Eye Magazine

You work as part of a big, mainly digital agency, but you have always been involved in public-spirited projects in support of the design community, such as Typeradio, your ‘agony aunt’ column Letters to Love Liza, the Instagram account Books Love Liza and now DEMO, the Design
in Motion festival. Why do you do this?

I do Typeradio because I love to ask questions. I am curious – and I have had that since I was a child. I used to make ‘pretend radio’, so when the chance came by, I had to do it. With DEMO it’s exciting that we can share the work, find a voice for everyone and share it in a public space. In a way, this is also part of my role in the studio – directing and guiding the other designers without preconceptions and preconditions.

But I guess the underlining idea with anything I do, whether I work with designers in the studio, or on DEMO or Typeradio, is really about exposing and showing the best of design to a bigger public. With DEMO I saw the potential of outdoor media and simultaneously realised that we see so much beautiful work in a very isolated way. It came from the urge to put the two together.

Has Typeradio advanced (or changed) your understanding of design and typography?

I think it definitely made me appreciate type designers – I admire anyone who chooses to take this path. It’s an example of extreme dedication. Typeradio is more about the person than the work itself.

These extra activities must have been very time-consuming. Have you ever had moments when you wished you had done something different?

If you enjoy what you are doing time is irrelevant. I am also completely convinced that time does not exist, though not everyone shares this opinion. It’s the only way I can explain why one day feels short and the next too long.

And while we’re talking about Typeradio, do you have any rituals?

Ha ha. I enter a plane with my right foot. I need to put everything in order before I start any task – whether it’s to have breakfast or start working. I don’t wear colour – I am convinced it will bring me bad luck.

While talking to other designers for this issue, several have touched on concerns such as mental health, the lack of diversity within design, climate change …

Almost every conversation or concern you listed has come up in the last few years between friends and colleagues. Most topics are not only designer ‘issues’ but topics that reflect our current state. We don’t all, though, collectively share the same concerns. We have all been living in our own centre of the universe, and what is important to one person seems irrelevant to another.

It might feel like we are all taking action to save the planet but in some countries this is hardly a priority when basic human needs and rights are in question. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the world feels (and acts) more united. This may be a trigger in the future for how we can be more unified in addressing issues and actually achieve results as a world collective. Designers have the power to design and communicate messages in the most effective way.

How did DEMO come about, and how did you make it happen?

The idea started in October 2017 when Studio Dumbar took part in a poster exhibition. We are increasingly digital, apart from some posters, like the ones we do for the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. We had the idea for a more ‘organic’ exhibition, to show motion graphics work, some of which goes into these OOH [out of home] terminals, but also the sort of work you never see – including experiments outside client work – unless it’s on Instagram. We thought it would be great to do an exhibition not just for other designers, but in a public space like a railway station. If you do something like this in a gallery space, it’s still just speaking to your peers. Our partnership with Exterion Media was crucial to the success of the project. It began when Art Directors Club Netherlands asked me to give a talk to advertising agencies that worked on OOH installations and I realised that much of the work you see on these screens doesn’t consider the public space or the medium itself: what you see on your mobile is repeated on OOH. Yet designers and advertisers can really influence our environment. As Willem Sandberg [see Eye 25] said: ‘Look at your city and where you put your advertising.’

The presentation highlighted how important OOH screens are in our society and how they make up the visual fabric of a city. It included inspiring examples of how to make a difference. In the audience were two people from Exterion, who said they would like to talk further with us. So we asked them if they would like to get involved in the idea of a festival, and they said ‘yes’. It’s not that current-day moving adverts are badly done. But the medium needs to mature. In one of my talks about design I say that you need to be aware of the context. You can’t design the same thing for your phone that you put into the city. It is possible to find better
ways to communicate if we approach these screens differently. It could be art, as in Times Square with artists such as Barbara Kruger and Rafaël Rozendaal.

Did DEMO meet your expectations?

Yes, there was an unbelievable response from everyone who participated.

Has it helped create a community?

The community was already there. What DEMO did was give it a public platform and inspire more designers to take their next steps in motion, which is why we also invited art schools to participate.

What gave you the greatest satisfaction?

The day itself when all the screens switched from advertising to motion design and the impact it had on the station and our surroundings. No advertising for 24 hours in one of the Netherlands’ busiest hubs was impressive. We were overwhelmed and honoured that so many people travelled from abroad (as far as Brazil and Japan) to see the festival and we finally met heroes we only knew via Instagram.

Did anything surprise you about the experience?

What struck us was that the dynamics of the station changed – people were standing still watching OOH screens instead of running to catch trains.

What are your ambitions for the future of the DEMO festival?

Our hope is to make this a sustainable and recurring festival that we can organise in different parts of the world.

Design in Motion Festival
On Thursday 7 November 2019 the 80 screens normally used for OOH (out of home) advertising in Amsterdam Central Station displayed no advertisements for a continuous 24-hour period. Instead they showed motion work by designers from around the world for the first DEMO (Design in Motion Festival). DEMO was made possible by a partnership with OOH company, Exterion Media.

The curators – Studio Dumbar creative director Liza Enebeis, plus Dutch interdisciplinary designer Koos Breen and Swiss motion designer Xavier Monney – invited students, studios and motion designers worldwide to submit their work.

They selected the best examples – 400 works out of 2738 entries from 70 countries – to display on Exterion’s screens. In addition, the Dumbar team organised talks about motion design at the station’s Royal Waiting Room and set up a DEMO info kiosk next to Lil’ Amsterdam. DEMO’s intention was to show good work in a constantly changing festival experience witnessed by both invited guests and passers-by. Photos by Aad Hoogendoorn for DEMO.

John L. Walters, editor of Eye, London

First published in Eye no. 100 vol. 25, 2020