The Interview
What film would you recommend and why?
We live in public. For me, it’s a really interesting insight into the way someone approached the internet in it’s formative years and thought about how it could be used creatively. As visual communication students I feel it’s important to be approaching all emerging technologies in this way in order to find innovative ways to communicate ideas and stories.
What's does your job as an art director consist of?
I lead the creative team at It’s Nice That across everything we do as a brand and media platform. From designing magazines, commissioning and art directing creative collaborators like photographers, filmmakers or illustrators and devising ideas and creative outcomes for how to work with our brand partners on commercial projects.
What made you become an art director rather than a graphic designer?
For me ideas and working collaboratively with a wide breadth of other creative disciplines is as exciting as designing, so I love being able to do both in one role.
Are you happy being the Art Director or do you want to go further, if so, what’s the next step?
I am very happy being an art director. My role has also started to encompass forward planning and strategy for It’s Nice That too, which I enjoy.
Is there certain things you look for in the designs you use for printed pages?
It’s Nice That has an editorial tone and style that is critical to convey in how we design the magazine. Accessibility, playfulness and being able to champion great creative work should feel evident in how we design pages, so that’s what we try to do.
Who and what are your main influences?
It can be anything and everything, it changes weekly and monthly and rarely relates to art direction specifically. I have just returned from Helsinki so the work of Alvar Aalto is a big inspiration at present.
Is there any part of your university/educational career that made you want to become an art director?
I actually loved product design and working with materials originally, and this is still something I love to do within my role as an art director. For example, things like paper are very important to me. But I guess it was understanding the role of being a communicator whilst studying my art foundation that steered me towards graphic design and art direction.
What would you recommend to us (as students) in terms of things to focus on that would help us in the future?
I guess it’s key to understand your area of interest within your discipline and try to master that particular craft.
What has been one of your favourite projects to work on and why?
Working on magazines like Printed Pages is always a highlight for me, I couldn’t pick one in particular. I also worked on this project at It’s Nice That a couple of years ago in partnership with The Conran Shop, which celebrated the world of industry buzzwords. It was called A Load of Jargon. I also designed a watch with Timex last year that I am super proud of.
Do you have any personal projects and if so, what type of projects are they and are they available to the public?
Recently I have done a fair amount of work with a record label called Sugarhouse Records, which was setup in part by the Turner Prize winning collective Assemble. I am proud of some of the work we have done together, which you can see here. I am also working on a series of artworks at the moment, which should be out in the world next year.
We live in public. For me, it’s a really interesting insight into the way someone approached the internet in it’s formative years and thought about how it could be used creatively. As visual communication students I feel it’s important to be approaching all emerging technologies in this way in order to find innovative ways to communicate ideas and stories.
What's does your job as an art director consist of?
I lead the creative team at It’s Nice That across everything we do as a brand and media platform. From designing magazines, commissioning and art directing creative collaborators like photographers, filmmakers or illustrators and devising ideas and creative outcomes for how to work with our brand partners on commercial projects.
What made you become an art director rather than a graphic designer?
For me ideas and working collaboratively with a wide breadth of other creative disciplines is as exciting as designing, so I love being able to do both in one role.
Are you happy being the Art Director or do you want to go further, if so, what’s the next step?
I am very happy being an art director. My role has also started to encompass forward planning and strategy for It’s Nice That too, which I enjoy.
Is there certain things you look for in the designs you use for printed pages?
It’s Nice That has an editorial tone and style that is critical to convey in how we design the magazine. Accessibility, playfulness and being able to champion great creative work should feel evident in how we design pages, so that’s what we try to do.
Who and what are your main influences?
It can be anything and everything, it changes weekly and monthly and rarely relates to art direction specifically. I have just returned from Helsinki so the work of Alvar Aalto is a big inspiration at present.
Is there any part of your university/educational career that made you want to become an art director?
I actually loved product design and working with materials originally, and this is still something I love to do within my role as an art director. For example, things like paper are very important to me. But I guess it was understanding the role of being a communicator whilst studying my art foundation that steered me towards graphic design and art direction.
What would you recommend to us (as students) in terms of things to focus on that would help us in the future?
I guess it’s key to understand your area of interest within your discipline and try to master that particular craft.
What has been one of your favourite projects to work on and why?
Working on magazines like Printed Pages is always a highlight for me, I couldn’t pick one in particular. I also worked on this project at It’s Nice That a couple of years ago in partnership with The Conran Shop, which celebrated the world of industry buzzwords. It was called A Load of Jargon. I also designed a watch with Timex last year that I am super proud of.
Do you have any personal projects and if so, what type of projects are they and are they available to the public?
Recently I have done a fair amount of work with a record label called Sugarhouse Records, which was setup in part by the Turner Prize winning collective Assemble. I am proud of some of the work we have done together, which you can see here. I am also working on a series of artworks at the moment, which should be out in the world next year.
Reflection
Overall, Hanson really emphasised understanding your area of interest and mastering it but also finding interests and inspiration from things outside of general graphic design or visual communication which is interesting as it conveys the need for an interest in contexts outside of my study. He also emphasised the need to be innovative. His interest in Alvar Aalto is something I could take forward with my design, especially the idea of stacking and vertical lines however I would need to find a way to make this more chaotic. I am interesting in becoming an art director mostly because of how it combines graphic design and the ability to work collaboratively with people that aren't directly involved in graphic design.
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