[…] We talked about Peter Saville : he is truly someone who fascinates me. The way he reasons to find solutions to creative challenges … I’ve probably listened to all of his interviews available on YouTube. I’m also really a fan of those multi-polar careers in music. So we talked about Ryūichi Sakamoto and Brian Eno, these are people who brought solutions in sound and music for campaigns and products (Sakamoto created sound design extensively for Nokia, Eno collaborated regularly with Microsoft). But I’m also very influenced by people who helped me see what I wanted to do much more clearly. We spoke of Études, particularly Aurélien Arbet, with whom I host a show called Wave Form on NTS, as well as Marine Serre, but I must also mention Thomas Subreville from Ill Studio, as well as Arthur Van Peteghem, who has a company called Avoir. Bas Van Der Poel from MODEM. And many other creatives from my generation, honestly, I couldn’t list them all now, but: my friends Helena Kadji and Rocio who have a studio called Faye & Gina, who have designed my graphic identity from the beginning, Tristan Bagot who made my website, Marcelo Gomes and Charles Nègre, who have shot some of my press portraits. I am also in awe of the accomplishments of Felix Ward and Pierre Dagba from Matière Noire, as well as Cyrus Goberville at Bourse de Commerce, Pinault Collection. I’ve never worked with graphic designers Axel Pelletanche and Antoine Roux but I think their work is exceptional. I also love the CGI work of Amine Ghorab and Scott Renau from Area Of Work, as well as my friend Valentin Gillet. I love people who make themselves available with their talent to find solutions for others. All the people I haven’t mentioned will certainly feel left out because there are plenty of others, but it’s what whom I can think of off the top of my head […]

[…] My love for typography and the ability to showcase work through it really drove this. Typography needs something to say, and as someone who isn’t necessarily a writer, it’s easy to come up with quick phrases like “award-winning creative tech company”—which doesn’t mean anything but looks great in the typography I’m working with. I’m someone who will sacrifice the words for the type itself. I think I liked the way “award-winning” sat on top of “creative tech company”—it just worked together visually. […]

[…] As a designer, we are too often positioned under someone who holds the creative power, limiting you to a mere executor of ideas. In an ad agency, where design isn’t the protagonist, you’re seen as a tool—brought in to make things look good while creative directors and strategists shape the larger vision. I’ve always believed that as a designer, we are inherently strategic and we have more to offer than most care to recognize. […]

[…] Today, sites are just shells. What makes the identity of the site is the content: the artistic direction of the image or film on the homepage. But at the time, image was not as important; it was more the design of the site that conveyed an aesthetic. […]

[…] I know I’m good at certain things and suck at others. When you start out at school you get the impression that you’re going to have to know everything. But it’s not true: you don’t do everything well. There was also the idea that once you get out of school you’re a graphic designer, you can create models, etc. The profession has evolved a whole lot, and so have we. Now we do more art direction than graphic design. I like to do art direction and hire a good team of designers. […]

[…] As for graphics and typography, I have a deep fascination for Emigre Fonts and in the same vein, Jonathan Barnbrook, but also for Dutch, German, and Russian design, for Studio Dumbar, Cyan, and Ostengruppe… […]