studied graphic design at the university of
applied arts in vienna. in 1987 he moved to new york
to attended pratt institute on a fulbright scholarship.
‘sagmeister inc’. in 1994 he was nominated for a grammy
award for his album cover - 'h. p. zinker mountains of madness’.
related links:
http://www.sagmeister.com
The website for Sumit's new book posed new challenges to the artist in me. The brief was to produce a minimalist kitschy design which would reflect the essence of the book. I started off by reading the book thrice in three days. Then i took a break for a week and meditated on the content. I re-read the book three more times and then I realized that to really get intimate with this project I would need to imbibe the local flavors of India which infuse the work of Sumit Kumar. I decided to immerse myself and flew down to India.
I spent the first week in the holy city of Varanasi purifying my mind of western influences...getting ready to immerse myself into Sumit's context like I was immersing myself in the Ganges. Then I went to the capital city of Delhi, the city where Sumit grew up. To get a real feel I spent three weeks in the home of a middle-class family in Northwest Delhi. After those fulfilling three weeks, I had begun to get an understanding of Sumit's life and book...but no understanding of Sumit could be complete without understanding his college years spent in Amritsar. But I did not want to stay in a hotel in Amritsar...I needed the authentic experience of the boys hostels of GNDU.
To arrange for this, I reached out to my new-found acquaintance Hafeez (I'd met him at the American Diner at India Habitat Centre). Hafeez, through some contacts (as I found out everything can be done in India with the right contacts), arranged for a two week stay at the same hostel Sumit had stayed in. Surrounded by lewd boys in underwear, my understanding got deeper. I returned to Delhi, ready to start working on the design. I read the book one last time...and I realized...my ideas were still not complete. I had identified the correct palette and textures...but I needed some help on the basic underlying structure. I spent two harrowing weeks searching for a way out.
And then one day, when I was on the verge of just giving up and returning my advance to Sumit my phone rang. It was Hafeez...he was suggesting that we work together on a project sometime. And it struck me! Who better to realize the basic structure of my creation than an architect who came from the same context as Sumit! I convinced Hafeez to become a co-creator and Sumit to agree to this. And finally, the creation began to take form. It was a really satisfying assignment and I'm really please to have been able to do such a good job.
0 comments:
Post a Comment