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 | | Exclusive Interview |
Page 2 of 2 All these different meanings and ideas bundled into one word - it seems to be his speciality."Yes", he replied "perhaps I spend too much time on my own." Throughout the catalogue, Barnbrook mocks the manipulative intent behind most forms of communication - whether from political, religious, consumerist or military interests. How ironic that he should do this whilst at the same time supplying those interests with further manipulative tools. "I'm quite aware that design is a part of the whole capitalistic process and there are references to that in the catalogue, but I don't know what the alternative is - if you work in this system you work within it. If there's an alternative system you work within that. But any remarks I make about the system don't change the fact that people will still use them in those terms." But is he not biting the hand that feeds him? "I guess you have to accept that you're a hypocrite and use this type of exposure for your own ends because it gives you something... not publicity... but it means people listen to what you say." So he won't be joining a monastery and doing stone carving for real just yet? "No, I don't think that's the answer. You have to deal with life." One especially intriguing font from the new collection is 'Prozac', designed to 'simplify meaning' it was constructed from just 6 basic shapes. "The original idea came from the way the typeface looked - like pill capsules - and I'd been wanting to design a face called Prozac for a long time - that optimistic idea of simplifying everything." His use of the word 'optimistic' made me think of how Pol Pot might use the word 'progressive'. On the subject of politics, I mentioned that the 'Nixon' font reminded me of jumps on a lie detector graph. He didn't seem displeased by the comparison, though he admitted it hadn't occurred to him. Currently he is working on a textface. I asked how he felt about the cultural restrictions around designing such faces, i.e. the expectations of the reading public. "I enjoy it. It's part of the brief and that's what makes it interesting. It's like drawing the human form. You have a model that everyone has in their mind and you interpret it." Didn't he once say that only 5% of new typefaces were genuinely innovative. "As many as that?" he exclaimed with his darkest smile (there then followed a brief interlude during which he showed me how to use my chopsticks properly). So what makes a typeface innovative? "Something that excites you, something you've not seen before. Barnbrook's other work includes a number of non-commercial projects such as his collaboration with the artist Damien Hirst on his recent book: 'I Want To Spend the Rest of my Life Everywhere, with Everyone, Always, Forever, Now'. "He's a nice bloke with a good sense of humour and he's very open-minded about his work. He realised we were trying to do something new and in that respect he's different to a lot of people I've worked with. I think its his links with the pop world. He thinks art should avoid being academic and should join the real world. He was prepared to do something different and challenge the academic notions of what makes a good art book. I asked how it was possible for them to avoid being elitist when both of them, as artists, are part of an elite. "You avoid being elitist by making your work approachable and fun even though the message still involves quite heavy concepts." And how did he feel about the finished product. "I think it's one of the best things I've done, though I'm sure a lot of people will hate it for the reasons other people will like it." The surprising thing about Jonathan Barnbrook is how happy he is to discuss everything. He cannot answer all the ethical questions thrown up by the nature of his work and its almost amoral beauty, but he acknowledges these questions. He appears quite down to earth. Maybe it's to do with growing up in a council house in Luton. "It's a million miles from London, even though it's only thirty miles. I come from a very working class background and I see people who I grew up with going to work in the local factories and now I work with the people who control those things. Sometimes it makes me a bit angry." Angry? "Yes - when you've seen how money slushes around Ad agencies... when you see the different lifestyles of people here compared with back home - and the controlling side of it - it forces you to address big problems. I was lucky because my art interest helped me to escape, but there are many people up there who are very frustrated and whose lifestyles are very restricted." Aside from the aforementioned missile commission, I wondered if any other jobs in graphic design held any appeal for him. "I would love to design pictograms for the Olympics. That would be a brilliant job." And if he wasn't a graphic designer? "I've often thought I would like to be a nurse - someone who directly helped other people." The thought did occur to me that within such a career he could perhaps help out some of the people injured by one of his missiles. But he is not planning any radical career change for the moment, though he is taking a well-earned break from designing typefaces. He will shortly be getting married to his Japanese girlfriend (which at least explains the chopsticks episode). Yes, he spoke a little Japanese but, no, fascinating as he finds Japanese typeforms, he admitted that he couldn't possibly design a foreign language typeface unless he spoke that language fluently. As for his forthcoming nuptials, I asked if he would be designing the wedding invites. "Yes" he answered "I think that's going to be my job." | | |
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