Sam's lens

I have a silly amount of coffee-table books for someone who doesn’t own a coffee-table. But I flick through these if I’m ever in a creative lull. Even as a graphic designer I feel it’s very important to look for inspiration and stimulation outside of just “graphic design” inspiration, so most of these books are on other fields like fashion, film, even a beautiful one on 60s armchairs.

Eyeroll but there’s design in everything so I really do look everywhere. My camera roll is full of so many natural textures, random shapes or interesting ideas that I love to come back to. These range from snail trails, the grid tiled into a train station pillar, charity shop rugs, the delicacy of a dandelion, script fonts from the south of France, the colour blocking of some peeling signage. I’m always out of storage.

I know it’s such a cliche to name David Lynch as an inspiration from a creative but just sitting with his mind and a cigarette (I don’t even smoke) would honestly complete something in me. His truly singular voice has just remained endlessly inspiring throughout my creative journey. I wouldn’t even want to probe for any “meanings” to his films as I’m sure that would kill any conversation, I'd just love to soak up his meditative approach and presence, talk about textures, the uncanny and whatever else he drifts into.

In terms of a year let’s go with 2005, around the time he’d be in the thick of making “Inland Empire” - a gem the world’s still catching up to and a bit of a turning point that I’d feel like that would be the perfect time to pick at his brain and perspective.

I don’t even think it’s one of my “best” but a personal project that has stayed a favourite of mine was a project I did on The Child Artist. A few summers ago packing at my family home I found all these childhood photos, drawings and scraps that I’m forever indebted to mum for keeping. And some teary eyes soon turned into this small project. Part of this was crafting a workable font out of my childhood writings so pieces could be signed off by that child artist. 

There was this undercurrent thread to Picasso and his thoughts that “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”. It’s a project I’ve come back to quite a bit recently for comfort, especially with relocating. I hope to always keep that boy in gingham dungarees constantly photographed lying on the carpet sculpting with Play-Doh or scribbling with crayons now still at play.