Confident handling of editorial and book design alongside an interest in self-publishing and research characterises the impressive portfolio of this Gerrit Rietveld Academie graduate.
How would you describe your practice?
I think it's a bit of logic and a lot of subjectivity. I am mostly inspired by non graphic design-related things, and I like the idea that design links, and forces relations between, subjects as random as reality TV, Agatha Christie and pseudoscience.
You studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, how have you been inspired by the legacy of Dutch design?
The "Dutch Design Legacy” — well, it means to me that I have to be aware of what I’m doing, it rings the bell of responsibility, in the political, ethical, and personal sense. Besides the strictness and rigour that are of course part of it, judging priorities and making decisions is something even more important. But it also includes decisions such as not caring about this or that aspect. Maybe paradoxically, I think not caring can also be a thorough choice.
You've done some self-publishing projects, is this a direction you could see yourself continuing in?
Yes, self-publishing projects are definitely a direction I want to pursue, especially now that I don’t have a school context to validate or pretext these publishing projects I think it gets more exciting. I have a personal project going on that I would be interested in seeing evolve and existing in 'the real world'. Besides, the questions of printing (on demand – or not), distribution, shipping etc, tickle me a bit these days and I could imagine working on those aspects sooner or later.
But then again, I also really enjoy working for and with other people who don’t have means of production and distribution, and I can also see this as self-publishing.
Tell us about you’re experience assisting Brussels-based designer Joris Kritis.
I actually started assisting Joris Kritis very recently. It’s pretty early to discuss in-depth a project in particular, so I would just say so far, so good. The projects are various and range from exhibition design to artists’ books.
What are you working on at the moment and what’s next?
We just finished an artist’s pocket book which is coming out of the printer soon. I’m also involved in making an architecture studio portfolio, with a massive manifesto coming this year. There’s also an exhibition design for BOZAR Brussels museum that I'm helping with.
Besides that, I’m trying to keep my online 'ongoing archive' going. Brussels is a treasure for crazily-designed secondhand books. I’m continuing to dig into the topic of encyclopaedias and evolution, which will probably end up in a new issue of my graduation book Legends. And I’m also doing some personal research on the side, around a pseudoscientific myth. In general, I hope what’s next is more projects, more collaborations, and a bit of teaching.
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