Notes from Skype interviews

The stone twins:

• Think of corporate identity as if it were a person with a set of characteristics
• Listed Amsterdam as being nearly being a major player with London, New York, Paris etc
• Recommended Charlie and the chocolate factory
• Talked about the dangers of social media and how everyone can use illustrator etc - set yourself apart

Luke Powell:

• Recommended Kids
• Talking about reading sci-fi as part of inspiration - dystopian but also science fiction as a prediction of positive horizons
• Designers as well rounded individuals - work on the weakest part of your process
• Talks about not being formulaic - experimentation is key
• Inspiration from albums and album covers - Katorga works, static shock records, oakall tapes, 1080p,

From form:

• Film and design from Rotterdam
• The other side of hope - Aki Kaurismaki
• Bounce ideas off people and partners always
• Conceptualise as much as possible to make things interesting - what is a bicycle
• Ease in simplicity, the more minimal a studio is the easier it is to run and maintain identity
• Networking and asking for work - don't be afraid

Maria walnut:

• She approaches each practice in the same way - dialog between the disciplines and what is expected is important - finds a balance between the graphic and illustrative aspects
• Design hasn't differed so much between countries but people and stage of life is always going to affect work wherever you are
• Berlin was a particularly intense part of her life so it's dramatically effected her work 
• Tries to follow her heart
• Starts with drawings - afraid of becoming a specialist and therefore complacent by sticking too much to one practice - always maintain an element of play in development
• Choose appropriate media 
• She's mainly approached with projects but her own previous interests and contacts have shaped the approaches 
• Only her working at the studio in Amsterdam 
• Although recently she's been hiring someone who specialises in branding giving a nice contrast to her own work and giving her more time for to illustrate as its a very individual profession 
• She would recommend watching Her as a spontaneous reaction - talks about the scifi relevance to design - retro futuristic - colours - emotional - energy - tone - melancholic

In general I would say I gained a lot from the skype interviews. One thing that certainly links all of the interviewees and the main message I'll take away is there charisma. All professionals were highly competent answering other groups questions even when I felt the questions were awkward. The fact that all of the interviews came about via links to our tutors is also testament to the fact that networking in industry is essential - people remember people and not necessarily their work, more often than not. This was a point drilled home by all of the interviewees also as they described commissions they had received through previous work or even directly asking companies if they could work for them on a specific element. In this this area I feel I am already doing fairly well with my freelance work however theres always room for more effort. 

In terms of the films recommended, the only one I've seen from start to finish is Kids so I'm keen to watch all of the films over the coming days. Especially the From Forms recommendation of Aki Kaurismaki's The other side of hope, the only one I have not heard of before. Her seems like quite an obvious choice as Maria stated and its one thats been rebranded a lot of times before due to its demographics personal interests. This is a good and bad thing as a saturated market could inspire me to do something completely different and show me exactly what not to do. I look forward to watching it tomorrow.