Can an organization raise $735,000 in 40 days to buy an abandoned dude ranch in the southwestern Arizona desert? It just might be possible with Joseph Beyer—eternal optimist and Director of Digital Initiatives at the Sundance…
Continue Reading…
by Tariq Dixon Very few vintners can boast having nine vintages under their belt at 32 years old. Even fewer can claim patronage by so many of America’s leading restaurants—Eleven Madison Park, Daniel and Le Bernardin included. But these are just a few…
Continue Reading…
Dutch Design Week 2013: a Dutch fashion textile brand that has a huge following in Africa but which is virtually unknown in Europe has announced a series of collaborations with contemporary designers (+ interview + slideshow).
Vlisco, a 167-year-old company that produces “grande, grotesque, outspoken” hand-printed textiles, staged an exhibition called Vlisco Unfolded exhibition in Eindhoven during Dutch Design Week, presenting its new collection, archive material and its company history as well as a one-off print produced in collaboration with Studio Job.
Vlisco’s creative director Roger Gerards said the collaboration with Studio Job was the first in series of projects with external designers. “We want to do more and more,” he told Dezeen. “There is a list of designers we are going to work with.”
Vlisco, based in Helmond close to Eindhoven, employs 800 people and has an in-house design team of 50 people, yet is barely known in the Netherlands.
“There’s a huge contradiction between how the brand is perceived in west Africa and how it’s perceived here,” said Gerards. “[But] I don’t mind that much that people don’t know us here. There are 400 million people living in west and central Africa and we are world famous there. You see people wearing us everywhere.”
Vlisco was founded in 1846 and its signature fabrics, made using a 21-stage process involving wax-based batik techniques, soon found favour in Africa, where they were bartered by Dutch traders en route to Indonesia, which was the intended market.
The company started to develop bold, colourful prints for African customers and today has a symbiotic relationship with the region, where its products have become part of local folklore.
“In west Africa we’re more than just design; we’re also [part of the] culture,” said Gerards. “People claim and adopt our products. When we have a fashion show in a city such as Lagos it’s a huge event.”
Vlisco, together with fabric brands it owns in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, produced 65 million yards of fabric in 2012. Its key markets are Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as central and west African customers in major cities around the world.
The Vlisco Group, which employs 2,700 people worldwide, was bought in 2010 by British investment group Actis, which plans to help the brand double its business by 2015. It had a turnover of €225 million in 2011, an increase of 20% on the previous year.
The Vlisco Unfolded exhibition tells the story of the company and presents its products to the international design community for the first time.
Here’s the transcript of the interview with Vlisco’s creative director Roger Gerards:
Marcus Fairs: What is Vlisco?
Roger Gerards: Vlisco is a design brand based in this area of Eindhoven. We make textiles for west and central Africans living around the world. Besides the design we also manufacture in Holland. We have 800 people making our textiles.
Marcus Fairs: How did the company start?
Roger Gerards: More than 160 years ago a [Dutch] family bought a cotton printer. They had family in Indonesia and they started to make products for Indonesia using a batik technique. From 1900 on these products were also sold in west Africa and in this long relationship from then until today we’ve been making products for west African and central African consumers.
Marcus Fairs: How did the design of the fabrics evolve?
Roger Gerards: The imagery slowly changed from very Indonesian batik styles to our current DNA, which is very outspoken drawings and very bold colours which we developed ourselves. The product is the result of a lot connections, history and craft. Until today we still work with the wax batik technique, and we are the only company in the world doing that.
Marcus Fairs: Describe how the company is perceived in Africa.
Roger Gerards: What’s beautiful about the Vlisco brand is that in west Africa we’re more than just design; we’re also [part of the] culture. People claim and adopt our products. When we have a fashion show in a city such as Lagos it’s a huge event. People fly in from Canada, Dubai, all Nigerians from the whole world want to see the Vlisco fashion show. I always feel New York better in Lagos than in New York.
Marcus Fairs: It’s strange that you’re so unknown in Europe. Does that bother you?
Roger Gerards: There’s a huge contradiction between how the brand is perceived in west Africa and how it’s perceived here. I don’t mind that much that people don’t know us here. There are 400 million people living in west and central Africa and we are world famous there. You see people wearing us everywhere.
Marcus Fairs: Who designs the fabrics?
Roger Gerards: An important part of the company is that we have our own design department. We train our own designers because the technique and the DNA is so exceptional, you can’t compare it with other companies. We have to train our own designers. So we have 20 textile designers from around the world and we have 30 people assisting them. Besides that in the Netherlands we have 700 people working in manufacturing.
Marcus Fairs: How are the fabrics made?
Roger Gerards: The manufacturing process is quite long. It takes 21 steps to make the product, and it takes two weeks from when the white cloth enters the factory to when it’s finished.
Marcus Fairs: You said this would be the “first and last” time you’ll exhibit at Dutch Design Week. Why are you doing it?
Roger Gerards: There are several reasons. Most importantly because we are in this area. People know Dutch design from the past, like Rietveld, very clean, very sober and very reflective. We are very outspoken, decorative – and we’re Dutch design. It’s totally made in a Dutch environment. We developed a new brand strategy in the last few years and we wanted to express that we are happy with the results. We are really growing a lot because of it and we’re doing a lot of design developments and collaborations and I want to share this with the Dutch Design Week audience.
Marcus Fairs: Why have you collaborated with Studio Job on a limited-edition print?
Roger Gerards: I wanted to work with Studio Job because their design language and outspokenness and I feel a big concoction between what we are doing and what they are doing. All the fabrics that are worn by west Africans, they are very grande, very grotesque, very outspoken. It’s about couture and having presence. I think Studio Job is also very iconic and outspoken. As we both are Dutch designers it’s very good to make this connection. We made a limited edition fabric for this occasion but also he is using our fabrics for projects he is doing.
Marcus Fairs: Will you do more collaborations with contemporary designers?
Roger Gerards: Yes we want to do more and more. There is a list of designers we are going to work with.
The post Fashion fabric brand Vlisco to work
with “a list of designers” appeared first on Dezeen.
Interview: renderings are now as convincing as reality and are changing the way people perceive architecture, according to architectural visualisation artist Peter Guthrie. “It allows for greater conversation about the built environment,” he says in this interview. “Most people are familiar with computer images but would find it harder to interpret a line drawing.” (+ slideshow).
London-based Guthrie is widely regarded as the leading exponent of hyper-realistic imagery, and has produced image sets for projects including a Suffolk house by Ström Architects and Claesson Koivisto Rune’s prefabricated home.
“I try to make atmospheric, memorable images without using too many post-production tricks,” Guthrie says. “Other visualisers perhaps take their inspiration from film and video games, but that isn’t an aesthetic I’m drawn to.”
When asked whether we’ve reached the point where renderings are indistinguishable from photographs, he replied: “I think we have… The 2013 Ikea catalogue has a surprising number of visualisations in it and most people are none the wiser.”
Guthrie believes that people are now so used to computer imagery thanks to movies and computer games that they can “read” architectural renderings more readily than line drawings or sketches. “It makes un-built architecture more immediate and allows for greater conversation about the built environment,” he says.
He adds: “Most people these days are incredibly familiar with computer generated images (although they are usually in the form of feature films or computer games) but would find it harder to interpret a line drawing or watercolour of a proposed building.”
Boundaries are now becoming so blurred that skilled visualisers are now being employed to make it appear that unbuilt projects were actually realised, he said. “I’ve even had architects in the past ask me to render unbuilt house designs from their archives,” he says.
Here is a full transcript of the interview:
Ross Bryant: How did you get into visualisations?
Peter Guthrie: I studied architecture in Edinburgh and worked for Richard Murphy Architects for about five years after completing my degree. During that time I became more and more interested in both photography and visualisation and eventually decided to make the switch.
Ross Bryant: Are there other visualisers that have inspired or informed your work?
Peter Guthrie: Within visualisation I’m inspired by people like Alex Roman and Bertrand Benoit for their pioneering techniques. You need to have a healthy interest in all the technical geeky things in 3D visualisation and it’s important to stay up to date. Most of my inspiration for making images of architecture though comes from architectural photography.
Ross Bryant: How would you describe your visualisation style? Does it differ from other styles?
Peter Guthrie: I hope it is seen as being closer to architectural photography, that’s what I am aiming for anyway. Other visualisers perhaps take their inspiration from film and video games, which still results in captivating beautiful images but it isn’t an aesthetic I’m drawn to. I still try to make atmospheric, memorable images but without using too many post-production tricks.
Ross Bryant: What software do you use?
Peter Guthrie: SketchUp because it’s so quick, easy and so suited to the changeable nature of architectural design. Making the model myself builds familiarity with the project and I think that is a very important part in the whole process of coming up with good compositions, a bit like a photographer walking round a building to get an idea for what he wants to shoot.
3ds Max is the main base for a whole raft of plugins such as V-Ray. The raw rendered images are then treated much like a raw file would be in digital photography – imported into Lightroom to work on colours, exposure, dodging and burning as well as graduated filters etc.
This post production process is probably very different to the vast majority of people working in 3D visualisation and I think this reflects the fact that I have a background in architecture and photography – it’s just a workflow I feel comfortable with.
Ross Bryant: Why go to so much trouble with the images? Where’s the value?
Peter Guthrie: Because I enjoy it. For me personally, I just like making good images that I’m proud of and that I can look back at in a couple of years’ time and still enjoy. For some clients, like for example Ström Architects whose Suffolk House project you featured on Dezeen back in August, there is a lot of value in making images of as yet un-built designs to help them establish their practices.
There are projects I have worked on which never actually got built in the end, so the renders then become even more important as a record of the design. I’ve even had architects in the past ask me to render unbuilt house designs from their archives. It’s true that on some of my older projects I could have got away with a lot less and my client probably would still have been perfectly happy, but often I use a project as an excuse to learn a new skill or develop a new technique.
Ross Bryant: How long does each image take you?
Peter Guthrie: Typically maybe a month for five or six images of a house. The museum project I worked on with Thomas Phifer & Partners in New York lasted three months but we ended up with 24 images in total.
Ross Bryant: Are high-end visualisations lucrative?
Peter Guthrie: They can be, there are a lot of visualisation studios around these days and there seems to be a lot of work for freelancers. It can be tricky finding the balance between interesting work and work that pays well.
Ross Bryant: Do you think that we’ve reached the point where visualisations are indistinguishable from real photos?
Peter Guthrie: I think we have, but certain types of shot are more successful than others. You can get away with a lot if the overall image has a photographic quality, if the composition and lighting are convincing. The 2013 Ikea catalogue has a surprising number of visualisations in it and most people are none the wiser.
Ross Bryant: Can renderings look better than the finished building?
Peter Guthrie: Photographs of a completed building often look better than the building does in real life. Whether or not renderings do is part of the same argument isn’t it?
Ross Bryant: Architect and visualiser Henry Goss introduces real world imperfections into his architectural visualisations. What’s your view on this?
Peter Guthrie: I’ve always been interested in materiality in architecture so it is important for me to spend time working on making materials look realistic. Taking materials to the next level is about introducing the variety of texture and lack of uniformity that you see in real life situations. You can take the realism of individual materials to a very high level without resorting to making things deliberately worn and dirty as you often see in video games. I’m yet to meet an architect who wants their new design to look weathered before it has even been built!
Adding small details can also add greatly to the realism of an image. It sounds crazy I know, but I like to model double glazing accurately so that you get the subtle double reflections that you see in real life.
Ross Bryant: Do photorealistic visualisations and the way they are published on the internet change the way people perceive architecture?
Peter Guthrie: I’m sure it does, at least in that it makes un-built architecture more immediate and allows for greater conversation about the built environment. Most people these days are incredibly familiar with computer generated images (although they are usually in the form of feature films or computer games) but would find it harder to interpret a line drawing or watercolour of a proposed building.
Ross Bryant: Do you think that the big architectural firms will begin to use photorealistic renderings to illustrate major proposals?
Peter Guthrie: They already have that capability, but good designers will know what is appropriate to the current stage of the design they are showing. It really depends how fixed the designs are, and how much time they want to invest in renders. Sometimes architects are deliberately hesitant about showing too much detail as it can make planners or clients question how much scope there is for making changes.
Ross Bryant: Where is architectural visualisation heading next?
Peter Guthrie: Actually I’m not even that comfortable with the title architectural visualiser as architectural visualisation is too often seen as a service industry where the most valuable aspect is how quickly images can be produced. I think as the industry matures we are starting to see more distinct styles develop. Companies and individuals have the confidence to lead the artistic direction of an image, and clients are employing them because they can offer something different. Thankfully these days potential clients are more aware of the type of work I do.
The post Architectural renderings now “indistinguishable
from photos” says leading visual artist appeared first on Dezeen.
Less than three years ago we watched the budding Dutch designer Dirk Vander Kooij explain his graduation project to a packed house at Cape Town’s Design Indaba conference. The Design Academy Eindhoven alumnus humbly presented…
Continue Reading…
The fun-loving, low maintenance duo working as London-based design studio Crispin Finn are undoubtedly passionate about red, white and blue. Their signature tricolor formula originally evolved from wanting to simplify…
Continue Reading…
Fatima: Black Dough (prod. fLako) The stylish doyenne of London-based Eglo Records, Swedish songstress Fatima offers up the B-side to her forthcoming single “Family/La Neta” with the Bandcamp teaser “Black Dough.” Produced by burgeoning beatmaker fLako—a…
Continue Reading…
Since graduating from college last year, musician Will Epstein has kept a low profile despite assembling an impressive resume. Born and raised in NYC’s TriBeCa neighborhood, Epstein went on to study electronic music at Brown University,…
Continue Reading…
Eight years ago, the NASA space probe Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was fitted with the largest and most powerful camera (more commonly known as the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or ); return…
Continue Reading…
Two years ago, composer Nico Muhly premiered his first full-scale opera with London’s English National Opera. The critically acclaimed work, entitled “Two Boys,” also became a commercial success, and…
Continue Reading…
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
