Mark Porter

Tony Brook (of Spin) has kindly sent me a copy of “Studio Culture”, the first book from his and Adrian Shaughnessy’s new publishing venture Unit Editions.

It’s a great read, and for me, a glimpse into a whole other universe. I don’t really see myself as part of the graphic design world (more of a journalist really), and I’ve mainly worked in magazine and newspaper offices. So I’m fascinated by studios and studio life, but from an outsider’s point of view.

It goes back to my education. I went to an academic school, where I was forced to drop Art in the 3rd year in order to make more time for stuff like Latin. Then I went to Oxford. That was an amazing experience which I wouldn’t have changed for anything; I was living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, I managed to do some magazine and poster design as a hobby, I made some great friends and pulled off some coups on the academic side too. But when I first started work as a designer, I felt like a bit of a freak. Everyone I was working with had been to art college; and I was always waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and tell me to get out because I didn’t belong.

Since then, I’ve managed to convince myself that I’m pretty good at the design thing, but I’m still not really in that world. So reading this book is a bit like watching the National Geographic channel; it’s like a window onto the life of an exotic and fascinating culture.

It’s a series of interviews with a very wide range of designers, with pictures of their work and workspaces. The interviews are really absorbing, and the pictures are pretty cool too — some of the studios look like spaces you’d really want to work in. In fact, I wish there were more, bigger pictures of the studios themselves, but they’re doing a “your studio” thread on their blog, so that almost makes up for it.

It’s a very nicely made book too (the text is a bit hard to read but I’m fussy about that kind of thing, and it is for designers so what do you expect?). All in all, highly recommended. And from over here studio life looks pretty cool. Maybe one day I should cross the great divide and find out for myself.