Im Januar '08 hatte ich über tortoise designs
geschrieben, einer deutschen Plattform für sogenannte Skins, Dekofolien für allerlei technische Geräte des täglichen Bedarfs. Damals fand ich den Gedanken, sein eigenes Skindesign drucken lassen zu können, ansprechend, dachte später aber auch darüber nach, wie klasse es sein müsste, wenn man dem ganzen noch mehr
handmade einhauchte und Workshops zum Selberdrucken organisieren könnte.
Und dann habe ich Yudit und Chris von
zookimono kennen gelernt, die zwar keine Workshops machen, aber die Produktidee in echter Indie-Art umsetzen. In einem ehemaligen Bauernhaus in Frankreich findet sich die Druckwerkstatt des kleinen Labels, in der echte Kunst entsteht: handbedruckte Skins für Laptop, iPod & Co. mit Illustrationen handverlesener internationaler Illustratoren und Künstler.
Da hatte ich natürlich eine ganze Reihe Fragen, die mir die beiden geduldig beantwortet haben...
h2.0: Tell us a little about yourselves: What is your background, what influenced you to become the persons you are today, and how did you come to live in France?
Chris: In very short, I'm a native of California and an art school graduate from the UC system. I've been really influenced by the beginnings of the Internet revolution of the late nineties, I was introduced to the Mac in art school back when RAM was locked away in vaults and one could only dream of a 32mb upgrade (
I am not ashamed to say I once owned a 14.4k modem!).
Of course, how that all ended up in screen printing in France I'm still trying to figure out. I guess screen printing is just such a wonderful mix of analog and digital art techniques that joins my techy self and my handmade self. Each print is a new challenge, and that's what I love.
Yudit: What he said, except that I'm a Berlin native (born and raised, baby!) didn't go to art school and always hated that 14.4 modem.
h2.0: What is your business all about, and... is there a story to your brand name?
Chris: I had recently picked up and iPod on a trip back to the States and realised how much I loved the design for its form but found it plain and a little, well naked. Searching around for something to dress up my new iPod with, I couldn't find anything I really liked. Sports logos and baby kittens? Cover my iPod with a rubber? The idea occurred to me,
why couldn't vinyl skins be like miniature limited edition posters and thus make a real and worthy art print for digital devices?
I started researching the technical aspects of screen printing on vinyl and then began sourcing the materials, which was not at all easy. To conform to curves and be removable, it needed to be a very special vinyl, one that's otherwise used to wrap cars and therefore not readily available at an art or print supplier. We were amazed by our first tests on this vinyl, beautiful and intense color with a satiny mat finish, it looked nothing like ink-jet output. We decided to go ahead and then started contacting artists that we both personally liked and admired their work and just went from there.
The name
Zookimono is a little homage to my Japanese ancestry. We kinda made up our own spelling to the word
Tsukimono. Since the real word is actually written in Kanji I felt I had some artistic freedom with it. In Japanese it has the double meaning of something like an
indispensable fashion accessory and a curse, I thought that pretty much pertains to most digital gadgetry!
h2.0: I saw that you printed user instructions onto palette dividers thrifted from a local super market. How important is the idea of recycling at your print shop, and where do you reach the limits? And: handmade & recycling, a natural match?
Yudit: I think it's important
when you make stuff by hand that you try to think about everything creatively. Working on a small scale you really see what goes into making a product, what is wasted and where you can make changes and save both cost and material. Like you mentioned, we print the little user manuals on beverage dividers and to clean ink out of the screen we off-print onto our mailing envelopes. Our colors are mixed specifically for each artwork so leftover inks are all poured into a kind of similar-colors-melting-pot. Then you end up with something like lightpinkred or a blueishgreenish thing, we use those up to print little promo stickers and instructions as well. And as a final act of recycling you can peel off your Zookimono laptop skin when you want a new one and wrap it 'round your favorite dog-eared bed time story^^
Chris: I would only add that the cardboard we print the instructions on is conveniently wedged between the beer (
so you can imagine where the idea originated)!
h2.0: What sets ZookiMono apart from other skins/decal vendors (e.g. custom skin shops or other ready-made skins)?
Yudit: Our starting point is really that of making artist editions, that instead of hanging on your wall at home are decorating your mobile personal space.
The uniqueness of an artwork is something that gets lost in industrial reproduction. That's one of the reasons we print by hand, because it's kind of like making a new artwork by reproducing an original. Hand printing is never perfect, which makes each print a little different.
We just knew that there are more people like us who really love artists that make hand drawn and quirky work and that it deserves a bigger showcase. When you pop open your laptop you show off that artwork, other people get a chance to see it and maybe ask you about it. So you see,
Zookimono even promotes social interaction!
h2.0: How do you find designers whose artwork you feature in your (limited) sets, and how do you split the work process?
Chris: I'm intrigued by artists who use a witty, tongue-in-cheek humor in their work. I guess that's what often draws me to British illustrators. Of course the printing process also plays a role. We mix spot colors for every image we print, so we have a slight preference for bold graphical work over hyper-real rendering. I really like hand drawn illustration and character art. For example the new series we are working on includes work by
Sac Magique who is a good example of all those criteria I think.
When we team up with an artist we first discuss which kind of image would be best suited to the medium. We then go through color options and the constraints of shape and placement of the finished skin together. Before the artwork can be printed I take care of the technical stuff like color separations and other fine tuning.
h2.0: What inspires you?
Chris: Difficult to say, a lot really. I definitely have been inspired by people like
Seripop, whose screen printing creativity I really admire. I guess artwise anything with irony and humor, art that takes the piss, in other words!
Yudit: Many of the artists we collaborate with give me away as a fan of street art, the kind that plays with its surroundings and creates something unexpected. I like people who use different materials and whose characters interact with public spaces. Typography and lettering inspire me, too.
h2.0: If you could peek into the studio or office of someone - who would that be and why?
Chris: Have to say
Grayson Perry, probably because of what I said about taking the piss.
h2.0: Where can we find you on the web? And where can we find you in the real world out there?
Yudit: You can find us both on our website
Zookimono, and of course the usual suspects like
Twitter and
flickr.
We are looking into expanding into the real world in 2010. So if you have a shop or gallery and might be interested in carrying Zookimono stuff, by all means hit us up!
Chris: We can also be found at improbable times walking our dog!
h2.0: Words of indie wisdom -- if you could share one word of wisdom with beginning indiepreneurs/artists, what would that be?
Zookimono: Sleep. Because you won't get enough of it, but you need it, so make sure and get some of that once in a while.
Merci, Yudit and Chris, for your time and for letting us peek into your studio!
Produktphotos ©zookimono
Collage: handmade2.0
