How do you normally
approach projects commissioned specifically by clients? Are they different
from your personal projects?
They are different
in the sense that there is usually a brief to
follow. So, there is a starting point and you
move in a certain direction; but once this has been
established, discussed, and agreed on, the
process is pretty much the same as other kinds of projects.
Have
there been any changes in your preferences or views towards typeface between
now and when you first started as a designer?
The experience combined
with practise keeps changing everything constantly—for
better or worse. Ten years ago, I was not able to do things that I am able
to do now, and the other way around. Every work has its own
learning path, so the next project is always influenced by previous experience.
That is inevitable. But I always try to keep a piece of the naivety
and ignorance I started with back then.
What have been
your biggest insights and discoveries since you started working as a designer?
And how has it affected you?
I think it made me look closer at things—to see
better. Not only type or design, but in everyday life too. Maybe I became more appreciative about things around me.
Which
of the typeface you have created so far has been a turning point in your career?
It was establishing my
foundry in 2009 which changed everything, I suppose. Until
that point, I was mostly making one-off typefaces for specific
projects, and some lived longer than others. The most significant
projects at that point were probably the Boymans and Mitim typefaces. Both were very
different projects that happened almost at the same time.