I like nice people who make cool things. And Curtis Baigent is one of my favourites. He's a young New Zealand designer who just happens to also be an ADC Young Gun ifyadon'tmind. Not sure what
ADC Young Guns is? It's an international award that each year, identifies the new vanguard of creative talent from all over the world, across all creative disciplines, and based on portfolio - not single submission. In other words, it's a big deal and an honour, and last year
two New Zealand designers were so celebrated: Curtis, and the very most excellent Clem Devine.
In between his work as an art director, illustrator and animator (and an ADC appearance at the Paris Apple store), Curtis found time to answer some questions for us.
Have a watch of his reel, then read on...
How did you come to be a designer? I actually almost didn’t become a designer. I left college a year early to go to university and I had the option of pursuing art & design or computer science. I chose the safe and sensible path to prove to everyone that I was grown up and responsible. Computer science was ok. I liked it. A year and a half in however I had a professor who played Rökysopp’s music video Remind Me before each lecture to illustrate data flow within information systems. It struck me that I was infinitely more fascinated with the visuals than the overarching concept. I felt a bit fickle, but I made the change from doing something that I liked to something that I loved and moved over to study graphic design. The whole transition felt pretty precarious and I didn’t really know anything about the industry, just that I wanted to communicate in this way.
What media or creative discipline do you most enjoy working in and why? I’ve always worked across different mediums and disciplines but it wasn’t really until recently that I became aware of this. It sort of happened by mistake; I had meant to become a print designer. I think that this flexibility is what I most enjoy. It means that I’m free to express an idea in the most appropriate way. If an idea is best expressed as a 2D animation then I can do that. If it would be better as a live action shoot, sure, why not!
What have been your biggest career challenges or frustrations?
Working in France has been pretty hilarious and challenging. I currently speak the french of a 3 year old. There’s been a couple of long meetings where I understood close to nothing. Thank god for producers.
What advice would you give to others starting out? I found that when starting out I didn’t really have the kind of portfolio that I wanted. Chances are that the day job projects you get straight out of university aren’t all that cool, so doing and making things that inspire you is pretty important. I spent a lot of time working on music videos and making posters and illustrations for and with friends. Anything that gave me the opportunity to develop and explore the things that I was in to. I recently stumbled across a quote from the genius that is Wayne White. He said: “Do what you love. It will lead you to where you want to go”.
OK…tell us about the greatest experience of your career so far? So far? I was recently honored by the Art Directors Club as an ADC Young Gun! At the same time I had just made the move to Paris. Those two things in tandem were/are an incredible experience. It really felt like the whole world had just opened up to me.
Where do you go or what do you do to get inspiration flowing? It comes to me from everywhere really. I’m inspired by music, design, paintings, photography, films... I don’t know. My list would probably go on forever. More obtusely however; I tend to walk everywhere. It slows down the fast pace of life and allows me to take in the people and things that I may not ordinarily register. In particular I absolutely love people watching. There’s something so engaging about catching a snippet of a conversation as it passes you by. French cafes are excellent for this. Their outdoor tables face the street so you can people watch unashamedly.
What was the last thing that got you really creatively excited? I recently watched the AMC miniseries ‘The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks’ and fell in love with it. It’s so charming. Beautiful type & excellent writing. Totally worth watching the 3 episodes.
Tell us about a designer you admire...One of the contemporary designers I’m really digging at the moment is Australian Jonathan Zawada. He comes across as one of those guys who is 100% inspired every moment of every day. He works seamlessly across many different disciplines and annoyingly nails it every time.
What is your dream for your career – where would you like to take it? Oh, I’m not really sure, I mean, I’d like to keep following the same trajectory. I guess the important thing for me right now is exploring and trying new things. I hope that’s something i’ll never tire of. Specifically though, the fine arts and fashion worlds are both particularly alluring to me right now. The romantic in me would love to see my more mature self working almost exclusively in the fine arts realm and for selfish reasons I would love the pure aesthetic indulgence of fashion films. Actually, both of those are selfish.
What are you working on at the moment?I’m working on quite a number of things at the moment. The design & art direction for a new french band, direction of a live action title sequence for a TV show & a series of little mid century style animated titles. I‘m also working on a ridiculous textile design idea that I had. It may not ever see the light of day but it makes me laugh.
Show and Tell time. Can we have a jack nohi at your creative space please... When I moved to France I only brought a small suitcase with me. So I don’t really have any stuff and my work space is pretty reductive. Our tiny apartment however is on the 7th floor (sans elevator) and we’ve got a killer view across the top of the Picasso museum to the horizon. It’s a wonder I get anything done. Each of these photos were taken from the window in the first shot.
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