Studio Dumbar on how it encourages its team to find their voices as designers

Words by It's Nice That, Tuesday 13 November 2018

Joining us from her home in Rotterdam for October’s Nicer Tuesdays was Liza Enebeis, creative director of the renowned Studio Dumbar.

Founded in 1977, Studio Dumbar currently consists of 19 creatives each experimentally pushing the way designers and audiences can interact with typography. The studio does this in its own work, but also as part of Dept, the leading digital network in Europe offering a full service in digital experiences.

Liza’s talk began by telling us a little about her character. The fact that she writes down “all of my processes” for instance, details of her podcast TypeRadio started 14 years ago (she’s a true veteran) and her large collection of books and hatred of libraries, “don’t give them [the books] back,” she says, “I’ve compared prices, it’s much cheaper…” Before leading on to tell the story of the designers at Studio Dumbar, through one particular project with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Working with the orchestra for the past 14 years, Studio Dumbar began with its logo and has continued with promotional material for the “classical orchestra but with a very contemporary image”. Each poster for the orchestra is designed by a different in-house designer at Studio Dumbar, encouraging and allowing each designer to “find your way of talking as designer… your signature”.

This was the studio’s approach until this year as the studio took its learnings in motion graphics to create digital posters to actually react to the sound the orchestra creates. You can see the results and the rest of Liza’s talk above.

Sponsorlogos2 — Dropbox

Dropbox Paper is a collaborative workspace that eliminates distractions that get in the way of creativity. Because you can work with all types of content – from video, to sound to code – in Paper, you and your collaborators can easily edit and discuss all aspects of your project in one centralised place.

Sponsorlogos — Adobe Stock

Keep your work fresh with Adobe Stock. No matter what project you’re working on, you can always find the perfect asset in the library of over 90 million high-quality images, graphics, videos, templates, and 3D assets plus our Premium and Editorial. Join them at Nicer Tuesdays to see what amazing things you can create with Adobe Stock. Click here

Nicer_tuesdays_park — Park Communications

As one of London’s most respected printers, Park Communications is known for its care, attention to detail and high quality, which is why we choose Park for Printed Pages.

Most Recent

More like this:

Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays New York’s DIA Studio on creating kinetic type inspired by jazz, physics and caterpillars

The final speaker at March’s Nicer Tuesdays was DIA Studio’s creative director Mitch Paone. Brooklyn-based DIA has cemented itself as the go-to studio for kinetic identity systems and type, and counts the likes of Squarespace, Nike and producer A-Trak as clients.

It's Nice That — 12 April 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Yumna Al-Arashi on representation, tokenism and the attitude-changing power of photography

Writer, photographer and filmmaker Yumna Al-Arashi treated the audience of March’s Nicer Tuesdays to a thought-provoking and nuanced discussion of representation in photography, while also presenting several of her projects which challenge and complicate stereotypes of Muslim women.

It's Nice That — 11 April 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Animator Caitlin McCarthy on her dark and gross “version of a teen romcom”, Coldsore

Self-taught creatives were on a roll at March’s Nicer Tuesdays – our second speaker, animator Caitlin McCarthy, only turned her hand to motion work just two years ago, after graduating from illustration at Camberwell College of Arts.

It's Nice That — 10 April 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Alexander Coggin on shooting the “hetero-Americana” of his husband’s family

At March’s Nicer Tuesdays, self-taught photographer Alexander Coggin immersed the audience in a world of golf clubs, endless summers and “hetero-Americana” via his project Brothers and Others, which documents his husband’s family with humour and tenderness on their yearly summer holiday in upstate Michigan.

It's Nice That — 09 April 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays Tickets are now available for Nicer Tuesdays April!

We are excited to announce the line-up for Nicer Tuesdays April which will be taking place, as ever, on the last Tuesday of the month – 30 April. It’s not one to be missed as we’ll be hearing from typographers Dinamo, art director and publisher Ben Ditto, painter Alice Tye, and director of photography Rina Yang.

It's Nice That — 02 April 2019
Regulars / Nicer Tuesdays March's Nicer Tuesdays proved just how exciting and diverse creativity can be

As is routine on the final Tuesday of every month, last night we gathered at Oval Space to listen to a line-up of inspiring, insightful and altogether enjoyable creative talks. We were in high spirits as, for the first time in a long time, it was still light when we arrived and, it’s safe to say, the evening only went up from there.

It's Nice That — 27 March 2019

Features / Miscellaneous We take a look back at the best stories of the year to date

The Easter weekend here in the UK has given us at It’s Nice That the chance to put our feet up for a few days, but we still want to provide you with your regular dose of creative ideas and inspiration. So we’ve decided to pull together some highlights from the year so far, including a handful of the most popular articles of 2019 and a few of the team’s favourites as well. From an in-depth study of the benefits of boredom (worth reading if you’re heading out of town to visit the family this weekend) to a story about Michael Bierut’s fresh identity for Mastercard, we’ve got all angles covered. There are even a few alpacas thrown in for good measure, courtesy of photographer Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek. Check out all this and more below.

It's Nice That — 18 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Atelier Brenda and Amélie Bakker create “squidgy” identity for Beursschouwburg

Squidgy, unicorn-coloured lettering, holographic foil and some hand-drawn illustrations that look like the inner workings of a particularly puzzled psyche – there’s a lot to love about Atelier Brenda’s identity for Beursschouwburg’s Spring programme Normal Schnormal. Working with Amélie Bakker, the Belgian studio has developed a “playful and abstract approach” for the Brussels cultural house’s programme of music, performance, art, screenings and talks, which aims to analyse, question and dismantle the idea of ‘normality’.

Laura Snoad — 18 April 2019
Work / Photography Thomas Pratt photographs the effects of religion, natural disaster and globalisation on an island community

I think you need a relationship with what you’re shooting in order to get something honest,” begins photographer Thomas Pratt. “To seek out things of interest and beauty.” Travelling to Long Island in the Bahamas in 2011 for a fishing trip, this is exactly what the London-born and based photographer discovered. The humble beginnings of a project that would last eight years and is still ongoing, Thomas found himself in the midst of the small local community, but more specifically, the Fox family.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 18 April 2019
Work / Photography Viacheslav Poliakov shoots the “folk-baroque-industrial mess” of Ukraine and Poland

Viacheslav Poliakov is a Ukrainian photographer deeply interested in the public spaces of small, provincial towns. What particularly excites him are objects and structures that seem to lack a conscious author, or have been created without concern for their visual appearance. “You can call it a melting pot, you can call it chaos, but here [in Ukraine] we live in a visually strong, vivid and uncontrolled space,” Viacheslav tells It’s Nice That. “There can be an abandoned Soviet factory used as pasture next to medieval castle turned into a warehouse, and that will be surrounded by a market made of cheap glossy colourful plastic, with a golden church on the left side and just empty area with mud and puddles on the right.”

Laura Snoad — 18 April 2019
Media Partnership / Advertising “Even bad pizza is kind of good”: Five life lessons from David Droga

David Droga knows a thing or two about one of the world’s more complex industries. A former Executive Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi in London, the Australian advertising superstar has been based in New York for just shy of two decades now, and back in 2006 he launched his own agency, Droga5.

David Droga — 18 April 2019
Sponsored / Events Join Cachetejack and Dropbox for a collaborative workshop at OFFF Barcelona

From 25-27 April, Barcelona is set to be taken over by creatives of all disciplines at annual conference, OFFF. Alongside the jam-packed line-up of speakers including Edel Rodriguez, Kelly Anna and Man vs Machine, Dropbox is running a series of workshops for attendees.

Sponsored Content — 18 April 2019

Work / Film Men of Maize explores the preservation of Mayan culture in Guatemala

The legend of Popol Vuh can be traced back through the generations of Guatemala, reaching back through its citizen’s ancestors rich Mayan culture. The creation story reveals how the first humans were made of corn and the story survives, to this day, as a reminder of the unbreakable bond that connects descendants of the Maya with the ancient rituals performed by their forefathers.

Jyni Ong — 18 April 2019
Work / Publication “The time just feels right”: Stuart Brumfitt and Mirko Borsche, editor and designer of The Face, on its relaunch

The Face is a magazine that needs little introduction. From a pale, red-eyed McQueen to a grinning, young Kate Moss to Kurt Cobain in a onesie, it produced some of the most recognisable imagery in the worlds of fashion and culture during the 1980s and 90s. Started by Nick Logan, the former editor of Smash Hits, The Face employed and worked with a team who, although trailblazers at the time, are now considered some of the biggest names in the creative industry.

Ruby Boddington — 17 April 2019
Work / Art Philip Gerald's lowbrow, crude paintings are a reflection of his views on the art world

I’ve always been fascinated with crappy digital aesthetics. I think my style is actually a direct response to my ability and maybe some of my views on art in general. I think art should be somewhat easy. You can try, or you can not try,” says artist Philip Gerald. “I chose not to try that hard because I didn’t know if I was going to keep painting. So, instead of trying to get better, I thought I should just lean into the fact that I wasn’t going to be blowing people out of the water with mad painting skills any time soon, or ever – I just wanted a reaction.”

Daniel Milroy Maher — 17 April 2019
Work / Photography Jack Davison delves into a world of miniature cityscapes in his latest shoot

It’s a monumental moment when a photographer gets to create a shoot they’ve been talking about for years. Though it happens rarely, when it does, it usually amounts to something rather special, as seen through Jack Davison’s latest shoot for Modern Weekly China. The It’s Nice That favourite, previously of Ones to Watch 2016 fame, has graced our screens many a time. His portfolio boasts brooding landscapes and sultry portraits, but most recently, a shoot inspired by old Japanese monster movie sets?!

Jyni Ong — 17 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Svyat Vishnyakov on the rebrand of AZ Museum in Moscow

In the heart of Moscow lies AZ Museum, a private museum founded in 2015 dedicated to one man’s collection of over 2000 works. The man is Anatoly Zverev, cofounder of the Russian Expressionism movement in the 60s and a member the non-conformist art movement; a retaliation from the idealised, socialist realism of the time. His extensive collections of unofficial Soviet artworks are now housed in the AZ Museum. Named after the founder’s initials, the museum and its collection represent the free movement of artistic expression under the rule of tyranny, and not wholly indifferent to the current political situation.

Jyni Ong — 17 April 2019
Work / Film Castells is a gripping short film about the Catalonian tradition of building human towers

Opening on a dramatic sunset over a mountain, London-based production company Autobahn’s new short documentary, Castells, is an emotionally-charged, beautifully shot depiction of a centuries-old Catalonian tradition. “We see films as a carrier of emotion, so many of our choices favour emotion over information,” explains Pedro de la Fuente, the studio’s co-founder. As a result, the film is full of mood and atmosphere, focussing on the breath-taking, nerve-racking spectacle that is a castell.

Ruby Boddington — 17 April 2019

Work / Illustration Ganmu's illustrations and animations look at the relationship between emotions and the objective world

Stark in their simplicity yet full of character, Ganmu’s work perfectly exemplifies the idea that, sometimes, less is more. Relatively anonymous settings and nondescript characters make up her subject matter, but the consistent aesthetic and reoccurring elements of her work evoke a sense of familiarity with the characters. We watch as they navigate seemingly quotidian situations, made comical by Ganmu’s subtle injection of humour, exaggerating boredom or intrigue.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 17 April 2019
Work / Animation Animator Matthieu Garcia Marin captures the longing and anxiety of coming out

When you’re a teen, telling someone you fancy them is hard enough but if you’re not even sure they’re queer, it’s a whole other level of trepidation. Are they going to laugh, or out you to your friends, or tell your parents? And if so, will all these people disown you? It’s a risk that in those formative years can seem insurmountable. Matthieu Garcia Marin’s animated short, Dissonance, captures all the longing, anxiety and loneliness of fancying the pants off someone from inside the closet – in just 60 seconds.

Laura Snoad — 17 April 2019
Work / Digital Max Colson satirises post-Brexit UK in a 3D-modelled animation

Brexit really has brought out the worst in people. The rhetoric spewed by certain right-wing politicians has allowed blatant racism to ooze out of hiding, revealing a cesspit of empire-loving xenophobes that wouldn’t know what makes Britain “Great” if it smacked them in their bland food-loving faces. But with that rather enormous caveat, it’s also been an utterly fascinating time for people-watching. If you’re interested in the idea of ‘Britishness’, like artist Max Colson, the past three years have been a revelation. Via nostalgia for a Britain of the past (in many cases a fictional country that never really existed), there’s a tonne of insight into the values, fears and neuroses motivating us Brits.

Laura Snoad — 16 April 2019
Partnership / Dropbox: Call for Collaboration Call For Collaboration: your chance to work with Actual Source on a series of graphic stamps

Call for Collaboration is an It’s Nice That x Dropbox Paper project connecting creatives from across the world to collaborate on fun, fully commissioned creative projects. Each month we’ll spotlight the projects on It’s Nice that and show how Dropbox Paper helps these great ideas come to life.

Lucy Bourton — 16 April 2019
Work / Illustration For Anete Melece “illustration is the easiest way to tell a visual story”

“I think that illustration is the easiest way to tell a visual story”, explains the Latvian illustrator Anete Melece. The prolific animator, illustrator and comics artist has produced an impressive roster of material in her career including the hailed short, Kiosks which she’s recently translated into a book of the same title published by Liels un Mazs meaning big and small.

Jyni Ong — 16 April 2019
Work / Photography Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek recreates the ingenious yet useless inventions of Chindōgu

Chindōgu is the art of inventing seemingly practical but ultimately useless gadgets to enhance everyday life. Popularised in Japan in the 90s by its creator, Kenji Kawakami, it was originally just a comical section that appeared in his monthly magazine, Mail Order Life. From fans attached to your chopsticks that cool your food before you eat it, to a Pritt Stick of butter that allows for easy application onto your toast, chindōgu is the perfect balance between ingenuity and absurdity.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 16 April 2019

Work / Photography Sasha Lytvyn explores how “you have to live in that moment in order to capture it”

Photographer Sasha Lytvyn approaches personal projects and commercial projects in exactly the same way, as long as he gets the freedom to do so. His long term collaborators at PlyKnits (a knitwear brand) allow him to artistically direct and photograph its latest campaigns as if it were Sasha’s personal work; the dream for any photographer working commercially.

Jyni Ong — 16 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Graphic designer Shao Nian's portfolio ranges from academic publishing to experimental magazines

Working across branding, publishing and editorial, graphic designer Shao Nian also co-founded Shanghai-based studio XYZ Lab, alongside his girlfriend Wanqing and close friend and former mentor, Lu Tao. With clientele ranging from prestigious academic publishers to emerging independent magazines, Shao Nian has a diverse portfolio that boasts a beautiful crossover of concept and aesthetic.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 16 April 2019
Features / Printed Pages When Work Becomes Play: What We Can Learn from the Bauhaus 100 Years On

This feature is taken from the AW18 issue of Printed Pages. For the issue’s cover story, we explore the enduring legacy of one of the most famous art and design schools in the world to understand what we can learn from it. We also sit down with Pentagram partner Sascha Lobe to find out about his work designing the identity for the Bauhaus archive. To get yourself a copy for £10, head to Company of Parrots.

Ruby Boddington — 16 April 2019
Work / Illustration Marcus Oakley's latest series is inspired by how mundanity influences our creative process

Graduating in 1996 from Camberwell College of Arts with a degree in fine art and graphic design, illustrator Marcus Oakley soon found himself in the studio of Paul Smith as a t-shirt and textile designer. Working across menswear, womenswear and children’s clothing, he designed “literally hundreds and hundreds” of items. Feeling that he had got everything out of the job that he could, in 2000 Marcus left and became a full-time illustrator. Since then, he has gone on to become one of the leading figures in his contemporary style of drawing. Showcasing a naive style that toys with colour and composition, Marcus’s work is charming, adaptable and accessible.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 15 April 2019
Work / Product Design Interaction Research Studio designs a pair of protective sunglasses... for puffins

The Interaction Research Studio, based at Goldsmiths University, has recently designed a pair of sunglasses… for puffins. The studio, which utilises “design-led methodologies to explore innovative technologies for everyday life,” has spent the past few months developing a pair of sunglasses for puffins to wear, not for the summer months that lie ahead, but for their protection all year round.

Lucy Bourton — 15 April 2019
Work / Illustration Seba Cestaro “adds eyes to everything” in his surreal 2D and 3D illustrations

“I usually add eyes to everything: people, furniture, pieces of clothes,” states illustrator Seba Cestaro on his signature aesthetic. “It has become a fundamental element of my illustrations as it gives personality to almost everything.” These exaggerated goggle-eyes have been a staple in the Buenos Aires-based illustrator’s work for some years now as seen in our post on him from last year. More recently, however, he’s been adding texture into his work which he feels “builds a much bigger impact on his audience.”

Jyni Ong — 15 April 2019

Work / Photography Bryan Thomas documents south Floridians memorialising loved ones lost to gun violence on T-shirts

Lavish Printing is a screen printing and embroidery shop in Miami, south Florida. Located inside Village Flea Market, a place where the neighbourhood can find jewellery, clothing, auto accessories and other assorted merchandise, Lavish Printing’s somewhat niche offering is actually similar to many shops in the area: merchandise memorialising lost loved ones.

Ruby Boddington — 15 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Design agency T&T&T's auction website lets you buy social media influencers' personal possessions

Talmor & Talmor & Talmor (T&T&T) is a New York-based creative consultancy and design agency founded in 2016. With work spanning a range of disciplines and areas including branding, creative direction, editorial, packaging and content creation, its most recent project doesn’t quite fit into any of these categories. The Social Media Memorabilia Auction House (SMMAH) is a fake auction site selling fake memorabilia pulled from the account of prominent social media influencers. A “sort of Planet Hollywood-meets-Sotheby’s-meets-Instagram-sponcon” project, SMMAH is intended as both “a form of satire” and a “homage to the wonderful world and industry of social media influencers”.

Daniel Milroy Maher — 15 April 2019
Work / Photography Irina Werning photographs the long-haired women of Argentina

Buenos Aires-based artist, Irina Werning, organises long hair competitions for her ongoing photography series Dear Long Hair. She travels around her native country of Argentina, exploring towns in the mountains, small villages in the rural countryside, and its major cities to find anonymous women to photograph. With their backs to the camera, exhibiting their beautiful sheaths of long dark hair, Irina attempts to decode why Argentinian woman keep their hair so long.

Jyni Ong — 15 April 2019
Work / Art Artist Katja Seib's surreal ongoing project is to paint the never-ending story in her head

While some stumble into their creative careers by accident, painter Katja Seib carved out her path early on. Working with oil on canvas, hessian or fabric, Katja paints in an instinctive and natural way, turning thoughts and mediations from her daily life into images with resonance.

Ruby Boddington — 15 April 2019
Work / Graphic Design Rejane Dal Bello on using graphic design to talk about hard topics in a joyful way

London-based Brazilian designer Rejane Dal Bello creates bold, typographic identity systems that aim to communicate complex ideas in their simplest form. So when we realised we hadn’t written about her for eight whole years, we knew it was time for a catch up.

Laura Snoad — 12 April 2019
Work / Animation Vernon James C. Manlapaz on his fantastical and truly believable animations

Vernon James C. Manlapaz is making work like no one else out there. Using 3D animation in his own unique way, the LA-based artist creates short magical videos which have garnered 150,000 followers on Instagram due to their mind-boggling reality. A giant clown fish swims across a lake as people on boats paddle by. Enormous fantastical hamburgers swivel on an axis above tables of a restaurant. Incredibly realistic, with lifelike shadows in all the right places, Vernon’s witty videos immerse us into a fantasy world, where life appears much more exciting filled with floating objects like oversized mutant cookies.

Jyni Ong — 12 April 2019