Page 12 - advanced-photoshop-magazine

eye on design studio interview studio interview INK StudIo The Belgium-Based design agency explains The imporTance of exploring our own creaTive poTenTial and pracTising wiTh The very laTesT design innovaTions hat’s in a name? Sometimes it can tell you everything and sometimes it means very little. INK studio, as a title, W says quite a lot about its team and the work they love to create. Founded in 2006 by Thibaut van Boxtel and Cédric Philippi, both with a serious passion for using ink in illustration and design work. This enthusiasm for traditional media has continued, with the team moving into avenues such as papercraft, but also modernising design with a little help from Photoshop. It wasn’t long before the INK studio team multiplied in line with its skill set. Van Boxtel tells us: “We asked William Mirante to help us create web projects. Michaël Collin unexpectedly joined us, after we realised that we were all just artists and not really prepared for the day-to-day management of a creative company.” Two new web developers have also joined its ranks in the last three years. INK studio started with a simple philosophy; to provide services that delivered visual communication for existing companies. This continues to be its ethos, perhaps with a few slight tweaks along the way. Now the agency tries to retain a client’s message, but provides far more creative solutions when rebranding. This has allowed INK studio to continue to explore the very latest web and photographic services. Van Boxtel admits that this has in turn affected inventiveness, which is now crucial to every project. This no longer extends to just printing on unusual paper; it’s now all about adapting to new tools and formats, but most importantly: “feeling good when working, which is the motivation for expansion,” he explains. However, INK studio is arguably at its best when producing the most tactile of projects. This has continued to flourish with the team’s desire to get hands-on and personally construct image elements. This type of design started back in 2010 when the studio team began to experiment with papercraft, but it wasn’t until 2012 that they really started to champion this style by producing their very first paper-design newsletter. INK studio continues to experiment and perfect its papercraft style by organising after-hours workshops for anyone who wants to participate. This self-exploration has left van Boxtel confident in offering clients their papercraft approach, as a 018