Interview with:Martijn Rijven [boltgraphics]
DESIGN
 | What is your specialty? typography (hand-drawn), illustration, brand design |
| Where can we view your portfolio online? |
| What made you interested in design? I've always been very visually stimulated... (sounds a bit weird, sorry) and I like to tell people stories. Graphic design was the natural choice. |
| What has been your professional career path? In 1997 I graduated (with honours) from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, the Netherlands. After this I did some interships (one of which at VormVijf in The Hague).
Spend some time in San Francisco doing some freelance jobs.
Came back and started out on my own as a freelance graphics designer.
In 2000 I started BOLTgraphics focussing on graphic design, typography and illustration.
In 2001 I did a short stint at House Industries in Wilmington, DE (US).
BOLTgraphics is still going strong now. |
| Have you received any awards for your work in the field of design? No, but I never sent anything in either. Not really concerned with awards (partly because most of them cost a shedlaod of cash just to even contend). |
| What is your motivation? What makes you get up in the mornings? My motivation: improvement.
Trying to do an even better job then the last one. |
| How would you define your design style? I wouldn't. I let others define my style.
If I do it myself it becomes a restriction. |
| How do you promote and move your work? A strong online presence for one. Plus I try to regularly have little promotional pieces printed up that I send out to (potential) clients. |
| In which new areas would you like to experiment? Animation and environmental design. |
| Shapes, color, concept: where do you usually begin when conceiving a design? Differs from job to job.
Usually it's a combination of several elements but concept is always the most important part. |
| What are your sources for documentation and to generate ideas? Depends on the job. I like to hit the library or the bookstore whenever a new job starts. Researching the subject-matter always proves fruitful for ideas and inspiration. |
| Which festivals or awards in your field do you find most interesting? Not interested in awards.
I like Typoberlin, which isn't really a festival I guess, but other then that I don't really attend the festivals.
I don't really know of any really 'crossbred' festivals (where most visual arts and disciplines are combined or represented), but if there is one I would be really interested in that. |
| What is your favourite type of customer? One that realises the value of good design (so is willing to pay the fee) and clients where there can be mutual trust and respect. |
| To a certain point, is copying justifiable? Depends on what the point is. Is it 'copying' or 'quoting' or 'an homage'.
Copyright should be respected I think.
Besides I think copying other designers work is essentially pointless. No 2 jobs are the same, so copying other designers' solutions to other jobs will never be good enough for the job you're copying it for... (hope that makes sense). |
| List some things you dislike seeing in design. Design that is just trying to be pretty, where form is devoid of function.
That's just cheap art. |
| Do you believe the newer generations are better at designing? Who is the newer generation? So no.
Design is good when it does it's job, the designers age (or tools) are of no importance. |
| With which type of client would you decline in working for? When the message is one I strongly disagree with (i.e. socially or politically).
Other then that: none. |
| How do you calculate budgets for a design project? My prices are based on man hours and intellectual property. |
| Which professionals in your field -contemporary or past- do you most admire? Frank H. Atkinson, the Stone Twins, Ken Barber, James Jean, Michael Cho. |
| Which software applications do you most utilize in your work? Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Fontlab. |
| Up to what point do your designs reflect your personality? I design to a brief. The brief dictates the look of the piece.
Then again self-promotional work does reflect my personality and I get jobs based on that work so in a sense I'm often required asked to show some of my personality by the brief... |
| How do you distinguish passing fads from mainstays in new trends? I focus on the quality of the work. |
| If you weren't a designer, what would you be doing? talking to my invisible mates in the park with a tin-foil hat on. |
| At this moment, what would be your dream job or project? Big (worldwide) cross-media (branding, design, motion, environmental etc.) project for an inspiring client. |
| Can you see yourself in this field twenty years from now? DEFINITELY. Upwards and onwards.
The fields will have been expanded however. |
| Which design resources online do you frequently visit? None really.
I try to look at and learn from things outside of design... also online. |
| 
154 visits
[boltgraphics]
Martijn Rijven
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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