The people behind UNDESIGNED
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Insights, Culture, RAW
Who are you?
Hey, I am Norman! Nice to meet!
„Typeface lover. Gym addict. Coffee connoisseur. Print fetishist. I think that describes me best. “
What are your hobbies?
Hobbies? I don’t have free time. But I have a passion for speciality coffee, am addicted to the gym and the whole fitness lifestyle that comes with it. I love beautiful typography, graphic- and print design and photography.
But to be honest, I am a workaholic, checking my e-mails and slack 24/7 and browsing through typography and design inspirations the whole day. I love expressive typography and beautiful print design with a focus on premium material and finishing concepts. I just love design, I guess it’s my biggest hobby.
But to be honest, I am a workaholic, checking my e-mails and slack 24/7 and browsing through typography and design inspirations the whole day. I love expressive typography and beautiful print design with a focus on premium material and finishing concepts. I just love design, I guess it’s my biggest hobby.
What kind of music do you listen to?
I love all the stuff cercle is releasing. My most listened to artists are probably RY X, Monolink, Rüfüs du Sol, Nils Hoffmann.
What's your favorite drink?
Coffee. Coffee. Espresso. Coffee. Coffee.
What's your role at UNDESIGNED?
Designer. Wannabe Influencer. Photographer. Intern CEO.
I’ve founded the studio together with Davide. As a designer I am responsible for the brand strategy, concept, art direction & design projects in the office. I also do the photography work and manage our social media accounts, although I suck at it as you can see here. And of course I have to do all the business related work, controlling, project management and all that needs to be done when you’re a business owner…
I’ve founded the studio together with Davide. As a designer I am responsible for the brand strategy, concept, art direction & design projects in the office. I also do the photography work and manage our social media accounts, although I suck at it as you can see here. And of course I have to do all the business related work, controlling, project management and all that needs to be done when you’re a business owner…
What are the tools you can't live without?
I love Glyphs. Though it’s primarily used for typeface design I adjusted my whole process and now use it even for logodesign and more. Obviously Adobe CC with Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and Lightroom. A lot of paper samples. My cam. A sketchbook.
How does your typical day look like?
I wake up at 5.30am. Go to the gym. Check my mails. Walk to the office. Arrive in the studio at 9am.
Every day is different. Sometimes I work on a typeface design, finalize a logodesign, work on the concept of a new visual identity. In the morning it’s mostly hands on design work. As Davide joins the office a bit later it’s the time I can focus the most. We usually go somewhere to eat lunch between 1pm - 4pm and use it to discuss current tasks, business topics, new projects, etc.
After that obviously more design work and meetings. I like to use the evenings for internal stuff, be it working on our case studies, social media content, internal projects, typefaces we want to release or bigger side projects, like the fitness brand no days off® we recently launched with two friends. Ohh, definitely add some coffee breaks in between there. 4-5 espresso a day is a must.
Every day is different. Sometimes I work on a typeface design, finalize a logodesign, work on the concept of a new visual identity. In the morning it’s mostly hands on design work. As Davide joins the office a bit later it’s the time I can focus the most. We usually go somewhere to eat lunch between 1pm - 4pm and use it to discuss current tasks, business topics, new projects, etc.
After that obviously more design work and meetings. I like to use the evenings for internal stuff, be it working on our case studies, social media content, internal projects, typefaces we want to release or bigger side projects, like the fitness brand no days off® we recently launched with two friends. Ohh, definitely add some coffee breaks in between there. 4-5 espresso a day is a must.
What are you currently working on?
A lot. Internally it’s figuring out how to get better at social media and sharing knowledge. We had this on our list for a long time, so wish us luck that we get better at it.
We are also finalizing a new product that helps photographers to get a high quality visual identity and portfolio even with limited budget. It’s a very interesting project we are working on with Butz & Bürker, as we have the chance to use some soon to be launched paper stocks. More of that soon!
Currently we are in the roll out of a visual identity we created for an interior design studio and finalizing another one for a business coach. And our long term side project – finalizing our first retail typeface collection.
We are also finalizing a new product that helps photographers to get a high quality visual identity and portfolio even with limited budget. It’s a very interesting project we are working on with Butz & Bürker, as we have the chance to use some soon to be launched paper stocks. More of that soon!
Currently we are in the roll out of a visual identity we created for an interior design studio and finalizing another one for a business coach. And our long term side project – finalizing our first retail typeface collection.
What's your favourite part of a project?
Definitely the concept and design of a new visual identity, designing logotypes and typeface design in general. As I love analog design and paper it’s obvious that working on the paper and material concept, browsing through paper samples and defining the right print and finishing concepts is one of my favourite parts.
What's the worst part of your job?
To be honest, being a ceo. I would not go back, as the freedom of having your own studio is amazing. But as a creative all the organisation, the responsibilities and business side is pretty hard. I would love to be just a designer, but hey, it is how it is.
Any design heroes or people you look up to?
There are too much people I look up to. I love the work of Buero Borsche, Both, Order, Mucca & Violaine et Jérémy to name a few.
Any client you’d love to work with?
As a huge coffee nerd definitely a speciality cafe or roastery. Another dream would be working on a full identity system with a nice little restaurant. Or a beautiful print shop – Imagine playing around with all that different paper stocks, creating sample boxes and all of that. That would be so much fun. There are just too many things I would love to work on.
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