This RISD OG (original gangsta’) has been hand-crafting typographic logos for clients in the music and entertainment industries since the late 1960s. Michael Manoogian’s 4+ decades of work offer interesting lettering and flashbacks of bizarre American pop culture I love to loath. You can also view some of his killer process sketches and an insightful interview on SO MUCH PILEUP.

Søren Severin works within the fields of identity, graphic artwork, print and motion graphics. He is from Copenhagen and above is a photo of his studio.

Q: What was your art school experience like? Did your school have a good design program?

I studied at Danmarks Designskole (DKDS) in Copenhagen. The school is not an art school, but a design school, and has programs covering all aspects of design, from visual communication and interactive design to fashion and furniture. Since my first year at DKDS, the school have been undergoing major changes, evolving from being based in the arts and crafts movement – and transforming into a modern, international designschool. This is not an easy transition, and the quality of the education has been lacking as a result. I cannot speak about how things are since I’ve graduated, but during my time at the school, I have been less than satisfied with a lot of things. It is not like I haven’t learned anything at DKDS, but I think that I have actually taught myself most of what I know today. But then again, without the other students and the environment, resources and facilities of the school, I would not have had the possibilty to teach myself anything. Basically, I was left in a bad situation, and it was up to myself to make the most of it – and in the end I think I came out more experienced, confident and independent.

Why did you choose to study abroad at RISD? What expectations did you have coming to America to attend RISD?

Referring to the above, I was very interested and motivated to see how design education goes on in other parts of the world and getting a different perspective on my own situation as a designer. At DKDS I had been working with a lot of different disciplines within graphic design, and I wanted to narrow down my focus and try to gain some sort of direction in my work. I had found out that RISD is a great school, and the fact that it is close to New York did not make it any less appealing. Also I think that studying abroad gives you a really good opportunity to engage in a new learning process since you are pulled from your daily life and rutines, and have all the time in the world to immerse yourself into your work. Coming to RISD, my expectations were not very concrete, but only to find new inspiration and ways of learning, other than what I had been used to at DKDS.

Did you enjoy your semester at RISD? How would you, compare design going on in the states to what you were working on at Danmarks Designskole?

My semester at RISD was a very good experience. I gained a lot of very practical knowledge and skills, and was also very inspired and motivated simply by finding myself in different cultural, visual and social settings. The differences between RISD and DKDS are extensive, but they both have pros and cons. Basically, I would say that RISD is more of a school-like environment, whereas students are more left to self motivated study at DKDS. This is also reflected in the different types of projects. I was attending both graduate and undergraduate classes at RISD, but they were all very instructed with classroom teaching and very practical assignments like “the problem is this – and you should solve it like this”. At DKDS students are more encouraged and free to experiment and try unorthodox methods and solutions. But coming from this background I actually really enjoyed a more guided form of teaching.

What project did you enjoy most during your time at school?

Since before I started at DKDS, I have been working doing a lot of illustration, but I had gotten a litlle tired of it and at RISD I took an illustration class to see if I could get excited about it again, or if I should give it up (which I did). In this class I had a lively discussion with the professor about not using very much color in my work. After the class, I went back to my workspace and did the Color Is For Hippies poster and sent it to him. The next day I got back an ironic “Black And White Is For Skinheads” reply, and we didn’t talk about it again. That was fun.

As a more regular project, I think I enjoyed making the Burial video the most. I didn’t have any experience shooting video or editing or anything, but I had a good idea and a great teacher. Being used to working only with still images like in typography and typical graphic design projects, it was really fun to suddenly have the two new aspects of motion and time to play with.

Can you talk about the process of your graduation project?

For my graduation project, I wanted to do something that combined the three things in graphic design that interest me the most: Identity design, print and motion graphics. I love to work with music as a subject, and as I am a jazz fan, I decided to do a complete visual identity and graphic profile for a small, Copenhagen based jazz record label. When I started out, it was my ambition to do a real project for a real client, that would be implemented after graduation. But as the project progressed, the people at the label were not as open as I thought to the more unconventional ideas and style that I wanted to bring to the project. So it quickly became less about doing a job for the client, and more about expressing my own personal solution to the problem.

The project revolved around creating a visual identity based on a strong and consistent graphic profile for the label’s album covers, and bringing cover artwork into focus as the primary expressive element. The aspect of improvisation in jazz music is interpreted into the artwork through the use of various analog techniques, and the style is inspired by traditional jazz photography and modernism in both graphic design and typography. The intention is for the style to embrace the time-honored aesthetics of jazz music, without becoming a pastiche of the conventional visual culture surrounding the genre. The project covers logo design, album cover design and artwork, various printed matter and motion graphics.

Why do you use black & white in the majority of your work?

I am always very focused on form, and form is best experienced and appreciated as strictly positive-negative space – or black & white. It’s not like I have a predetermined dogma about not using color, but I don’t use it as default either. I merely start out in black & white and then decide about color later in the process – and add it if think it’s needed, or it has a direct purpose. If theres no reason for color, I don’t use it. Also, I have been fortunate to work on projects where my personal preference of using black & white makes sence and fits the job.

You’re a recent graduate, how has the transition been from school to freelancing full time?

Not really a big deal. While studying, I have been doing a lot of freelance work on the side for the last 4-5 years. It has mostly been small jobs for small clients, but it has given me a lot of experience in dealing with both clients, printers and other things that you have to deal with as a freelance designer. And more importantly it has also given me a large network and client base, that I am benefitting from now.

I noticed you did a one week typographic poster design workshop, do you have any interest in teaching design at some point?

It is a lot of fun teaching, and I think I might actually be good at it, but I wouldn’t do it full time. At this point my main interest is to do actual design work and further educate myself, so I think I would get bored easily.

What materials do you use for your work? How does the balance of pencil and mouse work for you? Do you think it’s beneficial to not be bound to the computer and experiment with more fine art materials in design work?

Depending on the nature of the project of course, I often use some kind of analog tools in my process. I don’t really sketch or draw that much anymore, but I use other techniques like photography, photogram techniques, projecting light, old printing methods or manually applying various effects. I don’t try to mimic analog techniques or texture in the computer. I do it the analog way, or don’t do it at all.
One of the main benefits of using various analog techniques, is that they often give you something unexpected. When you are not working digitally, and you can’t control every little detail of the process, beautiful things often happen by accident. It is just up to you to recognize the aestehetic value of the random. And when I am working on projects where it is not relevant to apply analog tools, such as in vector-based logo design, I still consider analog qualities such as texture and tactility of the paper or whatever material the logo is presented on.

What’s it like being a designer in Copenhagen, how is the design community there?

There is a lot of competition, but at the same time the culture of the community is generally friendly and helpful, I think. There’s interest in joining forces on projects and there are often different initiatives to come together and showcase work and ideas. In Copenhagen there is not a lot of work to be had in the business these days, so many freelancers and new graduates are sort of in a holding pattern right now. This however, spawns new ideas, initiatives, collectives and studios which is always good for the community and business in general.

What designers/illustrators influence you today?

I try not to focus too much on other designers. I am of course aware of other people in the business and their work, but I am mostly inspired by a single piece of work, and not so much by the designer/artist who did it. However, generally I very much (maybe obviously) like the aesthetics of the modernist movement, and all things coming out of that period. And people who do work in the spirit of the modernist school of thought, also inspire me – but I can’t really name any specific names.

What is your driving force, what is it you want to say with the work you are putting into the world?

I think my basic driving force is simply that there is a lot of bad visual communication and (graphic) design out there. Every time I see a great idea, product or concept presented in an unsuitable or just plain ugly way, I just want to put a band aid on it and make it all better.
When working with communication and especially when creating visual identities, what you want to say with your work, is actually what you want to say about the subject matter. But as mentioned above, my work often adhere to the style of the modernist period, and I think that as to what I want to say with my work, I am simply just guilty by affiliation.

Does your design style reflect your personal interests or lifestyle? Can you show us any examples?

Again, my fascination of the modernist movement, probably also reflects in my personal lifestyle. I often agree that less is more, I choose quality over quantity and I would rather do one thing fully, than two things half-assed. I am a perfectionist when it comes to my work, and probably also in other aspects of life. And as Frank Chimero so eloquently puts it in his interview, I also “believe in emphasizing what is important and de-emphasizing what isn’t.”

With all of the design blogs/websites out there, for us and students all over what would you like to see with FISK?

I would like to see things on the site, that are characteristic for students and student work. You should be confident about being a student-run website, and make a priority out of things that are typically student work or student-related. You can get away with a lot of things as a student, which a blog for and by professional designers could not. For instance I love the Things We’ve Stolen idea. But you could also expand it to mean ideas or designs that you have stolen or been inspired by. That is often what you do as a student; you see something cool and wish you did it, and then you steal the idea or concept and make it into something else. I know I did that.

Also, I’d like to see you help each other out. Enjoy that you are not competitors yet and share ideas, experiences and resources. For instance, letting each other know about good printers, where to find cheap software or posts about open design competitions.

What advice do you have for design students that are just starting their design educations and ones that are about to graduate and go into the real world to start their design careers?

Starting:
Go crazy. Try everything. Make the most of the time and resources you have at your school because after you graduate, you might not have access to a photo studio, dark room, silk screens or whatever – and you won’t have as much time to just do stuff for fun. Be bold and brave and do stupid experiments that would never be feasible in the real world, where you have to worry about persuading and pleasing clients. Also, make an effort to do some freelance work when you get the chance. It will do good for your portfolio, experience and network. And get a business card and a portfolio website.

Graduating:
When graduating, I think it is important to have chosen some sort of direction in your work – and to be aware of it so that you can express it clearly when talking to potential clients and employers. A designer who does a little bit of everything, doesn’t do anything really well, so figure out what interests you the most – whether it be the design process, concept development, web design, print, motion, illustration or whatever – and focus on that. It is also much easier to get noticed and get recognized, when you are more focused in your work. And get a business card and a portfolio website.

Dream client or job? Worst client experience?

A dream project would probably be something relating to the music business, like re-thinking music packaging and doing a complete visual identity solution across various platforms and media for a music project that I love.

I don’t really care for bad-mouthing clients, regardless of what bad experience I might have had with them. So like Jeffrey Bowman, I will say that I am probably also my own worst client. Self-initiated work often doesn’t amount to anything because I change my mind ten times a day, and I have never been able to do a logo for myself. As mentioned earlier, I am also very perfectionist about my work, so I often work way beyond what I am being payed for a job. But then again, I would rather do something that I am pleased with myself, than hand in a half-assed job because of a small budget.

Do you wear patterned/designed socks, plain socks or no socks?

All black socks. And in the summer time – Italian style (i.e. bare feet).

Links: Soren Severin Website