10 DESIGNERS / 10 CURATORS

We have asked 10 top-of-the-class creatives to answer a couple of questions — how do they view today's design scene, and what advice would they offer newcomers to it? Not only that, but our Top 10 have been generous enough to pick out 10 peers whose work they believe deserves greater prominence for your enjoyment. A feast of inspiration, then, for everybody in the art and design business.

Let's Go Green

One simple motto - 'Buy and use only what you really need and then get rid of it properly when you have finished with it' - could make a huge difference in helping to reduce the mountain of waste that is threatening to destroy our eco-system. As those responsible, in one way or another, for most of the products we purchase, designers bear a heavy responsibility to make sure that our shopping is environmentally friendly. But many are worried about the supposed higher costs, the potential loss of clients and the restrictions on creativity that this might involve.

Nostalgia In Modern Times

Is there a counter-revolution underway against the “perfection” that modern technology has brought to our artistic endeavours? Time was when you could tell that a work of art had been man-made by the small flaws in its execution – these tended to give it an endearingly human touch and very often underscored the passion that went into making it. To say nothing of the serendipitous discoveries that came with a non-assisted approach. More and more artists, it seems, are taking a trip back to those less-exacting days. Call it “nostalgia art”, call it “retro”, it holds a lot of appeal for a lot of designers.

Brand Everything

Human beings are born with a unique identity – carried in our DNA or via our fingerprints. And when that officer of the law asks you to show him some ID, you simply flash your ID card, passport or driving licence. Things are not that simple for companies and institutions, who have to have one invented for them. Once upon a time, a simple, eye-catching logo did the trick. Now it has all become very much more complicated, with the bigger firms needing a complete “identity system”.

Colour Sutra

Colour is at once both the most subjective and the most universal of design elements. For most of us, there is no particular rationale behind what we regard as our ‘favourite’ colours – but for a designer, making the right choice of colour combinations can mean the difference between success and failure. We talk to 10 top creatives about their approach to this fundamental issue. Their opinions are as fascinating as the examples of their work we have chosen to illustrate the article.

The Magic of Magazines

As one of our featured designers, Nicolas Bourquin, puts it: “It’s a hard time for magazines, but a fabulous period for editorial design.” To stave off the threat posed by digitalization, it seems that everyone in the print industry is being motivated to push the boundaries of this discipline to unprecedented heights of creativity. We talk to half a dozen experts in editorial design who are not only managing to survive but producing publications that can stand comparison with any that have come before them – about why they do it and how they see the future of “hard copy”.