An interview with Erik Spiekermann
An interview with Erik Spiekermann of Edenspiekermann by Adrian Shaughnessy (who wrote, How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul) , taken from the book - Studio Culture: the Secret Life of the Graphic Design Studio.The AGDA has the whole interview up in two parts: Part 1 & Part 2
What sort of designer had you become at this point?Well, I'm not a very good designer; I'm an OK designer. I'm OK when it comes to complex things like grids. I like maths. I like geometry. I like multiples. How things are arranged on the page. I like that because it's all about discipline. I learnt about type through doing hot-metal typesetting. So I know that what is between the black marks is as important as the black marks themselves. With metal typesetting you have to touch it, it's not just the return key. So that's my discipline. I'm an art historian by trade; I'm slightly intellectual, maybe too intellectual. When it comes to visualizing things I'm too intellectual, it becomes too obvious. Neville Brody's the exact opposite of me. We've worked together successfully. Neville's a digital painter. He just throws it on the page and it looks great, but he can't repeat it. I'm the other way round. I provide the skeleton, I make sure things don't fall down. And he makes it look good, and I'm very happy with that.
What do you look for when hiring a designer?They have to know something really, really well. Something they're really good at. If somebody's good at C++, or someone's really good at drawing, it doesn't matter what it is, they just have to have one speciality. Also, they have to have general knowledge. I hate people who don't read. I hate people who don't cook, or don't know anything about music.
I couldn't work with anyone who only goes to McDonalds. I want people who know movies, who know music, who read books. As you know, not all graphic designers are ‘multidimensional'. They don't read, they don't do anything else, and I couldn't work with those people. I need team people who have general knowledge because that's what we do, and I want those freaks who can do one thing that nobody else can do.