Letterheads 2010

Puzle is an Melbourne based art director and long standing veteran of the local graffiti writing subculture.

He built his reputation as one of the city’s most dedicated writers in the late 80s to early 90s and has continued to be inspired by both typography in graffiti and graphic forms, opting for a diverse range of styles and process driven concepts and creative solutions.

As a writer and designer you are known for your considered and progressive approach to typography. Where do you see the technical evolution of type today? Is the envelope still being pushed, or is innovation being stifled in favor of trendy faux-naivety?

I think both technical and naive approaches have their place and are expressive in their own right and genre. They shouldn’t be compared as they already oppose each other. As for innovation, that really comes down to the individual. I’ve never really bought into the ‘it’s all been done before’ discussion.

How would you describe your personal writing style, and what does it express about you as an individual?

I like to work in groups of style and go through stages. I get bored of the same style over and over. Diversity of letter forms has always been with me from day one and it’s probably the only reason I’m still challenged by it.

Tell us about the stage you’re into right at this moment… What influences are you playing around with?

I just like doing what makes me feel good as I do it. My influences I’d put down to abstraction and constructivism combined with some kind of underlying graffiti and graphic style principles, if that makes any sense.

Where do you draw the line between discipline and experimentation when it comes to creative typography? How far can you take a style before it collapses into self-indulgence?

I probably don’t analyze it that much. I just do what I think does the letters justice and what looks cool aesthetically. Doing a piece is all about self indulgence.

Do you see instances of commercial design that possess the same magic that inspired you to be a writer, or does the world of graffiti contain a spirit that can never be replicated?

They share some creative disciplines but that’s about it. Freedom of expression and the act of lawless graffiti can never be replaced by a commercially driven agenda.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 1:00 am and is filed under _Z. Puzle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.