Large

What is the story of the studio ? EB: We always wanted to work together. We started answering small jobs as we were still students. Since we were in different schools, we had to find ways to exchange references, to work together through Internet, by travelling. We eventually decided to have a studio and make a full-time activity out of it, between Paris and Brussels. LC: We quickly set a platform, a blog that enabled us to share ideas and references. We still feed the blog with new content. At the studio’s creation, there was a uncertainty period where we had to go from small jobs » to projects that could enable us to earn money so that we could live, which was quite difficult.

Why do you work remotely ? EB: We had hooks on both sides. Léo is teaching in Brussels, I do in Paris. We had the will to stay in both cities to have a larger range. It allows us to work internationally and to be open to other horizons, to travel physically and intellectually. We exchange and when we are both in Paris or Brussels, we focus our energy on defining the projects. The rest of the time, we share a lot through Internet, especially to manage the different projects. LC: It also urged us to have a specific method, a rigor in approaching things. We start each on our own, but we are always in contact thanks to Internet, Skype and other softwares. For now, we want to keep this opening : having a foot in each country is really something constructive for us. We collaborate with more and more people and we tend to have developers in Brussels and Paris… We are the only representatives of Large in each cities but we know how to surround ourselves. EB: We don’t want to consider Large as a duo. The idea is mostly to have a common entity whether it is as two or four. Our individual identity disappear behind the name, that’s what is important in our posture. LC: Despite different locations, we are one studio working for clients from Belgium, France and also from Germany. There is simply two adresses. We have a common sight on every project.

You just redesigned Trax magazine’s layout, can you tell us more about it ? EB: This project was conducted in collaboration with Jean-Baptiste Levée, who designed TRAX’s new logo. TRAX is now not only a printed magazine, it is also a website and associated event projects. That is why the brand TRAX changed for a new art direction. Jean-Baptiste proposed us to work with him on redesigning TRAX’s visual identity, especially on the layout and the graphic design of the magazine, which is a field we master better. LC: Every typefaces used in the magazine are parts of Production Type by Jean-Baptiste Levée. It was interesting to work with those constraints. EB: It is a multifaceted project. It enables a new form of collaboration. For this project, we had a very nice relationship with the team in charge of the magazine, which is really important. There is a real dialog, respect in our relation, which isn’t always the case. We want to give priority to humans relationships rather than the final product, because we became aware that design isn’t only a final product but a whole.

Do you consider yourselves type designers ? EB: I studied type design at Estienne, my last diploma is therefore a type designer diploma. But we always considered type as a design tool, a way to express oneself. For instance, if we wanted to express ourselves through photography, we would do it without claiming to be photographs. We are designers. We can design font character since we have projects that focus only on type design; or we can have design projects in which we include font design. We also have work in which we focus on type, whether it is our own or not. For us, design includes typography. I don’t like the word type designer from a semantic point of view: the term of type designer doesn’t have the same meaning as it used to, when we used plumb characters for example. We are type designers in the way that we use fonts, we are able to design some, but we also consider ourselves graphic designers, type designers and webdesigners. Interview conducted in October 2015 ©ktlg