|
Sep
30
2009
|
|
Interview With Creator of FudgeGraphics! |
1. I was amazed to learn that the design blog is only 17 months old, what was the first mission statement to yourself when beginning your blog? Did you have a definite goal you wanted to achieve when setting the blog up?
I did not have a mission plan or goal when I started the blog. It was a personal experiment to see whether I could do it. I wanted a challenge and an outlet for my creativity. Creating the blog was a very impulsive decision, which I have never regretted.
2. What did you study at university/college and was there a specific reason you chose to study these areas?
I’ve just graduated with a Masters in Physics from University College London. I was always good at mathematics, but wanted to study a more practical subject. Physics seemed like the perfect choice. I always compare the relation between physics and mathematics to the relation between art and graphic design. Furthermore I knew that a physics degree would give me plenty of career options (even though design wasn’t one of them.)
3. Where did fudge graphics as a brand name come from? Or does it stem from your love of chocolate cereals?
I wanted to come up with a brand name starting with ‘F’ to tie in with my name. That was the only premise. It was essentially the saying “what the fudge?” which made me choose the name. A quick Google search later I discovered that Fudgegraphics was still up for grabs and so I simply registered the name. I would love to have a great story about how I love chocolate fudge (which I do) and that it is the reason behind the name, but it’s not. It was just a random name I came up with and loved instantly.
4. Having previously resided in Luxembourg was it a conscious decision to move to London for graphic design work? Or was the move more personally motivated?
I moved to London for university. At the time I had no idea that I would pursue a design career later on. I’ve just always loved the city and hence applied to London-based universities. Now that I’ve graduated I can say that I’ll stay in London due to design. The city inspires me and I got most of my clients based in the capital. I know that Luxembourg can’t offer me any of it.
5. Has the move to the UK been positive? Or are there some horror stories about living in the nation’s capital?
It’s been very positive. Although 2 years ago my flat got broken into and they stole my laptop I feel very safe here. The people are incredible and I particularly love the vibrant live music scene. I can only speak for myself, but I felt at home right away. The city is very open-minded.
6. You say you like Indie music how wide is your music taste and does this music inspire you when designing work for clients? Is there a particular band/style of music you love to listen to when designing?
Music plays a major role in my design process. As soon as I start up my computer I open iTunes. I often design for bands so it helps to listen to their music while working on their projects. It allows me to grasp the essence of the job. While working on other projects I like listening to folk and Indie rock. Lately I’ve been listening a lot to Jose Gonzalez, Iron & Wine and Damien Rice.
7. How much of a role does blogging take in your average working week, is there a specific time of day/week that you set aside to work online? Or do you just play it as it goes?
I don’t have a specific blogging schedule. Whenever I come up with a new idea for an article I’ll write it down in my moleskin immediately and work on it as soon as I find time. The time spent on the blog varies depending on my workload and inspiration.
8. You signal in your bio; Scott Hansen and James White as your two favorite artists of all time, was there a particular piece of work or group of works which really turned you onto design and decided to study and eventually make it your career?
I love every single piece of design by these two artists and discover so many outstanding designers while researching new featured artists for the blog that it is impossible to pick a specific piece as turning point. Everything just added up and gradually I fell in love with design.
9. With such a successful site, do you have other people, which help you in its day-to-day workings? Or do you undertake most of the work yourself?
No I don’t. Fudge graphics is entirely run and managed by myself. Except for Alec Schmidt who has written a couple of guest articles including the very first tutorial published on the blog. By taking control of everything, including the areas I had no experience in, I gained invaluable knowledge. Sure it took longer to get the WordPress theme up and running, but it helped broaden my design and development skills.
10. What software do you use the most as a designer and do you have a particular favorite, which can find you spend hours on end working with?
That would be Photoshop and Illustrator. Many of my designs start of in AI as simple geometric shapes. Once the main layout of the piece is done everything is imported into Photoshop where I tweak the colours and add textures to give it a more organic look. Apart from the Adobe Suite I am a big fan of Billings, which lets you track your time and send invoices. Last but not least I use iTunes every day. Music and design go hand in hand for me.
11. What would you do on your vacation time, if there was no list client to complete work for and a free calendar was all you could see?
In that case I would travel. I didn’t have a real holiday for some time, just lying on the beach and enjoying myself. Also many of my friends are spread all across Europe due to university so I would go visit them.
Fudgegraphics is Franz Jeitz, who is from Luxembourg and is currently located in London where he work’s as a freelance graphic designer. Fudgegraphics was born in April 2008 and can be described as a design inspirational blog. It is a source of freebies such as photoshop brushes, textures and vectors.
Visit FudgeGraphics Here
Follow FudgeGraphics On Twitter
Article written by Jared Thompson
Follow Jared (@Jthompsondesign) on twitter!
Polyurethane foam is used widely in furniture and is made by mixing polyols, diiscyanates, catalysts, auxiliary blowing agents and other additives. This allows the resulting foam to rise freely. Most foam is manufactured as a continuous process but where small batches are needed small blocks of foam are made in open-topped moulds. The foam after setting can be cut into desired shape and size for furniture.
Ross Lovegrove designed the supernatural chair, seen on the left. This chair is made through injection moulding in glass fibre reinforced polyamide with the gas moulding process. The system requires a large investment but allows the design to be excellent value for money. The chair has a very organic and natural look to its design, with the manufacturing techniques of the 21st century polymers.
Gas assist injection moulding is an enhancement from the conventional way in which you would injection mould. It involves high pressured nitrogen gas which is shot into a resin melt stream immediately after the injection of resins. The process is of high speed and low in pressure, and much lower compared to conventional injection moulding.
This chair was designed in 1940 by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen. It was entered into the “Organic Design in Home furnishings Competition.” The chair itself is made from Molded plywood, Foam rubber and fabric.
Robin Day is a designer best know for creating the polypropylene chair, which was first manufactured in 1963. The chair can often still be found today in schools up and down the country. The design was in fact inspired by an enameled bent tubular steel base. We are familiar with this chair in today’s society from it being around in school, businesses and shops. The chair inspired from another designer, Eames’ ‘Plastic Shell.’ The chair made from thermoplastic polypropylene, it is injection moulded, a process which is high in set-up costs of the moulding. 
But they are often off set against large production numbers which lowers the average cost per unit. Polypropylene itself is inexpensive, durable, lightweight and easy to clean. All good properties to have for a piece of furniture which is going to undertake its fair share of use. It is said that a single mould can produce 4000 seat shells per week, with over 14million of these polypropylene chairs estimated to have been made to the present day.
this particular chair is known as the “Antelope” chair. It was manufactured for the festival of Britain in 1951, it can either be found as a single chair or as a bench also. The frame itself is made from bent steel rods with a simple moulded plywood seat for the user to sit down on.
The disguise of the steel rods is the main character of this chair, and has been described as ingenious and bold. The Antelope chair is a development of the rocking chair which he had made in 1948. The chair like all of Charles Race furniture was characteristically light and easy to handle with clean lines and thin splayed legs, the chair is still manufactured today and considered a classic of its time.
Wallpapers designed by 
Jonathan is a London born designer, who studied at Newcastle Polytechnic. Soon after the completion of his studies in 1985 he became a partner in the London based design consultancy Tangerine. But only three years later he made the massive leap of moving to San Francisco in America to join Apple’s design team. By 1998 Johnathan Ive was then appointed vice-president of industrial design at Apple, where he launches the original iMac, which sells 2 million units in its first year. He has since designed great works such as the G4 cube, G4 Powerbook, iBook and portable iPod. 2003 brought more success with a design museum “designer of the year” prize. With products continually being brought out iMac, Powerbook and iPod mini with the slim iMac coming in 2004. By 2005 Johnathan had risen to Senior Vice President at Apple, reporting directly to the CEO Steve Jobs himself. 
The iMac (1998)
No only did the iMac have a great burst of colour it also is transparent giving the user an insight into inside the computer at the various components, care and attention was put into the internal components which were previous overlooked.
The iPod (2001)
The iPod was completely different and burst onto the market as a small pocket sized electronic device which was able to store your whole CD collection! The challenge was the interface in making the device simple and intuitive. The product itself is sealed off, with no screws and the user has no access to the electronic components stored inside. The twin shot shell is complimented with the polished stainless steel shell, which looks so stylish and expensive. Even the ear buds have shifted the market of headphones to introduce colour, they were white matching the iPod’s design and sat comfortably in the ear.
The inspiration of a lot of Jonathan Ive’s work is often attributed to the work of Dieter Rams, German industrial designer of the Bauhaus movement. Dieter Rams was one of the most influential designers of the 20th century transforming the success of Braun with some simply iconic products. The iPod itself has a lot of the styling traits of his record player “Snow White’s coffin.”
