Currently cutting her teeth at Manchester-based studio Fieldwork, this young designer has a playful approach with lots of flair – whether designing packaging or musical robots.
What kind of briefs get you the most excited?
I get really excited about projects that involve something that I am really passionate about. For example, I’m currently working on some branding for a recording studio that many of my most treasured bands recorded at. It is very personal and it has been a great experience working closely with the client.
I also get excited about personal projects as I believe it creates a healthy environment to work in and allows you to have fun with your colleagues without the worry of the client. I work at a studio called Fieldwork and we try to regularly have 'Fieldwork days'. These days often consist of shutting down the computer and sitting around a table brainstorming ideas which usually results in building some sort of crazy robot. Late last year we built a keyboard called M.A.V.I.S (Musically Articulated Visual Illustration System). It is a hand-built keyboard, connected to a computer and the internet via an Arduino. You can make sounds by playing the keys when someone else turns the handle, and MAVIS draws lines on the spooling paper as you go. When you’re done, you can cut off your print and take it with you. MAVIS was exhibited at the Science of Play exhibition, which was part of Design Manchester 2014.
Tell us a little bit about your Habits project.
Habits is a publication illustrating the practical element of my dissertation that focused on the title: How has the globalisation of the role of the trendsetter and the way designers consume trends changed due to society's exposure to the web?
The advent of the Internet has made the job of sourcing inspiration and ideas incredibly easy for designers. In response the web has become a home to a huge amount of design blogs, acting as one extensive and ever expanding digital scrapbook of visual culture. Habits is a book that tries to capture this by illustrating the browsing habits of creative individuals through the use of infographics and the opinions of leading figures in the creative industry.
Define your approach in three words.
That's a tricky one. Explore, draw, refine – repeat.
Tell us about a brief that you found challenging and why?
All briefs are challenging in different ways, however what I have found most challenging recently has been a project management app we have been working on at Fieldwork. It is another personal studio project so in our spare time we have really dug into slick UI design alongside fun interactions and animations. What has been most challenging for me has been designing an app that helps people be more organised and having to bear in mind that everyone has their own way of working. It is like playing chess, there are so many moves and methods. To be successful you always have to think ahead.
Who are your design heroes and how have they influenced your work?
My design heroes would be Kate Moross and Mike Perry. Both of them started off with a very hands-on approach and over the years they have developed their skills and craft to be applied to so many crazy and cool thing, such as music videos to vibrant ad campaigns. They have influenced my work in many different ways starting off with their use of colours and hands on approach. Perry published a book about screenprinting a few years ago which inspired me to put on my very own screen print exhibition Dialogue with my friend Nathan Bolton.
evewarren.com