Three Strategies for Achieving Original Design in a Homogenized World

So we're all living in a connected world. Of course, we're constantly sharing images, video content, no matter where we are, roughly using the same platforms. And in turn, this is creating a world and design trends that are starting to look a little bit alike, right? Which can be problematic if you work in the creative field like I do. I'm a designer and a partner at a studio that is based in Austin and in Barcelona. You can see some of our work in the background.

We're also a typeface foundry. We make experimental display variable typography that pushes the boundaries of what you can do with technology. And through the history of the studio, we have always had this goal of making work that challenges the familiar -- work that you might say looks different. And as the world becomes more homogenized and design trends have started to look more and more the same, this went from being a nice-to-have to becoming a necessity. And by the way, if you work in graphic design, you know what I mean when I say that things are starting to look the same. The same color palettes, the same '70s revival typography and the same illustration styles everywhere. So we distilled three ideas that we think might be helpful

for anybody who's interested in creating unique work despite living in a world with globalized trends. Idea number one is that, like, really, truly, truly embrace working with people that have different backgrounds and that live different lifestyles. These are the three partners of our studio. We could not be more different. We could not have more different backgrounds. We are journalist, philosopher, DJ. Our passions are completely different. Along with this, we are committed to having our staff immersed in different visual cultures, being part of different subcultures and living wherever the hell they want.

Whether it's a beach in the Caribbean or Tokyo or a remote town in Croatia, we do not care. Because when we get together to work on a project, we're not only bringing different visual preferences but also different lessons from being part of subcultures and different approaches to problem-solving. These are some notes that the partners took during a recent project, and you can see that we already, you know, we not only think different, but we have different approaches to research. And since we're talking about research, idea number two: get used to looking for solutions or doing research not in the areas that you feel comfortable or where the problem is directly sitting on but rather in the areas that are adjacent,

that sit very close to the problem that you're trying to solve. An example is that we see every data visualization project as an animation project. We see every editorial or publishing project as an opportunity to explore branding. And a good example of all of this is a project that we did for MIT, where they asked us to make a poster on the Cas9 protein sequence, which is over there, that is used for genetic research. When we sat down with them and asked them the kind of questions that you could expect from a DJ and a philosopher, we quickly realized that what was important

was not the legibility of the individual letters but rather to convey a sense of awe at the beauty of science and what we can do with science. So we took our experience in a field that is adjacent to poster design, which is typography or typesetting, and we made a font that included additional information about this protein sequence, and then we just typeset the sequence, and it looks like this. It's a stunning way of approaching data visualization and a very different way of looking at typesetting. Our third idea that we'd like to share is: be additive.

Always think about your future self. So we're human. We always want to do extraordinary work. But the reality is that extraordinary efforts require extraordinary amounts of energy. So rather than believe that you can do remarkable things in one big push, what you should do is build a life that allows you to do bold choices and build on top of them. Bold choices, unique choices on top of each other. An example of this is that we recently took a leap and did the biggest independent project we have done at the studio. It's called Hundred Points, and it's an exhibition on graphic design from four cities: Austin, where I live, Sao Paulo, Cairo and Helsinki.

The exhibition is gigantic. It's massive: 4,000 square feet, 50 projects. But most importantly, we did it, and we took decisions that were in opposition to the way that we see graphic design shown in museums. All of the projects are three-dimensional because graphic design is usually shown printed or very flat. Video is interactive because the experience of video in a museum is usually very passive or removed from the viewer. And we invited visitors to the exhibition to touch the projects. Because when graphic design is shown in museums, it's usually co-opting the codes of fine art and making it off limits.

The result was an exhibition that, in its opening night, broke all records of attendance, and our events have been very well attended. The reviews have been great. But most importantly, it proved to us that yes, we can do things that are different. But the reality is that if you allow yourself to live a life where you can take these bold, unique choices and build on top of them, you can move away from doing things that are different into doing things that are wonderful. So despite living in a globalized world with, you know, with these design trends, I truly believe that we can all make unique work.

All we got to do is update our understanding on how to build teams, where to look for solutions and, more importantly, how to spend our time and energy. Thank you so much.