Creative Director Tony Finegan on his work for
"Visuell", the Deutsche Bank Art Magazine
Visuell Cover, Issue #2
Beginning on April 30
2005, the 25th anniversary of the
Deutsche Bank Collection will be celebrated with a very special exhibition
at the Deutsche
Guggenheim. 25 prominent "godfathers" will be presenting their
favorite works from the collection at the anniversary, while Dr. Ariane
Grigoteit, director of Deutsche Bank Art, will be introducing pioneering
works and artists in the section "Curator’s Choice". For the first time,
the exhibition space at the Deutsche Guggenheim will be expanded for the
event and additional areas of the Deutsche Bank building at Unter den
Linden integrated into the exhibition architecture. The bank succeeded in
winning over the London-based star architect
Zaha Hadid to design the show; she will be transforming the building into
an art pathway. Accompanying the exhibition will be the third issue of
Deutsche Bank’s art magazine "Visuell" featuring numerous articles and
essays. At the same time, the magazine functions as a catalogue
introducing the exhibition and the "godfathers" together with the works
they have selected. The project also presents a challenge for the
London-based design and media agency SPIN
, which has been designing the English and German language magazine since
Visuell’s very first issue. In an interview, Tony Finegan,
SPIN’s Creative Director, talks about the magazine’s concept and history
and explains why contemporary art inspires him more in his work than
current trends in graphic design.
Visuell, Issue #2, doubel page design
How
would you describe SPIN’s main creative concept?
Well, I think we’re about ideas. We’re really proud about coming up with
appropriate and surprising ideas for the briefing session. We don’t know
the answer before the client has asked the question. Graphically, we are
quite systematic. We enjoy exploring language systems. We always try to
find some idea or meaning in what we’re doing. Our work is often
conceptual. We look more to art and artists than to our contemporaries in
the design world. The original ways contemporary media are used and
subverted by artists are exciting to us.
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It isn’t only the way they visually represent their works,
it’s more the conceptual side of things that stimulates us.
Visuell, Issue #2, exampel for typography design
You mentioned that contemporary art uses and subverts media. But isn’t it the
other way around? Isn’t contemporary art subverted by design, fashion, and
the advertising industry?
What I really
mean with subvert is "stretch", the way contemporary art takes things and
puts them in another context.
Modell Epic, Model design for Nike
Do you
see your work as artistic in the same way?
No, I don’t. That’s actually a difficult question. I’ve thought a lot about
that and I haven’t got an answer for it. When we have a commission to
achieve a certain end, we’d like to think that it has a certain amount of
artistry in it. Primarily, we try to come up with an innovative and
interesting solution for a client. But when we come across a new and
interesting medium, we experiment in an artistic way. Four years ago, for
instance, we started working with television. At first we created
something that was a pure personal expression. We did a bit of filming,
made some motion graphics – not for the client, but just for us. This is
part of our concept. I don’t know what to call it. I don’t know if it’s
art, because I don’t see myself as an artist. While the artist is looking
to express himself, we have a client. Our view is far more pragmatic.
CI and Poster for Whitechapel Gallery
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