Computer Arts Projects

New York-based graphic designer Kimou Meyer also goes by the name ‘Grotesk’.

Below is a snippet of an interview with Meyer written for Computer Arts Projects magazine. It talks about Meyer’s design philosophy, his tenure as Creative Director at Zoo York and his plans for the future.

The name [Grotesk] is perfect for Meyer, who was born and raised in Geneva, Switzerland. He can trace his passion for art back to teenage days of spray-painting Genevan brick with local graffiti artist DEKA.

From there, he absorbed all that La Cambre art school in Brussels could teach him, before moving to New York to work for Base Design and Ecko Unlimited.

As a creative freelancer, he’s worked for big-hitters such as Nike, Uniqlo, Stussy and Virgin Records. Until recently he was the Creative Director of Zoo York, a feisty, East Coast streetwear brand heavily influenced by skateboarding, graffiti, hip-hop, punk and “everything inbetween.”

Like many graphic designers, the secret to Meyer’s success is a combination of raw talent and punishing hard work.

He describes his style as: “neo-retro sarcastic bold and minimal, with simple shapes and a straightforward message.” His work is edgy, urban and often provocative, featuring strong elements of satire and social commentary.

It’s an artistic approach that has its roots back in Switzerland, where Meyer says he grew up in a “socialist household with a mom heavily involved in politics.” But his inspiration oozes from New York (he currently lives in Brookyln), which Meyer describes as “like the entire planet in one city.”

The full article appears in Computer Arts Projects, issue 130.

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Here are excerpts from four profile pieces written for Computer Arts projects magazine (issue 129). The brief was to focus on designers whose work is recognisably and quintessentially British…

Profile #1: Banksy

Everybody knows British graffiti artist Banksy. And yet nobody really knows him. He may (or may not) have been born in Bristol in the mid-1970s. He may (or may not) be the son of a photocopier technician. Only a few people have ever met Banksy. The Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone has, describing him as a cross between “Jimmy Nail and British rapper Mike Skinner”. While some artists revel in their fame, Banksy’s anonymity is a refreshing diversion in a culture obsessed with celebrity.

Profile #2: Jonathan Ive

Jonathan Ive isn’t one for speaking out. Shy and quietly focused, the senior vice president of Industrial Design at Apple is rarely interviewed. And even when he is, the British-born designer rarely gives anything away. He lets his design portfolio do the talking – the candy-coloured iMacs, iPods, MacBooks, Powerbooks and, most recently, the iPhone. Ive’s imagination is steered by a simplicity and purity that sits perfectly with Apple’s commitment to invention and innovation…

Profile #3: Matthew Carter

The Design Museum has called Matthew Carter the “most important typography designer of our time” and it’s easy to see why. His typefaces have defined magazines including Time, Newsweek, Wired and National Geographic; and newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post and The Guardian. He also developed the Verdana font for Microsoft, which revolutionised text display on computer screens. With over 70 fonts to his name, Matthew Carter’s typographical work has been viewed by billions…

Profile #4: Jonathan Barnbrook

The Design Museum proclaims Jonathan Barnbrook as “one of the UK’s most active graphic designers.” It says that he has pioneered the notion of “graphic design with a social conscience” and “makes strong statements about corporate culture, consumerism, war and international politics.” Barnbrook Design was founded in 1990 and continues to produce a steady mix of print and film work including CD covers, motion graphics, corporate identities, typefaces, magazines and books…

The full text of these profiles appears in Computer Arts Projects magazine, issue 129.

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New York-based creative agency Mogollon has made a name for itself in the music business. I chatted to co-founder Monica Brand for this article in Computer Arts Projects.

Look up Mogollon on Google and the word describes a prehistoric desert people of the American south west, a spectacular mountain rim, a country rock band and a New Mexico ghost town. It’s also the name of the New York-based creative outfit founded by Monica Brand and Francisco Lopez. With a mission to “produce innovative visual work,” Mogollon has built up an enviable roster of clients that includes Madonna, VH1, Warner Bros. and Absolut Vodka.

By any definition, Mogollon can be considered to have ‘made it’.

Beyond their core music work, Mogollon has produced brand identies for CC SKYE, Lisa Linhardt and Vagabond; digital ads for Absolut Vodka; plus film production design for TM Productions.

Ask Monica Brand what her favourite project is and she’s faced with a huge choice. The Escher-inspired logo design on the Sounds of Om CD cover? The Japanese-style waves and dripping clouds that define the website for jeweller Stacy Nolan? Or how about the magazine work they’ve done for the likes of Blender, Tush and Hint? As far as we’re concerned, the art direction for Lisa Lindhardt’s jewellery studio (‘A village east’) is quite simply breathtaking.

“Honestly?” She says. “The covers that we do for our own music mixes are our favourites, and ironically enough, they are our clients favourites as well.” Francisco Lopez regularly puts together the streaming equivalent of the old mix tape for Mogollon FM and makes the collections available on their website. Each selection has its own virtual cover art. And while this might seem like an indulgence, each virtual album is a promo tool, an ongoing digital advert for Mogollon’s artistry.

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Another feature for Computer Arts Projects magazine. This one looks at some innovative website experiments with outstanding graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It goes something like this…

According to web usability king Steve Krug, the first law of interface design should be: “don’t make me think.” He’s written a best-selling book about it, preaching that good web design should be simple, structured and obvious.

And he makes a strong case. He believes that the majority of Internet users crave a “reassuring sense of familiarity” when they visit a website. They like to know where the main menu is, what their options are and where they can click next. “Users like conventions,” says Krug, “even if designers find them constraining.”

Then again, some websites push the boundaries. On www.egofoto.net, photographer Senol Zorlu showcases his portfolio work on a stunning, scrollable photo-wall built in Flash. While Japanese clothing company Unicloq goes to town with a bold, fast-cutting combination of info-graphics and video footage.

Web design in 2009 is characterised by dramatic visuals – think Flash animation and bold artwork; oversized typography, 3D effects and full-screen video. But designers are also keen to develop fresh and innovative UIs to engage and interact with website visitors. By sidestepping conventional page furniture, sites like these can stop you dead in your tracks.

The guiding principle isn’t so much “Don’t make me think”. It’s “go on, surprise me!”.

There are some great websites on show here, including: Sour Sally, Thank You begins with a T and Barcinski JeanJean.

The full text of this feature appears in the ‘Interactive issue’ (#125) of Computer Arts Projects.

Oh, and for anybody wondering what the GUI depicted in the image here is, it’s WHITEvoid’s incredibly speedy (and Webby Award-winning) 3D portfolio system built in Papervision3D.

[There's currently no link to this article. But you can find issues of Computer Arts Projects at myfavouritemagazines.co.uk. Want to know more? Find Computer Arts online at www.computerarts.co.uk.]

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Rotterdam-based digital artist Mark Verhaagen defines his style as a “smooth digital gradient extravaganza”. I interviewed him for Computer Arts Projects magazine to find out exactly what that means…

Ask Dutch illustrator Mark Verhaagen about what inspires him and he’ll throw a bucket load of influences at you. Retro design, toys, pop culture, Sci-Fi and fantasy, childhood memories, nature, comics and old cartoons by Disney and Fleischer.

All of these have defined and shaped a distinctive look-and-feel that adds a hint of something alien to everything he creates – a bug-eyed monkey; flying robots; a group of white extraterrestrials praising Vodafone’s mighty Mobile Broadband and Email service.

Verhaagen describes his style as a “smooth digital gradient extravaganza with organic elements”. He regularly pulls in visual influences from retro science fiction and fantasy.

“I’ve always liked the work of Jim Henson,” he explains. “Unlike the hyper realistic special effects of today, Henson’s puppets were recognisable as puppets, but were so cool and human, and beautifully made, that you fully accepted them as characters telling a story…

“Director Michel Gondry [Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind] often works in the same way. He makes his special effects almost in a clumsy and childlike way. Most of the things I find visually attractive, such as old toys and old animation, have that same feel of imperfection.”

The full text of this feature appears in the ‘Illustration issue’ (#123) of Computer Arts Projects.

[There's currently no link to this article. But you can find issues of Computer Arts Projects at myfavouritemagazines.co.uk. Want to know more? Find Computer Arts online at www.computerarts.co.uk.]

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How can you make your website stand out on the web? In a recent feature for Computer Arts Projects magazine, I compiled 20 SEO and site promotion tips to help designers get noticed online.

With billions of blogs and websites vying for eyeballs on the Internet, how can you make yours stand out from the crowd? It’s no good putting up a portfolio website and hoping that people will just find you. You’ve got to market yourself.

This process starts with having a good, easy-to-navigate website and strong content. But it’s also about getting out there on the web – interacting, chatting, commenting, advertising, Twittering, Flickring and Facebooking…

The key thing to remember is that there is no magic bullet in terms of site promotion. Instead, boosting your web profile (and ultimately your visitor numbers) is a combination of several tactics that can have long-term benefits.

In short: you need to optimise your site so it can be found easily by search engines; you need to tell people where your site is; and you need to provide something good for visitors to read once they get there. What follows are 20 tips designed to help you get your site noticed.

1. Know your keywords

Most websites get their traffic through search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Windows Live. So what are the search keywords that you need to tap into? What might people type into Google to find your site or an article you’ve written? You can test out search terms by using tools such as Wordtracker and the Google Adwords Keyword Tool.

Type ‘illustrator’ into the Google Adwords Keyword Tool and you’ll be able to see an estimate of how many searches the term gets, along with related searches such as ‘illustration’, ‘illustrators’, ‘book illustration’ and ‘fashion illustration’. Type ‘graphic design’ into the same tool and you’ll see that the phrase ‘graphic design’ has a higher search volume than ‘graphic designer’.

2. Use your keywords effectively

Optimising your site by embedding relevant keywords in your content is an easy way to make it more visible to the search engines. At the very least, your site’s