Twin brothers V/A/B on their “difficultly simple” approach to design

Date
21 July 2017

V/A/B is a collaboration between two 19-year old twin brothers, Victor and Arthur Brun. Specialising in an idyllic mixture of typography, design, painting and photography, the duo express their means of creativity in the most harmonious of manners. “We have always worked together; we have never wanted to separate because we’ve always made the same things, so the collaboration was logical for us,” Arthur explains. “At the moment, we do not only consider ourselves as graphic designers: we are young and we need to express ourselves through various means, in mediums such as paintings and photography. We like this relationship between these various disciplines.”

Their visual route takes a sharp and bold turn towards experimental design. “We consider the evolution of the subject through the printed size, such as how the subject can take another dimension,” Arthur says. “The impact of shape is essential — we like making things that are difficultly simple. The intensity and the structure that’s then given to the image creates another degree of reading. But in contrast, we also produce experimental subjects with a strict design.”

When discussing where exactly the team pull their inspiration from, Arthur remarks on their huge interest in “the intensity of the simple things.” V/A/B draws from the everyday, where simplicity is key. “We try to work on subjects that have no intellectual claim and aesthetic obsessions that concerns us in our everyday lives,” Arthur says. “We have a library full of books perfectly designed, but we have never succeeded to read one — they are too complex.” Their creative process also reflects this manner, with a classical outlook that shares one another’s strengths accordingly. “Victor has a more typographic approach — he can draw a character adapted to the subject and work on the manufacturing. I more or less prepare the weft of the concept and the templates, but it often happens that we mix things up. Everything depends on the affinity of each project. For the paint, it may be that one can draw the right eye of a face and the other one the left eye. It’s also similar with the design!”

So what is it like to work with a twin brother? “Working with your twin brother is really something, because you often share the same opinions and the communication is more sincere,” the pair say. "We say things more easily to each other, even when things are well or when they go badly. The negative point (even if we are complementary), is that we cannot benefit from an external point of view with a different cultural contribution. That is why we look for collaborations. When you work with your twin, there are even fights on the choice of a type!”

One of their latest projects, PSG, is a fine example of their artistic abilities and cultural awareness. PSG – The History of the Club_ is a book about the story of Paris Saint-Germain F.C from the ’70s to 2016. Inside there are highlights of every season and an experimental catalog of goodies,” says Arthur. “In France, soccer is certainly the most practised sport but it is culturally neglected. This is because it has a bad image; for some, this sport is a leisure of young people from the “districts” — as in those who prefer to play soccer that to find a job. This hatred is also due to the salaries which are associated with the players.”

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V/A/B: Arabia

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V/A/B: Arabia

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V/A/B: Arabia

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V/A/B: Arabia

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V/A/B: Arabia

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V/A/B: PSG

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V/A/B: PSG

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V/A/B: PSG

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V/A/B: PSG

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V/A/B: PSG

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About the Author

Ayla Angelos

Ayla is a London-based freelance writer, editor and consultant specialising in art, photography, design and culture. After joining It’s Nice That in 2017 as editorial assistant, she was interim online editor in 2022/2023 and continues to work with us on a freelance basis. She has written for i-D, Dazed, AnOther, WePresent, Port, Elephant and more, and she is also the managing editor of design magazine Anima. 

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