With a keen eye for lighting, composition and art direction, this recent Chelsea College of Arts graduate combines a honed approach to image-making with top-notch research.
What kind of projects do you find particularly inspiring?
Ones where the content is as engaging as the design.
Talk me through your XL Recordings - Twenty Five Years project?
The XL project was in response to a D&AD brief to illustrate seminal moments in the label's history, and I decided to make a sort of archive or curiosity cabinet, interpreting these events through ephemera and objects. I also decided to put together a catalogue to go alongside it as a point of reference which would expand on the details within the main image. I think that the project was an exercise in planning and organisation as much as creativity since there were so many elements to it. Researching, sourcing and making appropriate objects was one aspect of this, but I also found myself having to try my hand at everything from designing and building a cabinet to endless lighting and photography experiments, all in pursuit of the right image. Ultimately it didn't even win anything, but it was definitely a monumental learning curve.
What do you think makes a strong image?
One that you can keep coming back to. I suppose context is really the most important thing in relation to this, but my favourite images tend to be ones which are immediately arresting yet still have subtle elements which you might not notice straightaway.
Tell me a bit about your Civic 2 publication.
I collected stories and images from a London council office, set against a backdrop of bureaucracy, government cuts and housing shortages. There was a lot of research involved, with photographs and quotes from staff annotated with the laws, rules, regulations and procedure that dictate the goings on in the office. I really like that there are strange, funny and interesting stories lurking behind these seemingly mundane places, as well as idea of using design to present something quite current and topical in a more unusual way. This was also a project where the design and aesthetics were really informed by the content, so the slightly ugly type, horrible Financial Times paper stock and a budget print job all kind of worked in its favour.
What has been your favourite brief so far and why?
It’s hard to choose but probably one from last year which was based around exploring distorted meanings and how information is transmitted. It gave me the opportunity to experiment quite a lot with processes, including a bit of programming and generative design which was challenging but rewarding. The final outcome was a newspaper about press freedom, a kind of info-graphic piece using data compiled by Reporters Without Borders. Perhaps a bit of a silly project that always sticks out in my head is on art foundation where we had to make type machines out of junk. The studio was filled with people experimenting with everything from washing machines and toasters to broken chairs and giant DIY slingshots. It was a lot of fun and really forced us to think on our feet. I think there's a lot of value in messing about a bit.
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