1. Which work are you particularly proud of? Which work best represents your style or approach?
I’m most proud of »8 Faces« magazine, which is odd in a way because I’m primarily a web designer, and 8 Faces is not only a print magazine, but my role as Editor / Creative Director goes way beyond just design: I look after the bulk of the editorial, the interviews, the team management, and the relationships with our partners. I speak to so many people who really love the magazine and that’s just amazing and incredibly humbling. I never thought this little side project of mine would end up being so big!
8 Faces Magazine #4
8 Faces Magazine #4
8 Faces Magazine #4
8 Faces Magazine #4
8 Faces Magazine #4
2. What inspires you?
Usually, the opposite medium. So if I’m doing web design, I look to print; if I’m doing print design, I look to the web. I’m also generally very inspired by the outdoors: if I’m ever up against a problem, I’ll take a walk in the countryside we’re fortunate to have on our doorstep, and I nearly always come back feeling better equipped to tackle the problem.
3. The theme of this year’s TYPO Berlin is »Sustain«. Sustainability seems to have evolved into a »buzzword« in the last couple of years, with which agencies and companies aim to fulfill a desire for stability and values. Can you name a project in which this ambition has led to concrete, exemplary design solutions?
For me, the idea of »sustainability« has always been about future-proofing, which in most of my work has manifested itself in using the latest techniques to reward users with newer browsers with a better experience, even if support for some of those experimental features is low. Web designers have to push the boundaries and use experimental features, otherwise they’ll never gain mainstream support. Doing this has led to all the things we now rely on: web fonts, border radius, background-size variations, etc. Future-proofing a site is a key part of what we all do. And this is what I’ll be talking about at TYPO, with respect to web type.
4. TYPO Berlin 2012: What are you especially looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to seeing my friend Yves Peters speak. I’ve followed him for years on The Font Feed and interviewed him for 8 Faces, but we’ve never met face to face. We’ll also be sharing the stage at Ampersand in June and we’re interested in similar things, so it’ll be great to finally see him!
5. Required reading/watching: What are currently your favorite interesting/beautiful publications, books, movies and/or links?
I love the tone of Monocle, but I must admit I don’t actually read much of its content. I think my favourite magazine must be Little White Lies, which is a beautifully designed publication about film, with a heavily independent slant, and I nearly always trust their reviews. For website inspiration, I always turn to http://siteinspire.com/
