You have produced concert posters for a series of big-name musicians from the West like Thurston Moore, Dinosaur Jr., Franz Ferdinand, Sugarplum Fairy and maybe most prominently Deerhunter. What’s the story behind the Deerhunter collaboration?
Since the last cooperation of designing the playbill for deer hunter has been gives years ago,(2010), it means a lot to me cause it was the very first time that I had commission from foreign bands and this opportunity also brings out more collaboration with earwax who invites deer hunter performed in Taipei , Taiwan .
When I proposed the concept and the draft to the contact of deerhunter Taipei concert , they asked for more alternatives for the design and also the contact encouraged me : you are better than that! You can achieve something much more unique! , and this triggered my motivation for making other versions of the playbill. Time was limited , my design still needed to go through different negotiations In ten days which includes evaluation by the agency of deerhunter and printing production. Originally I thought the agency would choose the safest one of my designs from my point of view , to my surprise , they choosed the one featured a time capsule , and it’s also my favorite version.
Working with Musicians from Europe or the States, would you say that you are crossing a bridge through your artistic work or do you feel like you are moving in the same cultural matrix anyway?
Working for artists , I would study the design of their former album covers and also the style of their works as inspirations for my design, I think it’s kind of a process of that how I visualize my interpretation and perception of the collaborated artists.
Deerhunter’s sound has definitely been changing over the years. How much does change influence the conception of a new design?
The main reason would be the style of Deerhunter’s album. the one released in 2010 is filled with psychedelic, sickness atmosphere (even could be related drug-taking vibe), based on that impression, i design a special charater for “Deerhunter” which is formed by the contour made of lines , and also i created the psychedelic vibe by using fluorescent colors baldly, and the key vision of the poster featured deer and target derives from the meaning of the name, DeerHunter.
The first poster featured a deer in crosshairs placed over a trippy purple type font. When we look at the artwork, we don’t know what will happen to the deer, but it seems like its days are numbered. This time a deer armada is flying away in little capsules. Where are the deer going?
『monomania』,this album gives me heart-breaking and tearing feelings, i hope i can visulize theses feeling onto my poster. i use time capsules as carriesrs for objects which have different meaning respectively, for example the time capsules represent psychedelic feelings and they also encapsulate raging deers, synthetics bred by Bradford Cox, and also the tadpoles signifies evolution. all theses capsules floating in the Univesre without intention and destination is for the sake of generating more surpassingly beautiful monsters.
What does your work process look like? How do you always come up with new ideas?
My work process might seem boring for you, i sit in front of my computer for hours, in order to make good work which i can be really satified with, i have slept in my studio for three days, not to mention how hard for me as a designer to have a regular diet…..my brain can’t stop thinking most of the time, i sieze all the free time observing things around me when i am away from work. i think the reason why i can propose many whimsical ideas for desiging is that i just have a restless mind. everything i encounter in my life could be my mateiral for work, and ideas in my mind is always greater, than practicing.
What are you plans for the future? Are there particular artists you want to work with or do you want to explore new forms of expression?
I hope i can design posters for more artists in the futre when i still have strength to tackle the tasks(designing is really exhausting)…i would like to experiment different mediums, forms for creating new poster like 3D poster will be my goal.
if i have a chance desiging the tour playbill for Broken Social Scene, i would be too excited to fall asleep, also, Arts & Crafts and DFA are my favorite record labels, i would love to design for them whether in goods, album or poster.