Curiosity and the creative continuum.
Most visual languages used within commercial design have a heavy art foundation to them. Understanding how art influences design is key to providing forward-thinking solutions to client briefs.
Earlier this year, 2LK sent me to OFFF Festival, as part of our commitment to nurture designers’ creativity – a win-win-win strategy for the agency, our people and our clients.
Located in Barcelona, arguably one of the most creative and technologically connected cities in the world, the festival draws the elite of converging commercial and artistic creative worlds – a platform for them to provide insight into working processes, inspiration and success. From the likes of digital artist and graphic designer Beeple (aka Mike Winkelmann) to multidisciplinary artist and motion graphic designer Chris Bjerre, speakers voiced their opinions in a ‘no holds barred’ forum, free of corporate shackles.
The healthy line-up of world-leading innovators discussed how the creative landscape influenced client briefs. More than just putting in the hours to technically fine-tune their work, it was curiosity that consumed their creative minds.
Beeple, one of my personal digital creative heroes, spoke about how his initial curiosity in sketching led him to create a new piece of art every single day over the past 11.5 years (4,230 to date). Nurturing his creativity outside his day job inevitably enabled his art to flourish, and it also enhanced his commercial work. His work has pushed boundaries and opened up visual languages which are now commonplace in TV spots, movies and fashion collections.
The inquisitive nature of self-initiated projects was evident in abundance – often as a collaboration that conceived the next generation of visual styles to break moulds, shape landscapes and ultimately influence the types of design we see every day.
Russian modern calligraphy artist Pokras Lampas works directly with companies to provide a ‘branded visual imprint’. Working with the likes of Bentley, Nike, Levi’s and Fendi, he proves that artistic implementation affects design on a huge commercial scale.
These artistically-led innovators are curious, and so are commercial designers. Nurturing creative talent within agencies is key to producing innovative and ultimately unique design solutions. 2LK’s ethos to invest in its people’s creativity through events like OFFF and in-house R&D projects means we harness designers’ natural curiosity to develop unique creative and technological solutions for our clients.
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