studio marcus kraft

What is the story of your studio ? After studying and being employed for a while, I founded Studio Marcus Kraft in 2011. We create custom-made projects for national and international clients. The focus is on elaborate design concepts, editorial projects and typography. Multidisciplinary ventures are realised with photographers, architects, artists… from a reliable network. I like to keep the studio small, but the projects and clients are sometimes quite big – depending on the project the team has up to six people or even more. These are usually freelancers and specialists in their field. I always try to put together the perfect team for the specific project – when the work is finished, everybody is free to move on to other adventures. This structure allows me and my studio to stay flexible – and also to travel a lot.

You are directing the Hä? magazine. How can graphic designers become involved in an issue as serious as health? Well, I think that graphic designers should in general become involved in all aspects of our society and contribute with their skills. Doing art books and theater posters is nice, but there is a lot more in this world that deserves good design! When we were approached by the client ‘Rotpunkt Apotheke’ (a pharmacy collective in Switzerland), they wanted a magazine for young people which deals with health issues. I liked this idea instantly because I think it is important to educate young people about their own body. The design concept is very much related to ‘fanzines’ from the punk culture: a lot of handwriting, collages, illustrations and a rather direct and provocative style of photography. The magazine is printed on newspaper with a skin color tone to give it a more personal and warm feeling. Each issue covers one topic related to the human body: fitness, sexuality, beauty, alcohol & drugs, stress… I learn a lot about those topics while researching. We are also very lucky that the client is very open to our ideas and never afraid of pushing the limits.

What initiated the creation of the ‘Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow’ book ? It all began while I was travelling in Asia: It had been raining cats and dogs for a week. To keep my spirits up, I listened to music – a lot of music. This made me realise that lots of songs give good advice or worldly wisdom. Henceforth, I asked every backpacker on my trip and every friend back home if they knew such songs. Soon, the collection had a remarkable number. The book lists my personal selection of 250 of the best songs for times when solid advice is needed. There are also many other surprises. It is in its sixth print run and now there is also a wine edition, a postcard block, the monthly updated blog popmusicwisdom.com and of course the original drawings. Its successor ‘Don't Talk Just Kiss’ was published this year by BIS Publishers.

You are the curator and director of TABLEAU ZURICH. What difference do you make between a conventional exhibition space and the one you created ? According to you, what is the gain ? TABLEAU ZURICH is a new place for visual art in a public area. There are two exhibitions per annum, which are open to the public 365 days a year. The biggest difference to a conventional exhibition space is probably its area. It is located in a courtyard with a lot of transit traffic from commuters: due to the immediate proximity of an important train station. Approximately two million people pass by each exhibition — intentionally or not — over a period of six months. The goal of TABLEAU ZURICH is to reach all the people who usually wouldn’t visit a gallery space for contemporary art. Interview conducted in July 2016 ©ktlg