Art Bag for ART Mag
When ART Magazine invited me to create a design for a to bag, I was eager to make an art historical reference.
The specifications for the bag design made me think of Kasimir Malevich’s Black Square right away: the maximum size was 30 x 30 centimeters and it could not be too detailed in order to avoid problems with screen printing on the rather coarse fabric. Also, the magazine’s logo was supposed to appear in the design. 30 x 30 centimeters of black space and the logo peeking out at the top – design can be so simple!
In reality, of course, the process of creating this design was much more complicated and the truth is: it was not my idea at all, but that of my partner, who is an art-interested historian by profession. She looked over my shoulder while I was drawing and said, »Why don’t you make a black square?« The fact that I now get all the money and all the fame for the design is probably just common practice in the history of art.
Photo: Alexandra Polina
Erwin & Keith?
Initially, ART magazine planned to produce just one tote bag. But the editors liked two of my designs so much that they simply decided to produce both. When I created the second design, I thought of art history again and imagined what a mashup of Erwin Wurm and Keith Haring would look like.
Project
Design for a tote bag
Format and Material
ca. 30 x 30 cm, screenprint on fabric
Year
2022
Client
ART Magazine
Photographer Alexandra Polina came by my studio and took the awesome photos.
Finally in ART Magazine
ART asked not only me, but three other artists to create bag designs for them. And then they introduced the four of us in a long article in their April issue. Am I an artist? I was never quite sure, but now I have proof!
The story has a backstory: many years ago, I was a freelance graphic designer at ART Magazine, doing layout. And a few years ago, when I had already started my own studio and specialized in lettering, I designed two covers for the magazine. Still, I never thought that my work would be a subject in the magazine.
To be honest: I didn’t even read the article, things like that are way too exciting for me!
Convoluted? My life doesn’t seem that convoluted to me …