APRIL TO JUNE 2011 A MONTHLY ZINE FOR TYPOHOLICS ISSUE NO. 01

THE DESIGNER AND THE GRID

THE URBAN LAND-SCAPE ISSUE

Jan TschicholdHenry Beck David CarsonStefan Sagmeister

Underscore MagazineAstrid AlmkhlaafyAnna GarforthEeshaun

THE BLUE PRINT

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3 INTRODUCTIONLaying the Foundation

5 PRINCIPLES OF THE GRIDConstructing the Scaffolding

Bringing the House Down

7 MASTERS OF THE GRIDJan Tschichold

Henry BeckStefan Sagmeister

David Carson

13 INTERVIEWING THE DESIGNERSUnderscore Magazine

Astrid AlmkhlaafyAnna Garfor th

Eeshaun

LAYING THE FOUNDATION

Gates. Barricades. Window grills. “No U-turn” signs. Look around you and you’re bound to find certain of these boundaries, or guides, depending on how you look at it. In graphic design, these elements exist too, in the form of a grid system..

The grid system was invented to last beyond its age despite drastic changes in the media, the public’s taste and technology. In this age where novelty is championed and stagnancy is intolerable, you might wonder how the grid system that seems so rigid and well, square, can still be in vogue in the realm of graphic design and typography. Is there such a thing as a universal solution for all, or at least most, of the design problems that we have now? Won’t a system like this end up limiting, hindering our creativity or worst still, encourage complacency?

The grid system was never really a universal solution for design problems. I cannot put it any better vor more succinct than how Josef Müller-Brockman, one of the designers who devised the grid system, did. He said, “ The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice. ” It is not a machine that sorts out and shelves the graphic elements you throw at it automatically. There are still lots of room for alteration and creativity.

Now let us learn more about thinking in and

out of the box.

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INT ROD UCT ION

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Rigid as it might sound, the grid system was actually devised with flexibility in mind. After WWII, a number of graphic designers, including Max Bill, Emil Ruder, and Joseh Müller-Brockman were influenced by the Modernist ideas of Jan Tschichold’s Die Neue Typographie (The New Typography), and began to question the relevance of the conventional page layout of the time. The group eventually came up with a flexible system, which aims to help designers achieve coherency in organizing the page.

CONSTRUCTING THE SCAFFOLDING

Devised using geometry to achieve a certain aesthetic harmony, the grid is a somewhat “safe” guideline to follow. The four common types of grid systems – Manuscript, multi-column, modular and hierarchical grid systems serve a different purpose in solving different kinds of design problems. Some more flexible, some a little less so, each of them is capable of leading to very different layouts. Because every article is different, with different content, graphic elements, target audience, medium and language, the various grid systems help designers organize and consider these elements as a whole. Designers can choose their preferred grid system to suit their design needs. The result has proven to be highly organized, naturally flowing and high in readability if the grid system is used appropriately.

Of course, the grid system has its limitations. There are many designs that just do not require such organization, due to its content and purpose. Although new grid systems are constantly being invented, and some grid systems like the hierarchical grid system promise high amount of flexibility, there are times that we need to break out of the grid as well.PRIN-

CIPLES OF THE GRID

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BRINGING THE HOUSE DOWN

Grids are akin to boundaries but where you set that boundary line and what you do within it differs greatly from person to person. Like all the successions with art movements, when there is order, what usually follows is a totally different belief of orderly chaos. Oxymoron? Yes. However, through many great examples we see designers who mastered the art of deconstructing the grid through ingenious ways.

The grid despite all its order and clarity has become a rigid structure that constrains the creative expression. Many a times, the repeating rectangles of the grid conjures the image of a mundane, boring layout. To stand out from the rest of the designs, many designers has found other ways to organise information and images as they either dig deeper into the grid or find new techniques of deriving layouts depending on the intention of the piece. At times the content presents it own structure while at other times, the designer’s desire to elicit a certain emotional experience from the viewer requires the breaking away from order and sometimes the new deconstructed grid can evoke a much stronger meaning in line with the design’s purpose.

Much of the change in how designers perceive the grid today is due to our changing environment. The way we experience our surrounding world has changed from the past. In the busy urban living of today, multi-tasking has become a way of life for many. We listen to music on our mp3s while typing an essay on the computer while having an online chat with a friend while being constantly updated on Facebook; We are in fact receiving infroamtion in drips and draps from different sources.

Designers today tailor their designs to reflect this new age of mass media, consumerism and speed. The constant bombardment of information has resulted in the collage method analogous to the pastiche ideology derived from our mass media culture. This culture is reflected in many modern designs where the use of overlapping images or chunks of text – in other words, the overlapping of modules of a grid layout. For example, Rosmarie Tissi designed the 1964 advertisement for printer E. Lutz and Company in which elements are arranged in a seemingly haphazard fashion. Various boxed up images printed by the client were not aligned in a grid but instead randomly placed some overlapping the others.

There are various methods designers take when they deconstruct the grid. Sometimes, deconstruction means in every sense of the word where a fixed structure is being analysed and taken apart and reconstructed to derive new visual and spatial relationships. Katherine Mccoy was a designer who started with grid-based structures and eventually played around with shifting elements out of the primary structure. She also brought new meaning to the phrase ‘reading between the lines’ as she inserted secondary text within the leading of the main text. The concept of a new grid within a grid with the further segmentation of columns or modules within a primary grid became another technique of breaking the original grid layout.

Increasingly, the content is the one that dictates the overarching structure of a design. With Linguistic Deconstruction, the designer may deconstruct the content from the way a text is read. In many cases, the text becomes an image which follows the same rhythm as when it is verbally recited. Classic examples of such deconstruction can be found in the works of the Futurists. In representing sounds, the type is taken and bent and twisted and scattered across the page to reflect the same rhythm of their sound poems. Highly avant garde for design of their era and their experimental take on typography would later be seen in the works of masters in the design field.

As viewers, we absorb information better when we are experiencing or interacting with it. And that’s the way some designers go about laying their page out; by deciding how the information can be expressed visually like a metaphor of the content. In an infamous lecture poster for AIGA Detroit, Stefan Sagmeister presented a image of his body with type all over it. The catch? It was all carved painfully onto his skin by an intern and expresses the pain that seems to accompany most of his design projects. The viewer is made to feel the same pain as we view the disorderly etched words and the raw quality… we can almost picture the slight squirm and shudder of Sagmeister and the resolution of the intern that must have accompanied the painful process.

A master of deconstructed grid is David Carson and he uses his intuitive placement of elements on a page to in a method termed as Spontaneous Optical Composition. In a fast and quick process, the designer shifts and place elements while adjusting type size, orientation and other typographic aspects to form a visually cohesive piece. It is like collaging in the digital age as text as flipped, overlaid or transparency is adjusted on the computer screen.

We take chances all the time when we make any decision. But how about applying the concept of chance in design? Possibly unheard of in producing something that is meant to convey a message, a method aptly termed Chance Operation has been used frequently in contemporary design. this is not to say there is no control at all (unlike how the Dada were said to have gotten their name), instead, certain parameters are set at the start and this may be an underlying grid structure!

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MASTERS OF THE GRID

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One of the most outstanding and influential typographers of the 20th Century, Jan Tschichold is a master in his field. The significance of his influence on the print industry and designers in both Europe and the USA is uncontested.

In 1924, heavily influenced by the elementary yet functional Bauhaus style, Tschichold published his views in ‘Elementary Typography’. He believed the cure for typography lay in abandoning rules and the exclusive use of sans serif typefaces. It was a typographic manifest that caused an uproar in the world of design.

It would be twenty some years later that Tschichold changed his position on his ideas about the principles of Die Neue Typographie. In 1933 he was dismissed from his teaching post in Munich by the National Socialists and emigrated to Switzerland, where in 1935 he published Typographische Gestaltung (Asymmetric Typography, 1967). He moved away from the new typography, which he began to associate with fascism, shortly before the war and began to work in a reformed classical manner using serif typefaces and centered arrangements.

By 1946, Tschichold had formulated new criticisms that were notable for their political and moral arguments. The most damning of which appeared in print: ‘Its (Die Neue Typographie) intolerant attitude certainly corresponds in particular to the German inclination to the absolute; its military will-to-order and its claim to sole power correspond to those fearful components of German-ness which unleashed Hitler’s rule and the Second World War.

Tschichold took up the post as Penguin book’s typography and production department at Harmondsworth, specially approached by Allen Lane to work for him. During his time at the company (1947-9) Tschichold re-educated all its printers about standards and consistency in typesetting. These were famously brought together as the Penguin Composition Rules, originally a four-page leaflet containing concise and precise instructions on typographic scale.

Tschichold then designed a template for all Penguin books with designated positions for the title and author’s name with a line between the two. He unified the design of the front, spine and back and redrew Edward Young’s endearingly amateurish Penguin symbol in eight variations. Finally he produced a set of Composition Rules that, he insisted, were to be followed by Penguin’s typographers and printers to ensure that the same style was always applied.

JanTschichold

(1902 - 1974)

Remembered as one of theinventors of the mighty

grid system

Left top to bottom:Penguin Book design, 1947-9 “Tsch” Poster, 1930 “Die Neue Typographie”, 1928

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HenryBeck

(1902 - 1974)

London Underground Tubeextraordinaire

Henry Beck is most widely known for his landmark design of the London Underground map (1931-3), which, with some modifications for new lines and stations, still forms the basis of the design in use in the early 21st century. The clarity of its visual organization through the use of colour-coded lines has subsequently influenced the design of urban transport maps in many countries of the world. It had a structured and simplistic design, and the way it can display large amounts of detailed information effortlessly in an easy to read diagram shows how much of a graphic genius it is.

Beck realised that because the railway ran mostly underground, the physical locations of the stations were irrelevant to the travelers wanting to know how to get to one station from another — only the topology of the railway mattered. This approach is similar to that of electrical circuit diagrams.

Beck’s designs complemented Edward Johnston’s elegant, crisp, and extremely legible Railway typeface for London Underground signage, first introduced in 1916, as well as other aspects of London Transport’s modern corporate identity established by Frank Pick in the 1920s and 1930s, including street furniture and stations by Charles Holden. His works will later influence Massimo Vignelli’s maps for the New York subway (1966) and the Washington Metro (1968) and heralds an impor tant breakthrough in information design.

Left: Henry Beck designed London Tube map

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Stefan Sagmeister

(1962 - )

Quirky stuff going on...

Swiss born and New-York based typographer and graphic designer, Stefan Sagmeister, is renowned for his unorthodox and intimate approach to design. He often takes a renegade, DIY approach to type and in 1999 he made a poster by photographing words he had scratched onto his torso. Other, less invasive works have included the now iconic art he’s creat-ed for the Rolling Stones and Lou Reed. Consistent throughout, it seems, is Sagmeister’s desire to burrow beneath the surface, culling viewer participation and reflection, which often results in a profound emotion-al response.

His famous typographic billboard for Paris “Trying to look good limits my life” was created using type made completely from the natural world. These pho-tographs were taken in Arizona. Five billboards in five days. Stefan Sagmeister certainly is not one to sits in front of the computer pushing a mouse all day. In an-other similar project “Everything I do always comes back to me” he divided the words into spreads, and represented them typographically. Purposely avoiding turning the typography into direct reflection of the content (say, by forcing the type into a circle closing in on itself), considering that a straightforward sentence matching with a straightforward typographic form would require no mental participation of the viewers and consequently leave them unengaged. With this in mind, Sagmeister proceeds to get out into the en-vironment and works it to stunning, dynamic results.

To this unorthodox master, design cannot be a neutral frame or decorative vessel but is an active ingredi-ent in the comedie humaine, and indeed in humanity itself. While some designers create neutral frames for sanguine messages, Sagmeister follows the model of those irrepressible artists of the early to mid-twen-tieth century – from Dada to Fluxes artists – who placed themselves in the line of fire to make art and design that theoretically would disrupt the world.

An entry into his diary June 30, 2000 states – “Or, instead of learning a new language, I can refine the one that I know how to speak – graphic design – and more importantly, figure out if I actually have some-thing to say… It might be more romantic to say “I love you” in French than it is in Cantonese: nevertheless, it is still possible to say it. And it is possible to say, “I love you” even in architecture, as the Taj Mahal proves. ”

Above:Lou Reed “Twilight Reeling”, 1996

Right:Trying To Look Good Limites My Life, 2004

With designer Matthias Ernstberger, Sagmeister rented a large format camera and flew down to Arizona. Bringing neither sketches

nor preconceived ideas, the strategy being that the desert land-scape would generate the typographic form.

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DavidCarson

(1952 - )

In his own words,“Learn the rules to break them. ”

Carson is a graphic designer who is famous for designing front covers such as Transworld Skateboarding, Beach Culture, How magazine and RayGun. These were among the primary publications on which he worked. However, it was RayGun where he gained perhaps the most recognition. Every single typesetting rule of thumb you could possibly come up with has been broken in Ray Gun’s brief history: Overlapping blocks of copy; light text against dark backgrounds; dark text against dark backgrounds; running text across pages, including stories that are read horizontally across columns (just hop over the gutter between them); deliberately running photos upside-down.

He became renowned for his inventive graphics in the 1990s. Having worked as a sociology teacher and professional surfer in the late 1970s, he art directed various music, skateboarding, and surfing magazines through the 1980s. As art director of surfing magazines and more famously style magazine Ray Gun (1992-5), Carson came to worldwide attention. His layouts featured distortions or mixes of ‘vernacular’ typefaces and fractured imagery, rendering them almost illegible.

His playful attitude in design goes hand in hand for his unique ability to create a pleasing mess to the eye. Carson’s typographical treatments are first-rate, and he integrates photography to produce a minimal, low-fi look. His work continues to be a series of subjective thoughts and driven by intuition, with an emphasis on reading material before designing it, and experimenting with ways to communicate in a variety of mediums. In particular, his widely imitated aesthetic defined the so-called “grunge typography”. To Carson, the message the type sends is as important as what it is saying. When those work together, strong communication is created. In an interview he says, “You cannot not communicate. If I make a page totally unreadable, that’s communicating something. And it might be about the magazine; it might be about this group. It’s sending a message. So that’s much more powerful than leaving it blank, which also sends a message.”

Above:“Dont Mistake Legibility for Communication”, 2009

Left top to bottom:Do not be Satisfied, 2009

“Ray Gun” magazine design, 1992

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INTERVIEW ING THE DESIGNERS

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How did Underscore begin?

Justin Long (JL): We actually had an idea for it in 2007, but only started in 2009. We took about 2 years to get all our contributors and everything else ready. We called it Underscore because firstly every issue comes with a theme and we underscore the theme. Another definition of underscore is background music. If you were to look at certain articles, they suggest music tracks, so basically you can actually go online and download the soundtrack and listen to the soundtrack while you read the magazine. The whole idea for this was to have a complete experience, from the paper to the smell to it being audio as well with the music. So we had to source for everything ourselves and make sure that everything was coherent.

You have positioned Underscore to be a magazine attuned to a simple rhythm; quality of life…

JL: If you read it, why I say it is all about the content, (it is because) everything is based on values, actually values are important to us. Quality of life to us means the small things in life that you tend to overlook. We wanted readers to just pause at a moment and think about these things. That’s our intention at least. And attuned to the simple rhythm in life… we really like music, for us everything we do has to do with music that’s why we thought it would be best to have the soundtrack (to go with each article). Even when we work, there is always music; it caters to everything for us.

You mention that your magazine is user-centric and has a psychological point of view. How is this translated in Underscore?

JL: I think we basically just build a platform and the platform is as simple as possible. And we just build a grid that we thought was as flexible as possible for us to use and (when) the content that came in, sometimes, we had to just break the rules in order to fit it in. but I guess you need to know your rules. We just did it as simple as possible in order to showcase the writing, the music… everything. It is really about the content.

What were the considerations behind Underscore’s layout?

JL: We felt that a lot of magazines out there didn’t think about the reader. While we did this, we did it solely from the point of view of the reader because legibility to us was very important. We felt that in a lot of magazines out there, people wrote for the sake of writing, and we wanted to do something different. So if you do get a chance to read it (Underscore), we wanted every article to be inspirational. Legibility was very important to us. We made sure that the font size was just right…

Jerry Goh (JG): and we just want to give full attention to the content we gathered and we don’t want to compromise on the quality of image, the typography, the excellent writing of these contributors.

JL: The idea was we kept it very simple, it is just a platform to showcase everybody’s work. So when we had white words on black background, we thought about how much we had to increase the size of the fonts and the kerning, just to make sure that it was still legible.

What kind of grids did you employ in the magazine?

JG: Our first draft did not have much flexibility when we were using a 5 by 3 system. Then with all the contents we gathered, we realized we needed a more flexible system for the images and text to go well together. So for the second draft, I came up with a 12 by 6, which was a more flexible grid.

Which do you prefer, manuscript or modular grid?

JG: Definitely modular

When using the grid, was there a time when it didn’t really work?

JG: Fortunately so far it has worked.

What do you think about David Carson and the generation who disregard the grid?

JL: I really think it is about intention or what is your intention. For us, the intention was to leave it as simple as possible, let the content speak for itself. Truth is, there is no right or wrong, you could layer and layer everything and maximise the whole page but I like to say it is about the intention (behind the work). JG: The grid is like cooking or driving, I see it as a basic skill that you learn as part of typography. And I think it is important to learn the basics before you break it. I think a lot of people come out and say I want to break free from convention and I guess some people take the shortcut. I mean if you look at David Carson, you might think it is crazy chaos, but he is actually a grid master. He can actually command (the) grid so well that he decided to just break free.

Do you plan out your grid immediately on the digital medium or do you start off with sketches?

JG: of course we start from sketches, I start thinking about whether we want a two-column or three-column or four-column…and then I will sketch out and realize maybe this works better, this doesn’t. From there I would find a middle point and look at all the sketches I have and then decide which looks better. I think the digital part is only done much later. We always start from sketching, even (in the) laying out the content -the text the images, the pagination of the whole magazine.

What do you look for when hiring designers for Underscore?

JL: <Laughs> Actually you could be a very good designer but we just don’t fit. Because we are a really small studio, I mean, the core is just 3 of us and then we have sometimes 4, sometimes 5 freelance designers. And for us, because we are so small, I think chemistry is very important. Do we like the same music, do we look in the same way about things. But of course you have to be a good designer, I think concept and execution are important. JG: We have to inspire each other in more than one way.

Could you give us a glimpse of the other work of Hjgher?

JL: (we) started off in print, then it just evolved from there. Because the clients asked ‘can you do interactive?’, ‘can you do interior?’ and we just went from there.When we first began, we actually did more multinationals, that was because we thought it was important to have a portfolio of established multinational brands. But after a while we realized that we don’t really get much freedom of creativity, so we then decided to do more start-ups. Because with start-ups, we can basically create whatever we want.

Do you think a lot get lost in translation, in trying to bring your message across to the reader?

JL: I think it can be improved. A lot of what we do is about the process. We are constantly in progress. We don’t stop thinking about it all the way until it is done. With regards to underscore, we want it to be open, we didn’t want to enforce anything. But with regards to client work, the idea needs to be there. The idea is the core of any work and we try to make sure that gets across. For us when we approach the client it is really about solving the problem regardless of whatever media.

Do you think that designers have a role in community and society and if you agree, what is your role with Underscore?

JL: we do but we don’t try to convert people. For the magazine we just wanted to build this community of like-minded people for us. If you liked it and appreciated it, great! But if you didn’t, that’s fine. Because we did have people who didn’t like the magazine as well, we got comments like “it is too simple.”, they didn’t understand it. If you ask if we play a part in society, maybe we do when we get readers to understand that there are people out there like them.

Top left to right:The first issue of Underscore MagazinePage spread from the ‘Emptiness’ issue of Underscore

Opposite:Justin Long and Jerry Goh

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Underscore Magazine

Since its establishment in 2006, design studio Hjgher has delved into many projects ranging from print to interior design. Beyond client work, the studio’s personal project, Underscore Magazine (now in its

second issue) has won them accolades including the British D&AD 2010 Award for Entire Magazine. With multifaceted backgrounds of psychology and design, editor Justin Long, and art director Jerry Goh, speaks

to us about the philosophy behind Underscore Magazine and the considerations that went into plan-

ning its layout.

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You first studied archeology before becoming a designer. What spurred you to take such a dramatic turn?

Archeology is basically a study of artifacts, things made by humans. Representations of events interested me. I gradually shifted into design in Tokyo and took design as a minor. I guess you could say I had a very strong grounding in ancient art history and in Japan I was really interested in ceremonies, performances and live moments. When I went to Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in the States, again I was interested in how people come together, why do they come together, how do they promote and document this and actually stage it. So it was kind of a 4D experimental thing and I was one of the first few in the school to go into this 4D thing. It still isn’t far off, this 4D and archeology thing.

How would you describe your work/designs?

I’m really interested in history and cultural anthropology in preservation and communication of culture. Especially culture that incorporate intangible heritage like festivals and heritage and pilgrimages and since I’ve been here I’m really interested in mountains.

Where do you find sources when creating a design?

I don’t have sources for created design so much as sources for the concept in my design. I read a lot. Old things, like Greek philosophy and anything Taoist, or Hindu. I like to go back as far as I can, so that’s archeology again. I like to look at universal design, symbols and systems anything from mandala, to labyrinth and axis mundi and world trees and the mountain

In several of your poster works, you incorporate strong colours, heavy textures and a variety of typefaces in different orientations – almost David Carson-like. How would you reconcile creative expression versus legibility of the content?

Legibility is important but I also like to play with testing my audience ability to read. I assume my audience is intelligent so I don’t want to dumb things down. I like playing with having multiple voiced so there are multiple readings. The strong colours are probably more from Japan than anything. The palette in Japan is really amazing especially when you think about the kimonos.

Do you follow a grid system?

Often, yes. Either very blatant like sacred geometry with hidden numeric reasons to things. I like that. Or I would do a kind of super positioning or superimpose a photograph. So if you take a photograph away and use it as a grid. So you could use a photograph and there might be lines that are embedded in that photo, like horizon lines or shapes and you use that for the type. It’s really fun.

Do you consider yourself more of a ‘Grid-Breaker’ than a ‘Grid-Follower’?

Probably a combination.It’s good to have, at the beginning, some clarity so that people understand how to enter in – and then they realize that there are different things happening. But once that is set, you can assume that after a certain point your audience understands it and so you can start breaking it.

From your extensive portfolio, which is the most interesting project you have tackled and why?

Right now what I’m working on I love. The mountains. Mountains are amazing. That’s where I am now – I love mountains and I don’t know what it’s going to become yet but it will become something. I’m working on it.

What do you feel is the designer’s role in society and community now?

My role is in, I think, preserving history. Which is cultural anthropology. Intangible heritage specifically, which is communicating to the audience the incredible diversity and richness of South East Asia. . As far as responsibility in society, when I was in San Francisco, just the year before I came to Singapore and a lot of the projects I did things like bartering – where you did the project for free in exchange for something else. There were a lot of NGOs and community things that don’t have of money. I like that kind of work. I would like to do more, in terms of giving back to the society though.

Are there any specific ways in which you make a project fun, both in its process and end-result?

I have to be involved in the project in a physical way. I don’t like just to sit at the computer and do research. I like to get out and physically be there. In the space, site specific. Usually it means I have to walk. I like being on my feet, or being part of this stream of humanity on a pilgrimage. I need to experience it.

How would Astrid’s perfect day look like?

A perfect day for me would include reading, running and swimming and include my daughter and probably doing art projects.

Throughout your career, you have been an active educator, teaching at the Nanyang Technological University, Tamabi Art University & London College of Communication. Do you have any examples of interactions with a student that really altered your perception of the design profession in some significant way?

I love working with students who take a brief and then reinterpreted it and push it beyond anything that I would have anticipated. I like to be surprised. Often what that includes is something cross disciplinary. Incorporating new form of technology or performance or personal experience or deep research into the past. Something usually very personal and using something you wouldn’t have anticipated.

You’ve been to & lived in many cities in your life. Which part of city-life do you love most?

The best cities for me are ones that are pedestrian cities. Cities where you walk a lot. With lots of little boutiques, little shops, little cafes, little book shops where you can poke your head in and everything feels real and authentic. Tokyo is amazing for this. Lots of little neighborhoods and shops. San Francisco is amazing in this way too. So are Paris and Bali.There’s something, maybe when you’re from Asia you don’t feel it until you leave and come back. In that there is really old culture and history and then there’s incredible rapid growth and change. And these 2 things are colliding and clashing and its everywhere you go. Taiwan, Japan, and China … It’s so dynamic.

Astrid Almkhlaafy

Right top to bottom:QuadrophobiaPaint it Red - GPS Taishan project

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In our urban landscape today, green lungs has become a fast disappearing sight. Designer Anna Garforth has been invading our urban spaces with the common

green ‘parasite’, moss! On fences and old walls, carefully shaped moss typography bring messages across to the unsuspecting passer-by. With a diverse range of

ephemeral materials including moss, leaves, bark, Anna creates 3D typography in our environment. We managed to catch up with her as she told us more about

her work and what inspires her.

Left top to bottom:“The new eco-nomics” moss typographyAnna Garforth working on “Sporebourne”“Rethink” eco-street project

Top right:“Bite off more than you can chew” edible poster

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How would you describe your work/designs?

It is hard to categorise my work under one title, so here goes... I’d describe my work as; urban intervention, experimental typography, and eco-art.

What inspires you?

Many many things. Nature, moss, lichen, wood, people, cities, culture, cooking, Stefan Sagmeister, flower markets.

What do you find most exciting in the designing process?

EXPERIMENTING! This really is the best bit for me, it is in the experimental process where unexpected and wonderful ideas pop up. Experimenting is a space where I do not fear failure and anything is allowed, mistakes are welcomed and good ideas come from the discovery, learning and understanding of the creative process.

What is the difference between working with 3D typography and typography on print?

I guess I started working in 3D typography because it satisfied me in a way that print could not. I couldn’t achieve on print what i could with tangible type, in terms of feel, atmosphere, impression etc. I am a maker and need to use my hands to fold, cut and construct things.

How challenging is laying typography out in 3D?

It can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. I guess it depends on how much you want to control the shape and form of the typeface, what materials you are using, location etc. I always start out with a mock up I have made on the computer. I usually start by taking a photo of the location and very roughly working on top of it, until I get what I want,

Why are you interested with working with ephemeral/natural materials?

C’est la vie. Things are here one minute and gone the next.

You have been featured extensively with your unique creation of moss type such as your work “Sporeborne”. So how do you go about creating the moss designs? And do you have to lay out a ‘grid’ to help your composition of type on the walls?

I usually make a layout on the computer (as described in q.5) and then create the piece and install it. That’s as much as I can give away I’m afraid. When I Install my artworks, I do it the old fashioned way, with a sharp eye.

You work a lot with typography in your artworks.Which would you say is your favourite typeface(s)?

Ones that are expressive, and make me look twice.

Do you believe in using grids for your works? And is there a particular grid you find yourself drawn to?

I’m not the best person to ask about grids ;). I have always worked instinctively and trusted my eye. Grids don’t cross my mind when I work, only when I work on fences, and then the fence becomes my grid.

Your works exude a style unique to you. Do you take up client work often and when you do, how do you balance your creative freedom with client opinions?

There are long periods where I don’t get commissions, so then I play and spend long days and nights making, thinking, experimenting. Then when a job comes along, I listen to what the client wants and then may make some suggestions. Often we talk to each other and it is a collaboration, and both sides are happy. You will always get the odd job that you hate and are too ashamed to show anyone! As long as you keep doing your own thing, its ok to sweep a few under the carpet.

Do you see yourself more as an artist or a designer?

I think I’d like to fit under a title such as ‘designer’ as I often feel ‘artist’ is a bit vague. I feel a title hasn’t been invented for me yet, but I think it is slowly formulating.

Lastly, could you give us a glimpse into your new projects?

I have just created an edible poster ‘ Bite off more than you can chew’ which is about jumping into the deep end, and trying something new. I have a couple of exhibitions coming up, one in Leipzig and the Netherlands. I have lists of ideas waiting to be tried out and tested, so keep an eye out, there are many more exciting things in all shapes and sizes to come!

AnnaGarforth

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How would you sum up your work and design culture?

Hmm, something like, just go ahead with whatever comes to my mind and think about it later after I’m done.

Who and what inspire you?

Many artists, Keith Haring, Parra, Maya Hayuk, Jean Michael Basquiat, and Rostarr are probably top on my list.

The theme of ‘metropolis’ and ‘city-life’ seems to carry through a lot of your work. Why the interest?

I draw inspiration from my surroundings - so its mostly city-like. Its the busy, congested and fast-paced life that says alot about who we are and the way we live. Maybe that translates into my work at different points - the crazy, busy, dizzying feel of it.

Which part of Singapore’s urban landscape and culture do you love most? Why?

Old HDBs, markets, places about to be demolished, marsiling, forgotten spaces, old bungalows, gentrified buildings, 24 hour coffee shops, museums, the esplanade, PAP, LKY, samantha from holland v, ris low, barbarella, chicken rice...Heck I like everything in Singapore!

What do you find most exciting in the design process?

Not knowing what to expect in the end.

Any personal favourite typefaces?

My own handwriting.

One of the things taught to students in design school is the use of a grid system. Do you believe in using grids for your work? Or is it all intuition?

Hmm I wasn’t taught to use grids, so I don’t use them. But I think structure’s important in any design, whether you use grids, lattice, lines, shapes etc. as long as you make it your own. For me, its like working around a composition until you feel its right.

What do you feel is the designer’s role in society and community now?

Designers have an important role in making everyone’s life more interesting, colorful, crazy and playful than what it currently is.

From your extensive portfolio, which is the most interesting client work you’ve ever done? Why?

Hmmm, probably the new red army camera i did and the upcoming new transit skateboard, although its more a partnership and collaboration- client just sounds very corporate, most client-related work lacks the same spirit as an original artwork because there’s always too much direction going back and forth.

You can churn out a whole army of unique characters just like that. Ever thought of publishing your own version of Where’s Wally?

Not really. I don’t think I’m obsessive enough to create a book like what Martin Handford did with where’s Wally - also, I’d like to work on more abstract pieces, so at some point I’d like to leave the characters behind, it would probably be an abstract children’s book with no narrative, nothing to find, and just alot of inane visuals.

How would Eeshaun’s perfect day look like?

Everyday is perfect with sunny skies or rain, cats sleeping, and bubble tea around the corner.

EESHAUN

Right: “Why do you take everything so seriousy?”

Opposite:2010 Youth Olympic Games Mural for Singapore

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Produced byLim ShuningLydia Wong

Yang Ge

Special thanksJoyce Chin

NTU school of Art, Design and MediaYou

Image credits

Introductionphoto: Stock Xchange : www.sxc.hu

Constructing the Saffoldingphoto: Yang Ge

Bringing the House Downphoto: ‘Blue Confusion’ by Lash Tan

reference content: Making and Breaking the Grid by Timothy Sa

Jan Tschicholdbackground photo: Stock Xchange : www.sxc.hu

http://heathershawdesign.com/Assets/encode_decode/jan_tschichold.jpg

Henry Beckbackground photo: Stock Xchange : www.sxc.hu

photos of Henry Beck’s works: www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery

www.earthcurrent.com/2010/10/henry-beck-maps-as-art-revisioning-tube.html

Stefan Sagmeisterbackground photo: “Long Shadow” by Lash Tan

David Carsonbackground photo: Stock Xchange : www.sxc.hu

photos of David Carson’s works:joeclark.org/design/davidcarson.html

picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wOl8QQ75hg0BcIVS2noT3Qstudiothirstycrow.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/just-curious-david-carson

joeclark.org/design/davidcarson.htmlpicasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/wOl8QQ75hg0BcIVS2noT3Q

studiothirstycrow.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/just-curious-david-carson

Interview with: Underscore Magazinebackground photo for spread one: “Shadow” by Lash Tan

background photo for spread two: “Straights and Bends” by Lash Tanphotos of Underscore Magazine/ Hjgher works:

www.underscoremagazine.com

Interview with: Astrid Almkhlaafybackground photo for spread one: “Rainy Day” by Lash Tan

background photo for spread one: Stock Xchange : www.sxc.huphotos of Astrid Almkhlaafy’s works:

www.stridistudio.comstridialmkhlaafy.blogspot.comKult Magazine, Issue:Phobia

Interview with: Anna Garforthbackground photo for spread one: Stock Xchange : www.sxc.hu

background photo for spread two: www.crosshatchling.co.ukphotos of Anna Garforth’s works: www.crosshatchling.co.uk

Interview with: Eeshuan

THE DESIGNER AND THE GRIDAPRIL - JUNE 2011

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