“We all have a duty to the planet to behave with a conscience and to do the right thing. To question our motives and actions, and to be better citizens. Designers are in a unique position, in that we can both communicate positive messages and make decisions that have a better effect on the world.”

— Tony Brook

Interview by Dan Golden

Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1962, Tony Brook is primarily a designer, but also a publisher, collector, and curator. Brook founded SPIN, his south London based studio, in 1992. The studio is best known for the creation of innovative contemporary identities for an international clientele, and its work in print, motion and digital media has been featured in many blogs, books, magazines, and exhibitions.

In 2009, Tony established Unit Editions in partnership with Adrian Shaughnessy and Patricia Finegan, to publish books “by designers for designers.” Recent publications include monographs on Universal Everything, Vaughan Oliver, and Paula Scher.

A serious collector of graphic ephemera and posters, Tony was invited to curate the exhibition, Wim Crouwel—A Graphic Odyssey, a major retrospective of the Dutch master’s work at the Design Museum in London. Tony has also curated several self-initiated exhibitions.

Brook is currently a visiting professor in Graphic Design at the University for the Arts, a specialist arts university in the South East of England.

Dan Golden: I’d love to hear a bit about your background.

Tony Brook: I grew up in the countryside on the outskirts of Sowerby Bridge, a small town in the west riding of Yorkshire. After leaving school I attended an art foundation course in the nearest large town, Halifax, before leaving home to study illustration in Taunton, Somerset. After a short while, I realized that I wanted to be a designer, not an illustrator, and so I transferred to the design course.

After graduating I had a pretty grim year out of work before I got a lucky break. I had arranged to show my portfolio at a studio and as I got to the door, it swung open and a guy barged past me - telling the people inside what they could do with their job. Suddenly there was an unexpected space for me.

I was given a week’s work, this was followed by another week which developed, somehow, into years. I wasn’t doing the kind of work that I wanted to but I was so grateful to be employed that I just put any personal vision of design on hold, I got my head down and learned to be a professional designer.

What were some of the things that inspired you as you were coming up?

As a young kid, it was Egyptian hieroglyphs and Greek art, then as a teenager, I was completely obsessed by Leonardo da Vinci and then in turn, by Pablo Picasso. Being creative throughout my entire life, as they did, seems to me to be the ultimate goal.

I have always enjoyed reading. In my student years, it was the likes of Günter Grass (a wonderful, bizarre imagination), Evelyn Waugh (often bleak but a supremely elegant writer and very, very funny), Dorothy Parker (sharp, reductive, left-field and again hysterically funny). Record sleeves were always of interest, especially punk and post-punk graphics. I also love poetry and collect first editions.

As I found out more about graphic design and its history, I gravitated towards people like Karl Gerstner, Josef Muller Brockmann, Armin Hofmann, Mary Vieira, Wim Crouwel, Jan Van Toorn, Odermatt and Tissi, Herb Lubalin, FHK Henrion (his corporate identity work) and last but certainly not least Wolfgang Weingart.

Though I was challenged and inspired by these giants I have always had this punk ethos of trying very hard to be myself.

A selection of SPIN logo marks for various clients

How did SPIN studio form?

I couldn’t see a way forward in employment and so, with completely unfounded optimism and no prior experience whatsoever, in the middle of a deep recession SPIN took its first steps from a spare bedroom in Streatham, South London. The work wasn’t all that great to begin with, it was more about survival than any grand vision. A break for freedom.

How would you describe your/SPIN’s approach?

We try hard not to be slaves to our computers, we spend more and more time getting our hands dirty, bringing the analogue and digital together. If I tried to put a label on us I would say “humanist”. We like the idea of connecting with the viewer, of stimulating them and of making work that is effective and noticed.

I love the recent work you did with MUBI. Please tell me a bit about how that collaboration/project originated and the work you did with them.

We were introduced to Efe Çakarel the principal of MUBI and the man who’s brainchild it is, through a mutual friend Federico Gaggio. Efe was ambitious to take MUBI to the next level. He already had the quality of films he wanted, but the identity and visual language surrounding the content wasn’t really up to the job.

We developed the identity and created a flexible structure that gives MUBI a much stronger and distinctive presence. One that reflects the integrity and coherence of the MUBI approach to selecting their movies.

I read in an interview that at one point, SPIN had gotten pretty large, having taken on large international projects—and that you took a pause and restructured the studio. Can you talk about that time and decision?

Life can be something that happens to you - we expanded with no particular plan, clients got bigger, we got bigger. It was very stressful for me. I was forced away from design and dragged into management and art direction. Thinking and making is what makes me tick, so things had to change. We made the decision to revert to a much more manageable size.

We still take on large projects but we manage them differently. We concentrate on our strength, delivering the creative vision, and assemble the best people to collaborate with. It is a much more flexible and rewarding approach.

I would also say, and this sounds obvious but is worth remembering - it is really important to keep in touch with why you do what you do, and what you are looking to achieve as a designer. If you are truly involved, you don’t stop moving. I have a horrible mental image of what happens if I stop, I sometimes feel like I’m in a permanent state of revolution as I try to escape the metaphorical concrete boots of complacency.

How would you describe your work/life balance today?

I could be better at taking a break to be honest. The intersection or separation between work and life, or lack of it, is a question that I find really interesting. I’m pretty much always thinking of something that is “work” related or is something to do with making something, commissioned or not.

I also read that SPIN had moved studio spaces fairly recently—can you talk about the decision to relocate, and what the new space affords you versus the old?

Our old studio is nice, but a conventional studio space. We now work from a purpose-built studio at the end of our garden and the ground floor of our house. We live above the store.

I’ve always loved the Otl Aicher “Isny” model where, and this is my interpretation, the studio is an attempt to blur the (false) boundaries between “life” and “work”. But it is instead a place where you are able to live your life whilst working (a subtle but important distinction). We cook together, talk, laugh, make. We have all completely immersed ourselves in this new situation.

We even grow our own herbs and vegetables (they feature in our work sometimes). It is a much more creative space in every way.

Who are your partners at SPIN?

We are a relatively small team—Patricia Finegan, who co-founded SPIN with me, is the Managing Director. Claudia Klat is a partner and Design Director and then Jonathan Nielsen, Designer, and Edie Lippa, Studio Manager. We have a really fabulous, tight and focused team.

Can you walk me through a recent studio project?

One of my favourite SPIN projects has to be for the acclaimed British designer Matthew Hilton and his studio. I love the longevity of our relationship and we work well together. There is a huge amount of mutual respect.

He came to us many years ago wanting to change direction in his career. We had many wonderfully involved conversations (therapy sessions) about how he saw himself and where he wanted to go. This close connection is very important, you start to get a feel for how to progress the visual language, not through a formal brief but through immersion. Matthew wanted to develop as an independent designer, to create his own ranges of furniture and homeware. I love the way he has evolved creatively, he challenges us to be our best. We are currently working on a new website for him that reflects the next stage of his development. It is a very exciting proposition.

What is a typical week like for you and your team?

Monday is coffee, tea, and a planning meeting, then lunch together. Tuesday we go solo food-wise. Wednesday is usually devoted to Unit Editions, a publishing company we started with the design writer and educator, Adrian Shaughnessy. Thursday we have “Fryday”—which is a cooked breakfast we make and eat together and then we take turns at cooking vegetarian food for everyone on Friday. At 16:00 our intern(s) make tea and coffee.

In between the cooking we try to keep things as mixed as we can. By splitting up the day and working on a project in the morning and something else in the afternoon we stay mentally fresh.

As for how it feels, I would say we are intense, serious and engaged. But as a counterpoint, we have an almost childlike enthusiasm for making. The efficacy of what we make is important to us. We aren’t concerned with following trends, we are interested in making new possibilities. Graphic design can be conservative, self-referential and recipe-driven. We do everything we can to avoid this.

The atmosphere in the studio is a mixture of silent concentration and occasional outbursts of laughter and chat.

VINITE: Discovering Utopia—Lost Archives of Soviet Design, Unit Editions — *VINITE: Discovering Utopia—Lost Archives of Soviet Design*, Unit Editions

SPIN: 360º, Unit Editions — *SPIN: 360º*, Unit Editions

SPIN/Adventures in Typography 2 [Unit 36] — *SPIN/Adventures in Typography 2* [Unit 36]

Paula Scher: Works, Unit Edition — *Paula Scher: Works*, Unit Edition

How did you come up with the names “SPIN” and “Unit Editions”?

It’s a tricky business coming up with a name for a studio. Most of the names I came up with made me cringe—I remember filling a page of my Filofax (those were the days) with faintly embarrassing names that sounded superficially cool but meant nothing. So I started searching for something I could connect with. I was (and am) mad about Cricket, particularly spin bowling. This is an art that requires nerve, huge skill, strategy and perseverance so it certainly worked as a metaphor for the studio I hoped to create. Importantly I could imagine answering the phone and saying “Hello, Spin” without blushing, so it stuck.

The Unit Editions name came from the idea of each book is a separate unit that when put together, contributed to the creation of a bigger picture. At the time there were a plethora of books on graphic design that were basically “eye candy” with little real value. I was frustrated that a graphic designer could make the most glorious tomes on art, architecture and any other given subject, but when it came to books on graphic design, established publishers didn’t seem to have a clue how to approach this audience. At Unit Editions, we value design, the written word, and production equally. I’m especially happy that many of the books we’ve made have shone a light in places that might otherwise have been ignored and I believe our books have added to the discourse on design.

I’m curious to hear which artists/designers/writers/other creatives are on your radar right now.

Dieter Roth is really important to me, he was a creative force of nature, always surprising and challenging. Olafur Eliason is thought-provoking—I find him fascinating, he makes some interesting books too. I’m reading John Kennedy Toole’s Confederacy of Dunces at the moment and a lot of PG Wodehouse. They aren’t similar on the face of it but they both have a wonderfully wicked sense of humor and, they conjure up worlds with a beautiful economy of expression. We worked with MIT Professor Neri Oxman recently, which was an eye-opener. She set the kind of challenge we love. Working with her really stretched us.

Tell me more about what you did with Neri Oxman.

I initially met Neri through Design Indaba, the event held every year in South Africa. I arrived at the event quite late and had literally walked off the flight and onto the stage. I saw the last minute or so of her talk—it was so inspiring. I then followed her on stage for my talk (a pretty daunting ask). Fortunately, she could see a kindred spirit and she is a complete delight, and we really connected. After a hiatus of several months we received a call out of the blue from Wallpaper* magazine: would we like to work with them and Neri on her spot as guest editor of the magazine? It was an incredibly rewarding collaboration, a genuinely fun project that challenged us in so many ways. She was nothing but encouraging.

SPIN engages in a fair amount of self-initiated projects. How does that side of your practice relate to or inform your client-facing work?

Experimentation is fundamental to the studio. We make time to expand our visual vocabulary, through self-initiated projects. It has surprised us how many of our clients have been excited by the outcomes and it has resulted in some wonderful commissions.

We have plans to develop the self-initiated aspect of the studio further and have a number of initiatives underway.

On a more philosophical note, what do you see as the role of the designer?

When I began, it seemed to me at least, that there were clearly delineated career paths and sharply defined areas of expertise and you stuck to them. Things have changed. The lines have become blurred and in some cases disappeared altogether. I am a graphic designer and a publisher, I’m a curator and I have created work that has artistic (for want of a better word) qualities to it. My primary role is communication, quite often this is an artist’s remit too. We are often commissioned to undertake projects and are likely to make self-initiated work. What do I see myself as? I’m not as sure as I once was.

On the social side of design, we all have a duty to the planet to behave with a conscience and to do the right thing. To question our motives and actions, and to be better citizens. Designers are in a unique position, in that we can both communicate positive messages and make decisions that have a better effect on the world.

SPIN
UNIT EDITIONS