real world,

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“It’s all about working hard, finding the thing

you love and going forward. I tell people to
push through those doubts and those fears,
grind it out, and you’ll get there”
A R I A N A D ELU C A ART DIRECTOR
at things like creative events

and meetups, is essential.
Kate Moorhouse, a graphic
designer from Manchester, very
quickly learned the importance
of networking when she went
freelance. “I heard about a meetup
group based in Sheffield and
Manchester called Freelance Folk Since then, whenever I go to the “Finding someone you trust and
and popped down to see what it group, I meet someone new who being honest with each other are
was all about,” she explains. I can either work for or work with. vital,” she says. “One of the reasons
“I immediately got a friendly I’ve also collaborated with other Chris and I work so well together is
response from everyone. It felt like freelancers from there, and I feel because we speak our minds: we’re
we were all in the same boat: it’s a really natural way for us to honest and open with each other.
finding our way, making the same work together.” “We also share responsibilities
mistakes. And it was nice to chat to and understand situations where
like-minded people from different CHALLENGE SIX: one of us needs more time to focus
industries. Everyone had different FIND COLLABORATORS on something else, without guilt
disciplines, but the freelance side If your creative dream for 2018 from the other. And the best thing
was common to us all.” involves collaboration, then its about our partnership is that we
It wasn’t just a psychological success will live and die on whether encourage and push each other to
boost: the group helped her find you choose the right partner. reach just past our abilities, in order
work, too, she adds. “I met the Tennessee illustrator Tammy to level-up our skills.”
founder, Katy Carlisle, at one of her Coron, who recently teamed up
Squarespace workshops and she with Apple game developer Chris CHALLENGE SEVEN:
asked me to redesign the logo for Language to create game design PROMOTE YOURSELF
the group. In return, she helped me resource www.dayoftheindie.com, Whether it’s launching a passion
with some Squarespace support. offers some pointers. project or your services as a
FIVE WAYS TO P USH YO UR CAREER FORWARD

FR ANK SUYKER, ART DIRECTOR, W W W.MR-SUGAR.NL
Dutch designer Frank Suyker originally DIVE DEEP someone who’s hit that wall before you
set out to be a business leader, but got If you’re really interested in a topic, don’t did, and then shared their experience.
interested in design and video production, hold yourself back from diving deeper.
and ended up “accidentally” becoming an Learn everything you can find about it. SKILLS AREN’T EVERYTHING
art director. Currently working for Orange And then... forget it (I learned that one You can apply for jobs even if you don’t
Pearl in the Netherlands, he offers some from the master, James Victore). Only then have all the knowledge. You can learn on
advice for developing your creative career. will you have the opportunity to create the job too. A good fit with the culture of
something that comes from the heart. the company and the strive to go all out is
EXPECT CURVEBALLS much more valuable to employers.
For those who know their end game, great! LEARN FROM OTHERS
For those who don’t know (and that’s a There is so much information online. KEEP LEARNING
lot of us), just go with the flow and let life On every subject you want to learn more When you stop learning, you get overtaken
surprise you with a curveball. You never about, there is a website, a video, a by those who are more eager. Never give
know where you might end up. forum. When you hit a wall, there’s always up. Keep going. Be the best you can be.
C O MP UTERA RTS.CREATI VEBLOQ.COM

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FEBRUARY 2018 B E ST YE A R E V E R
START A NEW SIDE PROJEC T

ARIANA DELUCA ART DIRECTOR WWW.ARIANADELUCA.COM
Left: Some of the women who have joined The Passionate Project. Below: Visuals for Ted X New York.
In September 2016, Ariana thought: this should exist, why a risk and to open up new doors
DeLuca, an art director based don’t I just make it?” and meet people, and just help
in New York, was looking for a So that’s exactly what she each other out,” she smiles.
photographer. “I wanted to reach did. She got in contact with People marvel at her energy
out to someone new, so I put the photographer and conceptual and constantly ask her ‘How do
word out,” she recalls. “But I was artist Heather Leigh Cullum you find the time?’, she says. But
getting a lot of responses from – who she knew through a rather than basking in the glory,
men that didn’t sit right. I didn’t mutual friend – and in February she urges others to follow her
feel comfortable with anyone 2017, they launched a new group lead and pursue their own
who responded. And I thought to for women called The Passionate passion project.
myself: I’d really love to work Project. Its mission is to help “I just tell people: ‘You can
with another female creative, ‘female creatives who want to do the same thing,’” she says.
who has similar goals and collaborate on projects, “It’s all about working hard,
ambitions to me. But nothing strengthen their portfolios, finding the thing you love and
like that existed.” and network.’ going forward. I try to be really
DeLuca couldn’t think of an DeLuca has done all of this encouraging and tell people to
easy way to find new female outside her full-time agency job, go for it. Push through those
creatives she didn’t already but despite the hard work and doubts and those fears, grind
know, who were also eager to long hours, she’s loved every it out, and you’ll get there.”
create and connect. “Then I minute. “I think it’s great to take

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INDUSTRY ISSUES
F I N D M Y I D E A L W O R K- L I F E B A L A N C E
SHANTI SPARROW GRAPHIC DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR AND LECTURER WWW.SHANTISPARROW.COM
Shanti Sparrow was working as a

designer in a little boutique studio
in Sydney. She enjoyed her job and
found much of the work fulfilling.
But something was missing, she
just didn’t know what. So she
decide to take a year off travelling,
in order to work out what it was.
She used her savings to rent a
flat in New York and stayed for six
months. “When I arrived, I didn’t
want to get straight into work,” she
recalls. “I was so exhausted I just
wanted to absorb New York, have
some fun and just sleep.”
Eventually she started doing bits
of freelancing for her old employer.
“It worked out really well for their
timeline,” she notes, “because I
could do it overnight, they could go
to sleep and then when they woke
up, it would be done.”
After half a year in the US, she
then spent another six months
going around Europe and Japan,
visiting 17 countries in total.
“It was amazing,” she smiles.

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B E ST YE A R E V E R
“I’d always been the mother hen of

every studio I’d been at, and I loved
the idea of being in graphic design, but
without all the deadlines and clients”
S H A N TI S PA R R OW GR APHIC DESIGNER,
I L L U S T R AT O R A N D L E C T U R E R
freelancer, promoting yourself

is key. That means not just
networking with other creatives,
but sharing your work more widely,
on platforms such as Instagram,
Pinterest, Behance and Dribbble.
This may sound obvious, but New
York-based designer and lecturer
Shanti Sparrow has seen the these brand ambassadors
positive effects first-hand. promoting it, and it’s just growing.
Clockwise from top left: Collaboration exhibition branding; concept cover for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Foe, Net, Tic poster.
“I’ve been a designer for nine It’s still a work in progress but I’m
years, but my freelancing outside doing something right.”
of my main job has actually only
kicked off in the last two,” explains CHALLENGE EIGHT:
Sparrow (see left). “It was only ACCEPT IT’S NOT LINEAR
when I started releasing my work As the saying goes, ‘Man plans,
onto social media channels that it God laughs’. In other words:
happened. I was started to get whatever scheme you have to boost
“After going to Barcelona and contacted internationally, whereas your career and achieve your
Tokyo, I’ll never see colour in the before it tended to be people I knew dreams in 2018 may very well go
same way again.” through people I knew. But now it’s astray. But that’s not a reason to
On return to Australia, though, anybody who Googled a magazine not bother trying at all, more a
she still struggled for a time to and my thing came up, and they’re realisation that you’re going to have
work out why her career wasn’t in China and want me to make to stay nimble, accept challenges
sitting right. Then, finally, it all them something.” head on and hope to enjoy as much
fell into place, when she saw an There’s a lot of noise online, of the ride as possible.
ad for graphic design mentors at of course, and just posting stuff “There’s this assumption that
Shillington back in New York. doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get when you’re an adult you get
“I’d always been the mother attention, so it pays to get creative. everything locked down and
hen of every studio I’d been at, For example, Rotherham-based sorted,” says Strange. “No way!
I was always training juniors,” she designer Amy Kilner (see page 62), I think these times are the most
explains. “And I loved the idea of launched an Instagram feed called exciting; you’re more wise to the
still being in graphic design, but @thedesignfix this year, and it’s world and can make changes even
without the deadlines and clients.” become a roaring success. more easily. It’s about being open
She’s now found the perfect “The way you get followers on and receptive to change, and eager
work balance, combining a job as a Instagram is by getting your work to identify when something isn’t
lecturer for Shillington with design featured on other pages,” she working for you and then making
freelancing. And she thinks she’d explains. So she essentially took a change. It’s a never-ending
never have got there without the the same idea and reversed it. process of analysis, assessment
perspective gained from travelling. “I launched my own page to help and action!”
“I took that time in New York to other creatives, and it just blew up,”
focus on me,” she explains. “And she explains. “There are now
ILLUSTRATOR HOTLIST 2018
after that, eventually, everything around 40,000 posts on Instagram NEXT Discover our list of the world’s
started to make sense.” using the hashtag and I’ve got more
MONTH most exciting illustrators
than 18,000 followers on it. I’ve got to watch this year...

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BA CK T O B AS I C S FEBRUARY 2018
6
JUNIOR DESIGNER MANUAL
BRAND GUIDELINES
HOW TO FOLLOW
BRAND GUIDELINES
This six-part series is an essential guide for junior designers. We give advice on topics entry-level creatives need to know about, from basic theory
to practical tips. In the final part, we look at following brand guidelines. Missed an issue? Catch up by purchasing back issues of CA – see page 74.
TYPESETTING
In the last of our series aimed at junior designers, we examine

how to interpret and follow clients’ brand guidelines
DIGITAL ASSET CREATION
WORDS: Tom May
T
he idea of following brand guidelines Tom Tennant, a motion graphics designer
is something that doesn’t get a lot of at Gramercy Park Studios in London, tells a
attention on most design courses. “I’ve similar tale. “I spend as much time as possible
never come across an intern or graduate studying the guidelines, as it’s really helpful to
who understands the fundamentals of be on the same page as your client,” he says.
brand guidelines,” says Ellie Pearson, senior “Even reading the parts that aren’t relevant to
designer and studio manager at Cambridge- what you’re doing can give you more insight
based agency Mobas. “But it’s not their fault: into the brand. After all, it’s there to help.”
ARTWORKING FOR PRINT
they weren’t told about it, and neither was I.”

The concept itself, though, is quite simple. STICKING TO THE RULES
Clients provide designers with a detailed Laura Wynn-Owen, junior designer at Nelson
outline of their preferred colours, fonts, logos Bostock Group in London, notes that
and so on, and how each are to be used. But guidelines are usually handed over without
what students are often taken aback by is the being talked through, so they can be open to
sheer range of things they cover. your own interpretation. “But in our case, there
“I was surprised at first by the complexity are usually brand teams on hand to answer any
and depth of brand guidelines,” recalls Jess questions,” she says. “There may also be brand
IMAGE MANIPULATION
Dutton, junior designer at Mobas. “For some sites that give access to assets, guidelines and
larger clients, they’re incredibly extensive. best practice examples.”
You think of brands having one or two primary As the word ‘guidelines’ suggests, these are
colours, but I didn’t know they could have not immutable rules. But pushing back on
secondary colours too.” Dutton was also them should be a last resort, not a default,
surprised by the distinctions between internal believes Andrius Petravicius, digital designer
and external colours for collateral that will be at Hampshire design agency Superrb. “I usually
used for staff and for customers. “It’s a lot more wouldn’t push back on brand guidelines, as in
complex than meets the eye,” she says. most cases, you can still be creative and work
And this complexity means you need to around them,” he reasons. “I’ve done so on
COLOUR CORRECTION
spend a lot of time digesting them. “I always occasions, though, when I felt like the
make sure I’ve gone through the brand guidelines weren’t working well visually and
guidelines from start to finish, and that I have I knew they could be improved upon.”
a clear understanding of the look and feel of Karl Doran of Manchester design agency
the existing brand, before I start a project,” says Flow Creative concurs. “We did some work
Joe Bembridge, junior designer at Macclesfield recently for Arts Council England,” he says.
design consultancy Brandon. “They had a fairly detailed brand guidelines

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FEBRUARY 2018 JUNIOR D E SI G NE R M A NUA L
PRO INSIGHT
HOW TO BEND THE RULES

JUNIOR DESIGNER AT BRANDON, JOE BEMBRIDGE, EXPLAINS HOW THE TEAM
EXPERIMENTED WITH BRANDING GUIDELINES FOR VLERICK BUSINESS SCHOOL
EXECUTIVE EDUCATION “This is a pocket-sized prospectus marketing team and all external
“Within this series of for potential students at career brand partners to ensure there’s as
brochures promoting Vlerick
Business School’s Executive
fairs. One of the school’s brand
drivers is vitality and the use of the
much quality control as possible.
We use a traffic light review In most cases
Education programme, we
had to both retain the
vibrant coloured V-patterns helped
us stand out again the competition
system to highlight what we ask
people to avoid doing (red), what you can still
V-pattern but also anchor
the logotype within it. This
as being something different. The
logotype is anchored alongside one
might be ambiguous and slightly
breaks a rule (amber; the Executive be creative and
pushed the boundaries of
the original identity system
of the V-patterns within one of the
four corner points. In terms of the
Education piece is one such
example) and what are great work around
as the logotype usually sits
in one of the four corners
of the page.”
inside spread, we also locked the
logotype up in one of the four
corner points, and used the
examples of brand use for the
school (green). This really helps
everyone to understand how to
brand guidelines
transparency of the V-pattern to best use the identity across flat
bleed over the photographic image. graphics, moving image and event
All told, it’s a very complex experiences. We even used the
V-pattern and one that we review guidelines when we branded a
each year with the school’s internal Xerox photocopier for the school!”

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BA CK T O B AS I C S FEBRUARY 2018
PRO INSIGHT
HOW TO ADAPT TO GUIDANCE

RORY BERRY, JUNIOR DESIGNER AT SUPERRB, OUTLINES HOW VERY
DIFFERENT GUIDELINES INFLUENCED THREE CLIENT PROJECTS
AMY’S KITCHEN
“The marketing team at
Amy’s Kitchen were very AWESOME INC
clear about the story they “In terms of guidance, Awesome
wanted tell through the Inc provided us with a logo and
website, but the business a colourway, which we had to
had evolved tremendously stick to. As part of the brief they
since the original branding also expressed a desire for the
was done, so their old site to have a fun, animated feel
guidelines weren’t up to to reflect their unique style and
date. Other than the logo, we ethos. From there, it was down
had pretty much free reign to interpretation. The nature of
on the look and feel, but had their work is very eclectic so we
to keep it true to the ethos decided to go for a fairly clean
of the brand. As we were wrapper to make the most of
nearing the launch, the team their portfolio. Given that
rolled this new style out they’re an animation studio,
across their other channels, it was also important to make
so things were tight.” sure the animations on the
website were really slick, but
at times, we had to rein it in
and remember that showcasing
the work was the priority.”

- 72 -
FEBRUARY 2018 JUNIOR D E SI G NE R M A NUA L
FIVE TIPS FOR

BRAND CONSISTENCY
DESIGNERS SHARE FIVE TIPS ON
FOLLOWING BRAND GUIDELINES
document, but we did try to push it a bit,
and bring in some extra tints and colours, plus
MEGAMUNDEN
“In terms of developing brand
guidelines, this project was very
we created a kind of illustrative classic style
that they’d not really used before. It fitted in
with their branding but it moved it on a little
1 DO YOUR RESEARCH
“Some big brands make their guidelines
available on issuu.com,” says Jess Dutton,
collaborative. MegaMunden is bit, and they were happy with it. If you can do junior designer at Mobas. “Look for a brand
an illustrator, so when he was that, that’s ideal, although it does obviously you know and like, and read their style sheet.
working up logo comps, he depend on the client and the brief.” You’ll change your perspective, gain an
shared some options early understanding of the design process, and
on so we could decide which USING SYSTEMS realise what goes into creating something.”
would work best for web. It Normally, though, your job is simply to
was important that the site
incorporated his signature
style, therefore we got him to
understand and internalise the brand
guidelines, as well as work within a reliable
system to ensure they’re adhered to. Such
2 STAY CREATIVE
“Don’t let brand guidelines hold you
back on your creativity,” says Joe Bembridge,
illustrate a lot of the incidental systems will vary from studio to studio, but junior designer at Brandon. “These guides
elements, such as background will normally be largely based on common are put in place not to limit creativity, but
icons, arrows and footer lock sense. “At Moras, we have a huge printed folder to help a brand stay recognisable and
up. By kicking the brand back with details of all brand guidelines that we consistent,” he points out. “But if you do
and forth, we arrived at work on in the studio, which is also accessible go against the guidelines, make sure you
something which felt natural on our server,” explains Dutton. “I go through have a valid reason for doing so.”
to him and that we knew would and manually double-check colours, as well
work seamlessly across a wide
range of media.”
as doing an InDesign check that shows all
the typefaces used, so you can easily weed
out any that shouldn’t be there. Plus, we
3 MAKE SUGGESTIONS
“If you feel something could be
improved, suggest that to the client, or even
have an internal artworker in the team who make a concept variation to show how a
checks everything against guidelines and brand could look with your improvements,”
specs before it’s sent back to the client.” says Andrius Petravicius, digital designer at
Adherence to brand guidelines may also be Superrb. “Yet if the client insists you follow
integrated into the software itself. “At Superrb their guidelines, don’t ignore them.”
we use Sketch, which allows us to set up
Brand guidelines reusable colour palettes and typography styles,”
says Petravicius. “I’ve also been using InVision’s 4 HARNESS SOFTWARE
can be incredibly Craft plugin for Sketch quite a lot lately; this
lets you create branding libraries with all brand
“To make sure I follow the guidelines
carefully, I’ll take a screengrab of the most
technical, always assets, styles and symbols. I’m also really

excited about a new tool from InVision called
important parts: the colour references, font,
and point sizes,” says Tom Tennant, motion
seek help if Design System Manager, which seems like

a powerful system for creating, managing and
graphics designer at Gramercy Park Studios.
“I also find it helps to copy the brand colours
you’re unsure scaling design libraries.”

The most important thing, adds Pearson, is
into whichever software you’re using so you
have a palette that’s easily accessible.”
that if there’s something you don’t understand

– and there probably will be – ask. “Brand
guidelines can be incredibly technical,” she
5 ASK QUESTIONS
“Raise any questions you have as soon
as possible, rather than when you’re midway
says. “One of our animal health clients has through the work,” advises Laura Wynn-
a lock up at the bottom of all designs that Owen, junior designer at Nelson Bostock
requires a mathematical formula to work out Group. “If there’s anything you’re unsure
the right height and width for the exact about, ask. Even senior designers need
document you’re working on. A junior or intern guidance. There are no stupid questions
has little hope of understanding that, so they when it comes to brand guidelines.”
should always seek help if they’re unsure.”

- 73 -
BACK ISSUES
NEVER MISS
AN ISSUE! ISSUE 274
JAN 2018
Catch up on anything you’ve The hottest colour
missed by downloading our palettes for 2018

How to succeed as
a designer-maker
digital back issues on iPad, We explore whether
design is having a
Android and more... #MeToo moment
ISSUE 273 ISSUE 272 ISSUE 271 ISSUE 270

DECEMBER 2017 NOVEMBER 2017 OCTOBER 2017 SEPT 2017
Create brand 'you' and learn Discover the top 50 studios in this Branding at its best: we reveal the Overcome six major hurdles that all
to harness social media in our year's UK Studio Rankings, explore winners of this year's Brand Impact design studios face. Plus: sharpen
self-promo special. We also share four different routes into freelance Awards. Plus: we tackle diversity in your colour-correcting skills, and
advice on conquering creative life, and find out how to improve design, and DixonBaxi explains why watch our BIA 2017 judges debate
block, and thriving without ego. your artworking skills. it pays to be creatively restless. hot topics in branding.
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FEBRUARY 2018 P R OJ E C T S
PROJECTS Computer Arts goes behind the scenes with world-leading

designers as they reveal their working processes…
76
VIDEO HOW TO BUILD A STUDIO FROM SCRATCH
INSIGHT Discover how the co-founders of Fiasco have created an award-winning studio at the heart
of Bristol’s creative scene, despite initially having no cash, clients or business experience
82 92
UNSEEN SKETCHBOOKS REIMAGINE A CLASSIC SONG
Three top designers share unseen company; David Fernández Huerta How Information is Beautiful award-
development work from the archives. shares sketches for game Monument winner Valentina D’Elfilippo created a
Marian Bantjes reveals rejected Valley 2; and Michael Johnson explains series visualising David Bowie’s Space
artworks for a high-end jewellery a forgotten concept for Tate Britain Oddity from 10 different angles
NEVER MISS AN ISSUE OF COMPUTER ARTS SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR PRO INSIGHT AND PRACTICAL ADVICE EVERY MONTH – SEE PAGE 40

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V I D E O I NS I G H T FEBRUARY 2018
VIDEO INSIGHT
BUILD A SUCCESSFUL
STUDIO FROM SCRATCH
Despite initially having no clients, cash or business
experience, the co-founders of Fiasco have built an award-
winning studio at the heart of Bristol’s creative scene
even years ago, Ben Steers and were forced to wear so many hats, we had to
S Jason Smith set up Fiasco in Bristol

with no design agency experience,
or much design experience at all to
speak of, during one of the biggest
global recessions in living memory – a move
that peers at the time described as “mental”.
After three short years, they won a BAFTA.
learn very quickly on the job.
BS: We were in an incubator space to begin
with, surrounded by other start-ups. Naturally,
start-ups need branding, as well as all the
standard business collateral stuff.
For us, it was perfect – we were getting
nurtured as a business through this incubator
Two years later, a D&AD Pencil. Now, through [run by the University of the West of England –
sister company thread, they’re also running a UWE – with a 50 per cent subsidy on rent], but
successful series of design events to bring the also had the opportunity to work with other small
South West’s creative community together. businesses that needed design services, but
Here, Steers and Smith reveal how they did it... didn’t have huge budgets. It was an important
platform for us. Those people put a lot of trust
How did get you Fiasco off the ground? and faith in us, not having any experience or
Jason Smith: I was cheffing at one point, taking much of a portfolio to fall back on.
calls in the kitchen to arrange meetings. I was
working, like, five jobs. But we had so much What was your breakthrough project?
energy, and loved it. We kept persisting, doing BS: There’s been a few at different stages.
collaborative work – for free – that helped us The first was with a production company called
grow a circle of friends in Bristol and the South Somethin’ Else: an online game for Channel
West and produce a portfolio, and without it, 4, which came off the back of some freelance
things would have been a hell of a lot harder. illustration work I’d been doing.
Ben Steers: We really did start from scratch. We were commissioned to create a whole
Other co-founders think we’re mental. They’ve set of characters, furniture and environments.
come from another agency, or have a design At the time, Channel 4 knocking on our door
background, so have a portfolio of clients or was a massive deal. It was a landmark moment,
a certain level of experience. and the game won a Children’s BAFTA a year
Neither of us had had a full-time job at a later. For a company of our size, going into
design agency. No business experience. We our third year of business, it was pretty big.
didn’t know how to run an agency, or what the JS: It also made us aware of the importance
dynamics, or structure, of a typical agency was. of social media. Our first conversations with
But because we were so young and naïve, there Somethin’ Else happened through Twitter.
were no restrictions. I guess that was a strength; BS: In the early days it’s really important to
we went into everything with open arms. get yourself out there. You don’t know whose
We said ‘yes’ to everything, and worried about phone is going to get that notification or pick
the rest later. Then slowly started to refine who up on that tweet. We also started working
we were as a company, and the type of work we with Penguin Random House off the back of a
wanted to be doing, as well as how we work with tweet: someone within Penguin was looking for
our clients. That’s taken a long time to do. a design/dev team to help with some sites for
JS: When we started, it was just us running some of their authors. We saw that, got in touch,
accounts, marketing, business development and heard nothing for months. Then one day
and then actually doing the work. Because we we got an email asking us to create an website

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FEBRUARY 2018 F I A SC O
FIASCO
‘Creativity takes courage’, ‘Together is better’
and ‘Simple is good’ are the guiding principles
of award-winning Bristol-based studio Fiasco.
Clients include Channel 4, Red Bull, Penguin
Random House and Tobacco Factory Theatres.
www.fiascodesign.co.uk
Watch the videos on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/ca275-fiasco

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Left: Fiasco’s website for

Pelican Books delivers
for a series called Gods and Warriors. Not a “an innovative online
huge job, but again, an ‘in’ with a really reputable reading experience”, and
brand. Off the back of that, we did the design and won several awards –
including a D&AD Pencil.
build for The Snowman and the Snowdog site,
which led to the Pelican website. Below: The site was
It was a long, at points arduous, stressful job, carefully optimised
but we ended up with a beautiful product that across all devices, to
minimise distractions
won a series of awards, including a D&AD pencil. for readers.
JS: We’d just had our fifth birthday. It was great
going to the awards ceremony; it drummed home
that every winner is just a fantastic original idea.
What is it about Bristol that excites you both?

BS: There’s something quite tangible about the
atmosphere here; something in the air that’s
quite special. It comes from the industrial history
that the city has. There’s this DIY ethic, people
just go out there and make it for themselves.
JS: Summer is like being on holiday every
day: countless festivals, arts and culture.
Plus we’ve seen a lot of young companies
like ourselves grow up in Bristol with us. There’s
definitely a sense of community and friendship.
BS: A few years ago, we set up a series of events
called thread to champion the local creative
community, bringing people together for talks
and workshops in an informal, comfortable way.
We started in a small bar with about 100 people,
and now do 220-230 people quarterly. We’ve
set up a separate sister company to run it. And
last October we put on a design festival called
Something Good, with an amazing response.
Where do you recruit talent from?

WATCH THE VIDEO NOW AT
JS: Our last two recruits are from Manchester
www.bit.ly/ca275-fiasco
and London. There seems to be a real movement
at the moment – due to rising house prices, or
desire for better quality of life – for people to
move out of London. Many are coming to Bristol.
We also have open lines of communication
with the local unis. Our studio manager Marj is
a UWE graduate, and came on board last March.
According to your website, you only work with

brands you respect. How do you gauge that?
BS: For us, it’s more about respecting the people
within the brand. By no means do we always get JASON SMITH
it right. It’s like interviewing for a job. You don’t AND BEN STEERS
really know that person until you’re three, six, Co-founders
12 months into the job. You have to try and do Senior designer Jason
due diligence early on, then give it a go. (pictured) and creative
JS: Respect and trust are closely intertwined. director Ben met at Deviate
We don’t work for people, we work with them. magazine in Bristol. Jason HOW TO LEARN ON THE FLY
And to collaborate, we need to trust each other. fell in love with the city after In our first video, co-founders Ben Steers and
BS: It’s like a marriage. If trust isn’t there, things moving there in 2004, while Jason Smith (pictured) share how they grew
start to rock. We bring clients on board from the Ben arrived later, having Fiasco from two inexperienced guys with a
beginning – we don’t just go away, and come studied in Plymouth and couple of laptops into an award-winning studio.
back with a big ‘ta-da!’ moment. We constantly worked in London.
update them, which helps build that trust.

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DEVELOP A MULTI-
TALENTED TEAM
Nurturing a talented creative
‘family’ takes time, says Tom
Grant, creative at Fiasco
1. Create an outlet
A weekly email with an area named ‘Just for
fun’ gives the Fiasco team an excuse to
experiment and learn new skills, says
creative Tom Grant. “It just gives us a
small window to go away and learn to do
something different,” he says. “It makes you
feel like you’re developing and progressing.”
2. Aim high
Although Fiasco collaborates with others
when client work requires skills outside
Above and right: For
its brand overhaul of the in-house remit, Grant stresses that it’s
Bristol cultural hub good to push existing team members. “It’s
The Tobacco Factory, always nice to try and get there yourself,” he
Fiasco was inspired by
the building’s original
says. “Creating work that’s a little outside
industrial roots. your comfort zone is the way you improve
and avoid stagnation.”
3. Get stuck in
Grant has been experimenting with
animation for the newsletter, and has been
getting tips from his colleague, who’s “a
bit of a whizz in After Effects.” However, he
says, often the best way to get your head
around a programme is just to get stuck in.
“Have a play and make a few mistakes and
figure out how everything works.”
4. Foster a family culture

“We do weekends away and go out
for dinner and lunch, everyone gets
along,” says Grant. “I think it definitely
helps just having people that have got
your back and are willing to push you.”
This sense of unity encourages the team to
create. “When you see someone else doing
a piece of work that you think, ‘Wow, that’s
amazing,’ you want to do be doing that. It
TOM GRANT keeps you striving to do better.”
Creative
Tom works on a broad 5. Set aside time
range of creative projects, Recognising that experimentation and
from branding to web learning takes time, Fiasco sets aside
design to animation. After KEEP YOUR SKILLS FRESH time each week to experiment with new
graduating from Liverpool In our second video, creative Tom Grant reveals programmes. That knowledge can then
John Moores, he worked how the eight-person studio handles such a range be applied to future projects. “It breaks up
at various Manchester of multi-disciplinary projects – and how Fiasco what we are doing and gives us another
agencies before moving encourages the whole team to stay sharp. element to our skill set,” explains Grant.
to Bristol two years ago.

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HOW CLIENTS CAN

BECOME FRIENDS
Account manager Natasha
Field reveals how to nurture
your client relationships
1. Build trust
“I treat every client relationship like
I would a friendship in terms of good
communication and trust,” says Natasha
Field, account manager at Fiasco. “When
clients trust us and we trust them, it helps
move the project along.” Plus if something
does go wrong, it’ll be easier to resolve.
2. Act human Above: One of the best-

In the past, Field sometimes felt she attended thread events of
2017 was the joint talk by
wasn’t being herself when talking to DesignStudio co-founder
clients. “The way I spoke to them wasn’t Ben Wright (pictured) and
very human and seemed robotic, and DixonBaxi’s Dan Capstick
I wasn’t building relationships because about rebranding the
Premier League.
that’s not how you build relationships.” She
advises remembering that everyone has Left: Fiasco’s sister company
good days and bad days: “If they’re having thread went all-out on the
branding for the event,
a bad day, you can just be there to talk.”
including a stall selling
football scarves.
3. Don’t burn bridges
Fiasco was recently re-hired for a client
they’d worked for five years previously,
suggesting that sometimes you might
have to wait to bear the fruits of your
good relationships. “You don’t know when
a project comes in whether or not that’s
going to lead to more work,” she says. The
lesson? Every client is worth investing in.
4. Be flexible
“Each client is different in the way they
work, so some need a bit more explanation,
whereas some just let us run with it and
won’t need so many face-to-face meetings,”
says Field. “You have to flexible in how that
client wants or needs to work.”
NATASHA FIELD
5. Immerse yourself Account manager
A good account manager should be an While studying English at
extension of the client, and be able to UWE, Natasha discovered
pre-empt their feedback, adds Field. “The a passion for design and
only way to do this is immerse yourself so switched her degree. She MIX BUSINESS AND PLEASURE
that you understand them – who they, what found a route in via account In our third video, account manager Natasha
they do and their core values.” management at a London- Field reveals why a small, friendly studio suits
based digital agency, then her more than a large agency – and how Fiasco’s
a larger ad agency, before ‘family’ vibe translates to client relationships.
moving back to Bristol.

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Above and right: GET YOUR FOOT

October 2017
saw thread put on
Bristol’s first major
IN THE DOOR OF
design festival,
Something Good,
A SMALL STUDIO
which was reviewed
in CA issue 273.
Studio manager Marj Newnham
impressed as an intern, then hit
the ground running
1. Don’t underestimate self-promotion

The year before Marj Newnham applied for
an internship at Fiasco, she sent the studio
a pop-up rocket Christmas card. She didn’t
hear anything back, but when she went for
an interview she was pleased to be able to
point out her card, still stuck on the wall.
“It’s always good to send out some feelers,
because you never know when it’ll come
back around to help you,” she says.
2. Make yourself indispensable
Marj left her previous job in the hope that
her internship would lead onto full-time
employment. It was a bit of a leap of faith
she says, but she tried hard to impress
throughout the internship “so they couldn’t
let me go,” and her efforts paid off.
3. Find transferable skills

As well as managing the studio, Marj
is also heavily involved in organising
Fiasco’s regular series of speaker-led
MARJ NEWNHAM events – thread – as well as its annual
Studio manager design festival, Something Good, which
Recent illustration graduate launched in October 2017.
Marj works front-of-house “At uni, I organised the degree shows
for Fiasco, looking after FIND A ROUTE INTO DESIGN and final exhibition, so I could draw on
clients during meetings and In our fourth video, recent UWE Bristol illustration that for experience,” she explains.
handling the day-to-day graduate Marj Newnham reveals how she first As long as you’ve got a strong idea
running of the studio, as got a foot in the door at Fiasco, putting her of what you’re trying to achieve, she adds,
well as helping to organise organisation skills to good use to help the studio it’s surprising how many of your skills
events and festivals. and its sister company thread run smoothly. will be transferable.
Watch the videos on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/ca275-fiasco

- 81 -
P R I VAT E S K E T C H B OOKS FEBRUARY 2018
SPECIAL FEATURE
PRIVATE
SKETCHBOOKS
Three top designers share unseen
development work from the archives,
including rejected concepts that were
left on the cutting room floor

- 82 -
FEBRUARY 2018 M A R I A N B A NT J E S
MARIAN BANTJES
CLIENT CHANGES DIRECTION Designer and illustrator

Called “one of the most
innovative typographers
Marian Bantjes shares a series of artworks she developed for working today” by Stefan
Sagmeister, Marian is a
a high-end jewellery event, which never saw the light of day Canadian designer, artist,
illustrator, typographer
and writer, whose clients
include Pentagram, AIGA,
Sagmeister & Walsh,
Wallpaper* and Wired.
www.bantjes.com
01 One of Bantjes’
early concepts for
her artwork for
high-end jewellery
event BaselWorld:
a geometric pattern
inspired by jewels
and gemstones.

- 83 -
02

- 84 -
FEBRUARY 2018 M A R I A N B A NT J E S
“One of my
favourite ideas used
refracting gems as
a watch face. I later
repurposed this
for a carpet design”
03 04
GENUINE GEM
Marian Bantjes
In 2014, I was contacted to design the cover
for an annual event in Switzerland called
BaselWorld, which attracts jewellers and
high-end watchmakers.
I started with some drawings of patterns
based on jewels, and then worked them up
into colour options. They liked these, but
asked that more watch parts, or reference
to watches, be used.
One of my favourites used refracting
gems as a watch face. I later repurposed
this for a carpet design, without the watch.
For some reason these were not working
for them, so I tried again. The intention for
this was to use foil on a matte background.
Ultimately, none of these were used,
and they printed a plain black cover with
a gold band across it. Go figure.
02 Another of Bantjes’
jewellery-inspired
geometric patterns.
03-04 Bantjes started

experimenting with
colour in the patterns.
05-06 As the idea

developed, more
explicit references
to watch components
were added alongside
the gemstones, and
she tried different
colour combinations.
05 06

- 85 -
“For some reason

the ideas weren’t
working for the
client, so I tried
again. Ultimately,
none of them were
used: they printed
a plain black cover.
Go figure”
07 One of Bantjes’
favourite concepts,
depicting refracting
gems as a watch face,
which she later
repurposed without
the watch for a carpet
design project.
07
08 The client still

wasn’t happy was the
direction, so Bantjes
pared it right back to
emphasis the watch
face even further.
09 A totally new
concept, designed
to be foil-blocked
on matte black.
Ultimately, none of
them were chosen.
08 09

- 86 -
FEBRUARY 2018 DAVID F E R NÁ NDE Z HUE R TA
DAVID FERNÁNDEZ
HUERTA
SKETCHES HELP Lead artist and art

director, ustwo Games
With 10 years’ experience
SHAPE A NEW WORLD as a games artist and

illustrator, David joined
ustwo Games as a senior
artist in 2013, and is now
Art director David Fernández Huerta lead artist, working on
smash hit Monument
opens his personal sketchbook to reveal Valley and its spin-off
how the 2017 sequel to ustwo’s hugely titles Forgotten Shores
and Ida’s Dream.
successful puzzle game took shape www.ustwogames.co.uk
01

- 87 -
UNCANNY VALLEY
01 (previous page) David Fernández Huerta
This rough sketch
These early sketches for Monument Valley 2
shows a ‘landscape’
version of the game, (www.monumentvalleygame.com) show my
as well as developing experiments with giving the game a landscape
the landscape and instead of a portrait orientation, as well as adding
architecture. It also
features a character
more detail to the architecture than was seen in
sailing away on a boat, the original game.
which (spoiler warning)
made it into the final
“My sketches I also played around with the idea of zooming
in on levels, as opposed to the ‘world on a single
game – albeit in a
different context. experiment with screen’ framing that we used in the first Monument
Valley. Other sketches include further exploration
02 An example of the
‘zoomed in’ approach
the ‘adult-child’ of non-player characters, as I tried to create the
feeling of being in a bustling village or town.
that Fernández Huerta
played with to break relationship My sketchbook for this project is filled with
the single-screen lots of experiments with different character
format of the original,
as well as an array of
that became the designs and styles, including the ‘adult and child’
different non-player
relationship that would later develop into the core
characters in situ. game’s core theme” theme for the entire game.
02

- 88 -
FEBRUARY 2018 DAVID F E R NÁ NDE Z HUE R TA
03
03-05 Various character design experiments,

including key poses and the all-important
interactions between adult and child characters
that would prove integral to the game.
04 05

- 89 -
IDEA REJECTED WITHOUT TRIAL

Michael Johnson shares a concept from inside the Johnson
Banks archives that sadly never made it off the ground
01

- 90 -
FEBRUARY 2018 MI C HA E L J OHNSON
MICHAEL JOHNSON
Founder, Johnson Banks
Michael set up multi-
MODERN ART award-winning design
01 One of the most striking images in Johnson Michael Johnson consultancy Johnson
Banks’ proposed Tate Britain campaign depicts If my file dates are correct, we originally proposed Banks in 1992. 26 years
a Barbie doll, drowned in a plastic bath, in
this idea back in 2003, to an ad agency who had asked on, he oversees the
homage to John Everett Millais’ Ophelia.
us for help with an approach to Tate Britain. strategic and creative
The idea was: ‘Where British art comes to life’. output, but is just as
We imagined a family returning from a visit, and likely to roll up his
recreating Singer Sargents, drowning Ophelias sleeves and get involved
and Richard Longs in their back garden using in the work himself.
everyday objects, such as toys. www.johnsonbanks.co.uk
Personally, I always really loved this idea – but
I suspect it was never even shown to the client.
STILL A SORE POINT
01
REBRAND SWIFTLY CANNED

As Michael Johnson recalls, his studio’s logo for the world’s biggest
type foundry was rolled out, but then promptly rolled back in again
In the very early nineties (1993 I think?), we were asked to design the
logo for Monotype – cue great excitement – and it was adopted, only
to be replaced literally within months because of a complete change
of ownership. At the time, it seemed like the roof had fallen in.
01

- 91 -
W O RK S H OP FEBRUARY 2018
WORKSHOP
HOW TO VISUALISE
A CLASSIC SONG
Information designer Valentina D’Efilippo shares
the process behind her award-winning visualisation
of David Bowie’s Space Oddity
NEXT MONTH
THE MOON
AND BACK
How Paul Button
visualised all the
Apollo missions

- 92 -
FEBRUARY 2018 VISUAL ISE A C LA SSI C SONG
VALENTINA D’EFILIPPO
Information designer
Whether she’s designing data-driven products, business
intelligence tools, live theatre projections or books, the mapping
of information allows Valentina to explore, learn and communicate.
Her book, The Infographic History of the World, takes the reader
on a journey through human history via 100 infographics.
www.valentinadefilippo.co.uk
01
01 Sketchbooks DATA IS EVERYWHERE

outlines for the Valentina D’Efilippo
different systems Interest in how we conceptualise, understand
used, representing
and visualise information has fuelled my
10 different
angles from which practice. I use data as a raw material from
to look at Space which I find my perspective and express what
Oddity, including resonates with me, while hoping that others
Rhythm, Texture,
Trip and Emotions.
will find it compelling, too.
My personal interest in data visualisation
took off more than 10 years ago, when working
on my thesis for a postgraduate degree in
visual communication. By exploring bias in
gender cues that children receive through
visual stereotypes, I started to collect and
visualise data. Since then, I have continued to
explore the world through data by collecting,
deconstructing and mapping information.
Data can be found all around us, in where
we go, what we consume, touch, read, watch or
hear. My latest self-initiated project explores
the application of dataviz techniques to music
– giving form to what we hear, imagine and feel
while listening to a song. OddityViz is also a
tribute to an extraordinary artist, David Bowie.
DECONSTRUCT THE SONG

David Bowie left us with a constellation of
intersecting worlds, loaded with material for
celebration, consideration and interpretation.
From the start of the project, it quickly

- 93 -
W O RK S H OP FEBRUARY 2018
02-03 Work in 04-05 Close-

progress images up details of
outlining what the project.
became the
Trip version of
Space Oddity.
02
became apparent that it was necessary

to limit the scope and focus to one song.
What would Space Oddity look like turned
into images or through data visualisation? This is
03
what I and data researcher Miriam Quick set out
to explore in OddityViz. We extracted musical
data from the track and visualised it in a set of discs and a window installation – allowed us “Simple shapes
10 engraved records, paired with large-scale to experiment with how to best encode the
prints and projections that draw from the song’s narrative. It took months of exploration and were used to
fragmented interstellar world. many hours of listening to the song on repeat
Each 12-inch disc deconstructs the song and sketching out ideas. A turning point that encode sounds
differently – by instrumentation, rhythm, defined most of the visual language was
melody, harmony, lyrics, structure or the deciding to experiment with a new medium, and narrative
underlying story. Rather than abstract creating sculptural data-objects.
soundscapes, the records become a visual The vinyl record was an obvious reference. patterns”
system to understand how Bowie masterfully From Edison’s phonograph to today’s vinyl
crafted Major Tom’s journey. records, music has been encoded through a
series of grooves that spiral to the centre of the
TURN AUDIO INTO VISUAL circular disc. Applying a similar logic, I wanted
Our intention was not to create an alternative the musical data to be engraved. This decision
visual score but to make the experience of forced me to work with no colour, using white on
listening to a song more ‘visible’. By breaking black, which also recalls the light of the stars in
down its core components and piecing them the darkness of space. The format also defined
back together, we can end up with a deeper the system to encode the data – time around the
understanding of our initial experience. circumference becomes a universal axis that
We can think of traditional music notation as allows comparison across visualisations.
a kind of visualisation: pitch height corresponds Given the constraints of laser cutting and
to vertical height on the stave and the type etching on records, a minimal, bold design was
of note describes the tempo. This system imperative. Simple geometry and shapes were
04
was created for musicians to perform. As you used to encode sounds – evoking the nature
learn how to read it, the language becomes of each individual instrument – and narrative
meaningful and legible. In a similar way, our patterns. Ground Control was represented
visual encoding needed clear annotation, by a square – a familiar, safe, angular shape
a key and writing to surface the insights. that represents a point of stability on Earth –
while Major Tom was a circle, a more human
FIND THE RIGHT FORMAT character, who becomes one with the cosmos.
The range of outcomes – computational This visual investigation was then brought
animations, large-scale posters, engraved to life with animation, in a freer attempt to
05

- 94 -
FEBRUARY 2018 VISUAL ISE A C LA SSI C SONG
06 Different 07 The 08-09 Each 10 The version

methods have visualisations visualisation is of Space Oddity
been used to have also been engraved on a used was the INFORMATION IS
present the transformed into 12-inch acrylic 2009 remaster;
project on the an animation that disc and prints most of the data
BEAUTIFUL AWARDS
vinyl records, can be viewed at are also available was gathered 2017’S WINNERS ANNOUNCED
including emojis www.oddityviz.com to buy online. through listening Celebrating excellence in data visualation,
and shapes. to the track.
infographics and information design,
the awards have eight subject-based
categories. See the winners online at:
www.informationisbeautifulawards.com
06 07
link various aspects of the deconstruction

to the actual music. Collaborating with Mike
Brondbjerg, a talented generative artist, we
created a moving image including a generative
portrait of Bowie and a series of sequences,
which Mike coded in processing, and others
that I animated in After Effects.
MAKE THE VISION HAPPEN

When approaching a new project, I find it
helpful to set out a strong creative direction to
guide me through the design process and limit
the decisions I will have to make later on. On
the other hand, not knowing where I am going
excites me and I like to allow the subject to
inform the creative process.
Moods and inspiration for this project
included a variety of visual references from 08 09
popular culture to experimental music notation

resources and the Voyager Golden Records.
Space Oddity comes with a wealth of visual
inspiration to draw on from this very interesting
period in popular culture.
One of the discs, Trip, references Kubrick’s
2001 Space Odyssey which was one of the main
inspirations for this song. This record stands out
from the rest due to its use of a distinct visual
language – emoji. Rather than being driven by
data, it utilises illustration and images that
loosely code for text and incorporates visual
metaphors from the movie.
Thanks to the support of Wieden+Kennedy,
we were able to exhibit the project in London
to mark the first anniversary of Bowie’s death.
Since then, it has been on the road, with mini
installations and talks across the world from
London to Milan, to Minneapolis. The project
also won an Information is Beautiful Award.
10

- 95 -
I L L U S T R AT OR ADV I CE FEBRUARY 2018
The Association of Illustrators (AOI) is a not-for-profit trade organisation promoting

contemporary illustration and maintaining industry standards. Established in 1973, the
AOI works to increase the standing of illustration as a profession and improve commercial
and ethical conditions, and support illustrators at every stage of their career.
A FREE AGENT? WITH SHOTOPOP AND LUISA RIVERA

In part five of our AOI series, we explore life with and without an agent
M
any of our members are you and the client, you should
represented by agencies, reconsider the relationship. Left and below: Luisa
but we also have many that Rivera is a London-based
illustrator originally from
aren’t, as well as agent members, Meanwhile, Luisa Rivera
Chile. Her clients include
who abide by our ethical code shares how being unrepresented
Penguin Random House,
of conduct, and work hard to can allow you to be more Reservoir Books and Air
secure a richer industry through self-sufficient… Canada. Find more of her
a great plethora of talent. work at www.luisarivera.cl.
Many illustrators ask us: is LR: Not having an agent has Bottom: Shotopop is a
it essential to have an agent in allowed me freedom because I London-based creative
studio that creates visuals
order to be successful? To answer am more in control of my own
and animation for clients
this question, we sought the practice. I have learned a lot in including Netflix, Google
insight of two AOI members who the process: how to negotiate, and Smirnoff. See more at
are currently thriving in their manage a project, and create a www.shotopop.com.
careers, with and without agents. more personal relationship with
Shotopop (represented my clients. The cons are practical
by Bernstein & Andriulli, Valérie because you end up doing more
Oualid and Jacky Winter) tells us work (that is, more admin).
how working with an agent is all I try to network and showcase
about communication… myself as much as I can, either via
email, finding blogs to feature my
Shotopop: Although we are work or on social media. I show
represented by three agencies, finished illustrations but also
they each cover very different my process, because that helps
regions of the world, so luckily others to understand my method.
there’s no overlap or difficulty. When I manage my commissions,
We’re always very transparent I prioritise projects or clients that
in what we do and who we work are meaningful to me.
with; for us it’s all about being Communications have shifted
open and honest. in the last five years, allowing
Our agents are like part of our illustrators to engage more
studio. If we didn’t have them, directly with art directors, so
we’d need to employ people in having an agent nowadays isn’t
their place. They complement mandatory. It will help if you want
and strengthen us, and we can’t to focus on the creative side, and
fault them. Pros include getting especially if you decide to work
awesome projects to work on within certain industries like
and not having to worry about advertising. However, like in any
contracts and red tape. relationship, you should find a
An agent isn’t someone who good fit: someone you trust and
tells us what to do, they represent who understands your work.
our interests. If you end up with If you’re seeking representation
an agent that starts giving you and don’t know where to start,
feedback, or comes between find resources at www.theaoi.com

- 96 -
NEXT MONTH
ILLUSTRATOR
HOTLIST 2018
INDUSTRY ISSUES
10 golden rules of logo design from David
Airey, founder of Logo Design Love
BACK TO BASICS
Sharpen your digital skills as we kick off a new
series, covering everything from UX to SEO
Plus: new projects, current trends and expert
analysis from the global design scene
ON SALE 6 FEBRUARY
C OMPU TERA RTS.CREATI VEBLOQ.COM

- 97 -
D E S I G N I C ON FEBRUARY 2017
Emily Oberman – a multi-disciplinary

designer and partner at Pentagram –
discusses what her childhood love for MAD
magazine has taught her about humour,
silliness and going against the grain.
MAD FOR IT
I grew up in a big old house in Yonkers,
New York. My parents, both artists/
designers, had their studios on the top
floor along with their archives, and to my
endless delight, shelves of magazines.
They had every issue of Graphis; stacks
of the beautifully designed Avant Garde
and Eros; Pogo comics; old Esquire mags
(with covers photographed by their
friend Carl Fischer), and of course, the
New Yorker and New York Magazines.
I used to spend hours up there, burning
all of it into my brain, but the real reason
I returned to the shelves time and time
again as a kid was for MAD Magazine.
Ah, MAD! My parents had every issue,
from its debut as a comic book to when
it switched to the now-classic magazine
format (issue 24), up to the then-present
day (1976). I read every issue front to back
– memorising every word, every drawing,
every pun, every twisted illustration.
What made MAD so great? Well, in
my mind then, as now: everything.
Above: A selection of MAD magazines, including the fictitious mascot and cover boy, Alfred E. Newman (top left).
First of all, the logo was incredible: Below: An early version of the MAD logo, including illustrations by Sergio Aragonés.
three intricate, circus-style letterforms
filled with tiny characters drawn by MAD was full of unforgettable details. MAD was a class-clown masterclass:
Sergio Aragonés running around in The masthead listed the contributors as I learned about drawing from Mort Drucker
a bacchanalian frenzy. It was like a ‘the usual gang of idiots,’ a phrase I still (my dad loved Mort’s line work) and about
Hieronymus Bosch inside that logo. use to this day to describe my friends, absurdist humour from Don Martin. MAD
Then there were the covers, featuring family and team – much to their chagrin. showed me the joy of language, as wry
the inimitable Alfred E. Newman. I soaked Its movie and television parodies were parody, political nose-thumbing and sheer
up every absurd situation he got himself flawlessly punny (favourites included Star nonsensical gibberish ran rampant on
into, whether he was impossibly eating Blecch, The Putrid Family, and M*I*S*H every page in equal measure. From sound
sweetcorn, or swimming with Bruce, the M*O*S*H), and each issue ended with the effects like FWAK, SHTOINK, and GLINK
shark from Jaws. And each cover always MAD Fold-in: a brilliant illustration drawn to the oft-used furshlugginer – a fake
said ‘our price xx¢ cheap,’ even as the price by Al Jaffee that asked a loaded question Yiddish word for something old, battered,
went up over the years (I’ve always wanted and, when folded just so, revealed an anti- and junky (as in ‘I better finish this
to put that on a proposal). establishment jab as an answer. furshlugginer essay on time’) – absolutely
nothing was off limits.
But the biggest thing that MAD
magazine gave me, the thing that I carry
every day, which permeates my life both
as a designer and as a person, is that it’s
okay (that it’s great, really) to be funny,
subversive, outspoken, silly and smart.
And that you can be all of those things
at once, if you want. I’m glad I live in a
MAD world. I’m a better weirdo for it.

- 98 -
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