Interview: Michael Ciancio

Hi Michael, thanks for taking the time. Could you kick off with telling us something about yourself?
First off I want to say thanks to Fontanel for recognizing my work and asking me to participate.

This is the first time I’ve had to reflect on my work so one thing I can say is that I’ve just realized how shy I am in writing. I’m a young designer who’s studied at Maryland Institute College of Art, then worked at Hyperakt Design Group in Brooklyn, before eventually moving to Italy to accept a grant at Fabrica, the Benetton Group Communications Research Center. Let me quickly say that this was the best experience of my life.

_{Colors #72 (magazine) was an issue dedicated to the blind.}

Only a few have seen your work in The Netherlands throughout the years, can you tell a bit about your career?
My career, like myself, is extremely young. I’ve only been out of school for two years, and I think it’s important to keep that open mentality towards learning that you acquire at school for the rest of your life, especially this early in the game. Now I’m working at Wolff Olins where I learn new things every day.

_{Michael’s contribution to the “The New Hope” exhibition}

Can you explain something about the upcoming Flux Laboratory exposition with Hyperakt Design Group?
The guys at Hyperakt are great. Working with them right out of school was probably the best way to be introduced to the professional design world, and luckily we’ve kept close even after my travels. Deroy Peraza, creative director at Hyperakt, designed a poster supporting Barack Obama which was seen by Cynthia Odier, a representative of Flux Laboratory. She then in turn invited Deroy to curate a U.S Election themed show at Flux, which I was lucky to be invited to participate in. The show opens November 1 and runs until November 17. For more info, visit The New Hope

Your ‘English language’ poster got a lot of attention. Where did the idea came from? What do you think is so special about it?
Doing that poster showed me the sheer power of the Internet and modern day communication. It had been posted on one blog and within days, had appeared on so many others, most notably ilovetypography.com and Design Observer. I did that poster quickly on probably my second to last day at Fabrica, knowing I’d have limited access to a plotter once returned to the US. So in more or less words, it was an excuse for me to abuse the facilities at Fabrica before I left! But really, what the poster says is just something I had always thought while traveling Europe. There aren’t many diacritics in English, if any. If there are, they mostly borrowed from other languages. The color palette was inspired by common colors appearing in the flags of most European countries.

I’m really glad it’s being so well received and that people are relating so much to it. And for those of you who’ve requested prints of it, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you. Production is still in the works and they should be ready soon. Thanks for the love everyone.

_{based around the concept of a warped British picnic}

You’ve stayed in The Netherlands for a short time, what did you do here?
During my stay at Fabrica, I worked on a series of exhibitions called “You Are Here,” which essentially was a traveling Fabrica Features shop. Fabrica Features currently exists as permanent shops in Bologna, Lisbon, Hong Kong and Istanbul. The shops sell and promote the work of young Fabrica designers like myself. Under the art direction of Sam Baron, we took the shop to exhibition spaces, creating specific collections and temporary environments for each location.

_{based on the varied architecture seen in and around the city of Rotterdam. The type is made of windows from the city buildings.}

In Rotterdam, Sam Baron, Valentina Carretta and I took the second installment of “You Are Here” to Gallery Blaak 10, where the idea was to blur the boundaries between historic Dutch culture and contemporary Dutch, and in a broader sense, contemporary Western lifestyle.

_{This has more to do with the rapid construction happening in the city currently. The type is made out of cranes seen basically everywhere you look in Rotterdam.}

What’s the idea behind the You Are Here series? Why these four cities and will more cities be added to this list in the near future?
These cities were chosen in locations where Fabrica Features didn’t have a strong presence and we felt the overall design language of the products would do well. Originally introduced in Milan at the Salone del Mobile, the show then travelled in more of a retail format to Rotterdam, London and lastly Porto. I’d love to continue this series in the future. Sam, what do you think?

Which was your favorite to work on? Do you always have the urge to keep coming up with personal projects?
The “You Are Here” series was hardly a personal project. It was funded by Fabrica, art directed by Sam Baron, and designed alongside other Fabrica designers. Working on the London show at Beyond the Valley was the most rewarding. Natalie Ashman and Pia Knight, both British designers, were amazing to work with. We taught each other so much due to limited resources and support and yet we all felt it was the strongest of the series, given the circumstances. However with all the creative freedom you get at a place like Fabrica, these projects really start to become “personal,” and make them the most memorable.

You work at Wolff Olins in New York now. What does a common day look like over there? What do you like about working at Olins?
I work with some of the brightest people I’ve ever met, both in design and business strategy. I’m constantly learning from my superiors while being able to contribute to some great projects. It’s also quite an international office, something I thought i’d miss leaving Fabrica.

_{The Store for Tomorrow}
Not many people know much about the ‘Store of Tomorrow’ concept, which you are working on too, can you tell a bit about this?
The Store for Tomorrow was an environment set up to support Wolff Olins’concept ‘Brand Next’. The store was originally conceptualized at the company’s London office, where they invited 10 brands to participate. In both locations, the store supports the idea of brands as a platform for action and invites people to make transactions not with monetary currency, but with a commitment to an action. Each brand required a different commitment. For example, in New York, Nike+ required customers to commit to running a certain amount of miles a week before receiving a Nike+ running kit. All available transactions sold out in 40 minutes.

_{Walrus Magazine asked to create visual responses to the crisis in Darfur and compare it to the decadence of the west.}

Any new projects coming up, personal or at work?
A fellow MICA graduate, Meryl Stebel and I are starting a poster series for upcoming music shows in NY. I’m looking forward to working closely with an illustrator whose work I respect so much. My work at the New Hope Exhibition has to do with bipartisanship, and the necessity for the US government to find common ground.

Last word to our Dutch readers?
Keep in touch, thanks again, I love couch surfing, come see me in NY, and a special shout out to my favorite Dutch, Annechien van Litsenburg.

> Michael Ciancio