Inhaltsverzeichnis für February 2018 in Computer Arts

Editor Nick’s original brief – ‘one of those secret agent-style encoded messages’ – was wonderfully evocative and seemed simple enough in principle, but in practice, this proved one of our most difficult cover treatments to execute. Maintaining the clarity of the exposed cover lines in the body of the text (printed on the thick, Pantone red insert card) was an editorial challenge in itself, but nudging and tweaking that copy to accommodate our fluted foil headline resulted in several rounds of refinements. Equally, creating the die cut to punch out the cover lines should have been simple enough, but as with any additional manufacturing process, the need for absolute accuracy – 5mm error either way would make the cover lines illegible – led to palpable levels of anxiety in the…

NICK CARSON EDITOR Nick and Mark had a great few days in Antwerp for the inspiring Us By Night, and Nick was also enamoured by the hotel’s self-service waffle maker. They also managed to miss their flight home due to train delays. MARK WYNNE ART EDITOR Censorship and free speech were hot topics in the CA office this month (Hi, Polly in Legal!) and our bourgeois liberal art ed had plenty to say, obviously. ROSIE HILDER OPERATIONS EDITOR Rosie is feeling smug at her limited Christmas present buying (thanks, family secret santa!) and not so smug about her flat being so cold she’s had to essentially cling film the windows. #generationrent…

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…

JANNE EGELAND Design and marketing manager, Data Design System www.janneegeland.com “Less Netflix and chill, more design and thrill. I have to admit that I’ve been spending far too much time binge watching one series after the next over the past few years, and I really want to cut down and start putting my personal design projects first. One of the things that I rarely get to do in my day job is animation, and it’s something I really miss doing. It’s work I’ve always found enjoyable and creatively revitalising. That’s why I’ve decided to set myself a doodle challenge for the next year: one animated doodle every month. Partly because I don’t want to lose the skills I already have, but more importantly to gain some new ones too.” LEANNE…

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 chatting. 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, attend the talks, ask questions, have an opinion and share it. Get out there and talk to people.”…

WILFRID WOOD _ 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 Wilfrid Wood doesn’t shy away from a bit of artistic nudity, as the piece on the previous page attests. “In all my glory,” was the coy one-line response to our request for a self-portrait image. His portfolio includes some more sexualised curiosities too, that may not be to everyone’s taste: Trainer Fetish features a teenager playing with himself while sniffing one of…

WWW.AMYKILNER.CO.UK After five years working at design agencies across Yorkshire, people thought Amy Kilner was crazy to chuck in her job and go back to college. But the 24-year-old from Rotherham was adamant. “I’d never completed my design degree because I got a design job in my second year and left uni,” she explains. “But as I got older, I realised I needed to go back and finish it.” She eventually did so, funding herself through a mix of student loans and freelancing. And as an unexpected byproduct, she ended up selling a piece of her student work to superstar DJ Fatboy Slim. “It was a typography project for my course,” Kilner explains. “The brief was to create a poster based on song lyrics, anything we wanted. I chose the…

WWW.ARIANADELUCA.COM In September 2016, Ariana DeLuca, an art director based in New York, was looking for a photographer. “I wanted to reach out to someone new, so I put the word out,” she recalls. “But I was getting a lot of responses from men that didn’t sit right. I didn’t feel comfortable with anyone who responded. And I thought to myself: I’d really love to work with another female creative, who has similar goals and ambitions to me. But nothing like that existed.” DeLuca couldn’t think of an easy way to find new female creatives she didn’t already know, who were also eager to create and connect. “Then I thought: this should exist, why don’t I just make it?” So that’s exactly what she did. She got in contact with…

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION “Within this series of brochures promoting Vlerick Business School’s Executive Education programme, we had to both retain the V-pattern but also anchor the logotype within it. This pushed the boundaries of the original identity system as the logotype usually sits in one of the four corners of the page.” In most cases you can still be creative and work around brand guidelines “This is a pocket-sized prospectus for potential students at career fairs. One of the school’s brand drivers is vitality and the use of the vibrant coloured V-patterns helped us stand out again the competition as being something different. The logotype is anchored alongside one of the V-patterns within one of the four corner points. In terms of the inside spread, we also locked the logotype up…

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…

Founder, Johnson Banks Michael set up multi-award-winning design consultancy Johnson Banks in 1992. 26 years on, he oversees the strategic and creative output, but is just as likely to roll up his sleeves and get involved in the work himself. www.johnsonbanks.co.uk MODERN ART Michael Johnson If my file dates are correct, we originally proposed this idea back in 2003, to an ad agency who had asked us for help with an approach to Tate Britain. The idea was: ‘Where British art comes to life’. We imagined a family returning from a visit, and recreating Singer Sargents, drowning Ophelias and Richard Longs in their back garden using everyday objects, such as toys. Personally, I always really loved this idea – but I suspect it was never even shown to the client.…

– 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. 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…

Quit your job. It’s a pretty empowering statement: if you’re not creatively rewarded, feel like you can’t reach your full potential, or are generally under-appreciated, don’t just sit there and take it: make 2018 the year to make your dreams a reality. 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 something. Whether it’s finally launching that side project that’s been on the back-burner, tackling your stress levels to find a better work-life balance, or landing a massive client as a portfolio centrepiece – it’s up to you to make it happen. Our rather special collectable cover is…

GARETH JONES VIDEO PRODUCER Gareth has been hurriedly buying presents at Bath Christmas market and is debating whether Nick will wear a wooden tie to work. He was also envious of Fiasco’s cosy office space while filming in Bristol. JULIA SAGAR FREELANCE WRITER Julia has realised the gentle wind-down to Christmas she envisioned is unlikely. Never mind. This time last year she was trekking through a snowy desert in Jordan, wishing she had a better map. Every cloud. Production notes PRINTERS TEXT AND COVER CMYK, PLUS PANTONE RED 032 C ON INSERT William Gibbons FOIL, EMBOSS AND DIE-CUT BY PAPER COVER Precision Special Gloss FSC 250gsm P3–74: Ultra Mag Plus Gloss 90gsm P75–98: GraphoInvent 70gsm TYPEFACES Trump Gothic West, Akkurat, Simplo, Kondola and Calluna…

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 sure you know where you want to be and exactly what that position entails, and then look to take on more responsibility in your current job. 02 CHANGE HOW THE STUDIO WORKS One of the best ways to prove your value is to make your studio more efficient or save the team money. Pay attention to processes, and look to other departments or studios for inspiration. As well as saving resources, streamlining workflow also shows an understanding of the bigger picture. 03 SEEK FEEDBACK You’ll need to get your boss on side for a promotion, so book a meeting to find out what…

QUIT MY BORING JOB START A NEW SIDE PROJECT WIN A DREAM CLIENT FIND MY IDEAL WORK-LIFE BALANCE BUILD MY REPUTATION 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 “I found the initial few months gruelling to say the least... but I’m now working more flexibly and creatively than I was before”LISA MALTBY FREEL ANCE ART D IRECTOR What would you like to achieve in 2018? To kick-start that passion project you’ve been dreaming of? Leave your full-time job and go freelance? Learn a new skill? Publish your first book? Start your own studio? Sell your designs on Etsy? We all have a dream, and everyone’s is different. But perhaps…

WWW.ROSEWATERSON.COM Rose Waterson may have been a talented illustrator, but she wasn’t really aware of it. The fine art graduate and freelancer lacked confidence in her work, and didn’t expect to attract clients outside of her hometown of Brighton. So it was something of a surprise when she got a call from Nike. It all stemmed from a logo and poster she had designed for a group in Brighton called Girls Can’t DJ. “They’d posted it on their Instagram account. And then later on, they’d done an interview with Nike about women in the music business,” she says. When Nike saw Waterson’s work on the group’s Instagram, it was a case of good timing; the brand had just decided to collaborate with seven female artists to promote their new workout…

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…

AMY’S KITCHEN “The marketing team at Amy’s Kitchen were very clear about the story they wanted tell through the website, but the business had evolved tremendously since the original branding was done, so their old guidelines weren’t up to date. Other than the logo, we had pretty much free reign on the look and feel, but had to keep it true to the ethos of the brand. As we were nearing the launch, the team rolled this new style out across their other channels, so things were tight.” AWESOME INC “In terms of guidance, Awesome Inc provided us with a logo and a colourway, which we had to stick to. As part of the brief they also expressed a desire for the site to have a fun, animated feel to…

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 the in-house remit, Grant stresses that it’s good to push existing team members. “It’s always nice to try and get there yourself,” he says. “Creating work that’s a little outside 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…

Designer and illustrator Called “one of the most innovative typographers working today” by Stefan Sagmeister, Marian is a Canadian designer, artist, illustrator, typographer and writer, whose clients include Pentagram, AIGA, Sagmeister & Walsh, Wallpaper* and Wired. www.bantjes.com “One of my favourite ideas used refracting gems as a watch face. I later repurposed this for a carpet design” 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…

MATT BAXTER Matt is creative director of award-winning branding studio Baxter and Bailey, based in Brighton. On page 20, he argues that the best designers always find time to think. www.baxterandbailey.co.uk KATH TUDBALL Design director at The Partners since 2016, Kath was previously at Johnson Banks. As part of our feature on quitting your job in 2018 (page 42), she gives advice for those looking to move studios. www.the-partners.com JASON SMITH Co-founder of Bristol studio Fiasco with Ben Steers, Jason shares how he grew an award-winning creative business from two inexperienced guys with laptops – see page 76. www.fiascodesign.co.uk MARIAN BANTJES Marian is a Canadian designer, artist, illustrator, typographer and writer. One of three designers who share their unseen sketchbooks on page 82, she reveals a project that never saw…

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. DESIGN MATTERS: What are your new year’s resolutions for 2018 – page 22 PLUS: We dissect Moonpig’s rebrand, created by its in-house team and Ian Styles – page…

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.”…

KATH TUDBALL Design director at The Partners since 2016, Kath was previously a senior designer and team leader at Johnson Banks. www.the-partners.com SIMON WATERFALL Simon is creative director and head of operations at Samara, Airbnb’s in-house design and innovation studio. www.samara.com TOM MOLONEY Tom is a senior brand strategist at London’s Koto. Prior to this, he worked in client services and strategy for NB Studio. www.studiokoto.co STUART YOUNGS Founder and creative director of Studio Texture and Texture AI, Stuart was previously a partner at brand consultancy Purpose. www.bit.ly/ca275_youngs REISS HINDS Currently brand strategist at Studio BLUP, Reiss joined the London agency as a junior designer on a three-month placement in 2017. www.studioblup.com…

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 272.) 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 through shit work, you’ll be first in line when a suitable position does come up. And if nothing else, you’ll have broadened your portfolio. 03 SET UP YOUR OWN CREATIVE BUSINESS Not sure about going…

WWW.LISAMALTBY.COM For some, having a baby might be a good reason not to leave the financial security of a full-time job. But for Sheffieldbased illustrator and designer Lisa Maltby, it was actually the catalyst to do so. She’d been working at a design agency and things had been going well, she recalls. “But I’m a real ideas and creative person, and there wasn’t a lot of opportunity to push ideas as much as I wanted to. I didn’t feel as challenged as 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…

WWW.MR-SUGAR.NL Dutch designer Frank Suyker originally set out to be a business leader, but got interested in design and video production, and ended up “accidentally” becoming an art director. Currently working for Orange Pearl in the Netherlands, he offers some advice for developing your creative career. EXPECT CURVEBALLS For those who know their end game, great! For those who don’t know (and that’s a lot of us), just go with the flow and let life surprise you with a curveball. You never know where you might end up. DIVE DEEP If you’re really interested in a topic, don’t hold yourself back from diving deeper. Learn everything you can find about it. And then... forget it (I learned that one from the master, James Victore). Only then will you have the…

DESIGN MATTERS COLOUR CORRECTION IMAGE MANIPULATION ARTWORKING FOR PRINT DIGITAL ASSET CREATION TYPESETTING 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. The idea of following brand guidelines is something that doesn’t get a lot of attention on most design courses. “I’ve never come across an intern or graduate who understands the fundamentals of brand guidelines,” says Ellie Pearson, senior designer and studio manager at Cambridge-based agency Mobas. “But it’s not their fault: they weren’t told about it, and nethier was I.” The concept itself,…

1 DO YOUR RESEARCH “Some big brands make their guidelines available on issuu.com,” says Jess Dutton, junior designer at Mobas. “Look for a brand you know and like, and read their style sheet. You’ll change your perspective, gain an understanding of the design process, and realise what goes into creating something.” 2 STAY CREATIVE “Don’t let brand guidelines hold you back on your creativity,” says Joe Bembridge, junior designer at Brandon. “These guides are put in place not to limit creativity, but to help a brand stay recognisable and consistent,” he points out. “But if you do go against the guidelines, make sure you have a valid reason for doing so.” 3 MAKE SUGGESTIONS “If you feel something could be improved, suggest that to the client, or even make a…

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 In the past, Field sometimes felt she wasn’t being herself when talking to clients. “The way I spoke to them wasn’t very human and seemed robotic, and I wasn’t building relationships because that’s not how you build relationships.” She advises remembering that everyone has good days and bad days: “If they’re having a bad day, you can just be there to talk.” 3. Don’t burn bridges Fiasco was recently re-hired for a client they’d worked…

Lead artist and art director, ustwo Games With 10 years’ experience as a games artist and illustrator, David joined ustwo Games as a senior artist in 2013, and is now lead artist, working on smash hit Monument Valley and its spin-off titles Forgotten Shores and Ida’s Dream. www.ustwogames.co.uk “My sketches experiment with the ‘adult-child’ relationship that became the game’s core theme” UNCANNY VALLEY David Fernández Huerta These early sketches for Monument Valley 2 (www.monumentvalleygame.com) show my experiments with giving the game a landscape instead of a portrait orientation, as well as adding more detail to the architecture than was seen in the original game. I also played around with the idea of zooming in on levels, as opposed to the ‘world on a single screen’ framing that we used in…

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 NEXT MONTH THE MOON AND BACK How Paul Button visualised all the Apollo missions DATA IS EVERYWHERE Valentina D’Efilippo Interest in how we conceptualise, understand and visualise information has fuelled my practice. I use data as a raw material from which I find my perspective and express what resonates with me, while hoping that others 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…

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. Many of our members are represented by agencies, but we also have many that aren’t, as well as agent members, who abide by our ethical code of conduct, and work hard to secure a richer industry through a great plethora of talent. Many illustrators ask us: is it essential to have an agent in order to be successful? To answer this question, we sought the insight of two AOI members who are currently thriving in their careers, with and without agents. Shotopop (represented…