BASICS09

What is the story of your studio ? We founded the studio when we were students, about nine years ago. We started doing small things, small projects, getting a little money from it. We chose kind of randomly the name of BASICS09 during a competition for MTV. The request was to create an interactive music video. Arne, Rasso and I were together for this project as the BASICS09 team, then we won this competition and decided to keep this name. After that everything went pretty fast. We have been quickly invited to hold conferences, to share our experience. We felt like we were superheroes. We have been so lucky to meet many people, for us it was easy, we just had to do our job. Of course there were ups and downs, but the three of us have always been sticked together. We are a good match. I would say the next peak was in 2009. We got the call of the MoMA, they wanted us to design a website for the exhibition 'Ron Arad : No Discipline'. We simply said : yes ! Then we continued working with them for other exhibitions. This is the situation we are in today.

There is a large number of graphic design studios in Berlin. How are you dealing with that ? Do you feel you have to be even more innovative to distinguish yourselves ? To be honest we don't think that much about it. We are very open to others studios, some of them are directed by close friends. We have not the feeling that we are in competition with them. We are assuming what we do, which is in part not making 'hipster stuff'. Since we started our studio, we are just doing what we feel is right for our clients. We enjoy working in Berlin… Competition provides requirement.

Do you have some clients that have been working with you for several years ? How do you select your clients ? Yes a few. We are working for many years for the Paris based NGO Jeunesse et Reconstruction, which is organising international volunteer projects. Otherwise, we are working for the Institut für Raumexperimente (Institute for Spatial Experiments) for four years, making books, websites and communication of their exhibitions. The last took place at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. We also did the new website of the Berlin University of the Arts. Usually, when we work for a client or an institution, they like to come back. We would say it is a good sign for us, we like to help our clients to make things that they wouldn't necessary have thought about. We always choose our clients, it is not only the client that choose you. Over the last years, we met a lot of people, each time we spoke about their projects, their needs… but sometimes at the end we decide that we are not the best choice for what they asked for. We have the chance to select our projects. When both parties are on the same page, we think the result could only be better.

How would you see yourselves in five years ? It is a good question. We often ask ourselves the same. We are doing things step by step, and we will see what happen tomorrow. Today, we are happy to live in Berlin, we all start to have children. This city is a real creative spot where we like to grow, it is full of incredible places for inspiration. Interview conducted in February 2015 ©ktlg