Design Taxi

March 2009

Web Feature & Interview

Read article on Desing Taxi's site here.

TAXI >> Hello Sara! Glad to have you here with us, could you share with us what projects are you currently in the midst of working on now?

Sara>> And so very glad to be here! I just teamed up with a talented photographer friend of mine Steve Prue (http://teamrockstarimages.com/) to make some beautiful limited release pin-up girl prints.

Steve shot an image of fetish superstar Mosh (http://www.themoshroom.com/) and then based on that image I did an illustration.

We should be doing some more pin up starlet collaborations soon; more details to come here: www.zsostudio.com/zslog. In general I'm always keeping busy with digital portraits. They're my favorite.

TAXI >> What do you love about the design scene in New York?

Sara>> I feel like the design scene is very close knit in NYC due to the combo of technology and the actual physical closeness of everything in a metropolis. I can usually keep up with with my Google Reader and Twitter alone.

New York is a small town. Six degrees of separation?—It's more like one or two here. Someone you know always knows someone else to keep you in the loop.

There is always some exciting design related event here just a train ride away: AIGA Smalltalks, Comic Con, Apple Store Events, Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, and infinite gallery and museum openings to name a few.

A lot of of my friends are freelance, so when client work is all wrapped up, collaboration tends to happen naturally.

Mostly though I love being surrounded by people who love what they do. Passing up a more stable career with normal sleep cycles and a stable paycheck if not for love, then what for?

TAXI >> Music inspires art, and art inspires music, so what sort of music inspires you while you work on your pieces? What are you listening to now?

Sara>> Lately I've really been listening to a lot of metal and a lot of electronic—something with a pulse keeps me motivated with all those long hours at the computer.

A rhythm is essential when you have a long day at the office followed by a long night back at home with personal work.

Headphones are one of my most valuable tools! Some of my favorite music lately is: Anoraak , Digitalism , DNTL, Mogwai , Crystal Castles, Nine Inch Nails, Panda Bear, Brian Eno, Arovane, Apparat & Ellen Alien, B! Machine, Sasha, Ulrich Schnauss, Boards of Canada, Architecture in Helsinki, Rosetta, Isis, Battle of Mice

TAXI >> Share with us your greatest artistic influences and why you admire them?

Sara>> My favorite artists are split pretty evenly between artists who are very different from me and artists whose process is very similar.

The former tends to be artists whose final work is primarily purely digital or purely traditional (Alex Trochut, Guy Denning, Dan May, and Mijn Schatje).

I like to stay inspired by work that I could never dream of reproducing in the same way I am inspired by music or architecture.

It prevents me from falling in to the trap of imitation. At the same time, I stay motivated by artists and designers who work in my same process.

It's like "Hey, I can do that too!" The work that I feel I relate to more are people who combine digital and hand-made like Non-Format, Bison, KXX, Pomme Chan, Kozy & Dan, and Phil Dunne.

TAXI >> What do you think is the future of design, in 2020? And how do you think designers will be working then?

Sara>> I don't think it will be a lot different for print and fine artists. People have been saying print is dead for years, and maybe it is, there is always something special about holding the physical work in your hands.

The technology will get better of course, and I think it will make digital artists and designers a lot more efficient, but in terms of aesthetic, there is always going to be a place for the handmade, even if people are just scanning it in.

We're not robots—yet. People still need something they can relate to. I guess there's mounting nostalgic for more organic and handmade elements in the digital climate as things seem more and more ruled by computers.

In a decade the general public is going to be a lot smarter about reading and consuming design. Designers are going to have a lot more freedom with interactive design as technology improves and the audience gets more savvy about how to navigate interactive interfaces.

Sometimes too much freedom can be a bad thing too though. Looks, like we'll just have to wait and see.

TAXI >> Lastly, is it really tough getting a taxi in the 'City that Never Sleeps'?

Sara>> Nah, but why would you want to? You'll toss your cookies within 5 blocks. Stick to the train, I say. You guys should change your name to Design Subway.