mike dempsey interview

mike dempsey interview

we recently spoke to british graphic designer mike dempsey about his work and influences.

DB: please could you tell us briefly about the evolution of your career?
MD: that would be a very long story, which started back in the 1960’s. I have written about it extensively on my blog.

DB: at what age did you decide you wanted to be a graphic designer?
MD: actually I always wanted to be an animator working for walt disney. that was my dream as an eight year old. I sent some of my drawings to the disney studios in LA and they replied telling me to keep up the good work (they were being kind). I stumbled on graphic design while studying calligraphy at evening classes. I was in the college library and came across josef muller-brockmann’s ‘the graphic artist and his design problems’. I was smitten by it and so began my journey.

english national opera logo

trafficking is torture logo

logo against sex trafficking new york city

DB: how would you describe your work to someone who hasn’t seen it before?
MD: understated, varied and surprising (hopefully).

DB: what is the attraction of designing identities for you?
MD: I like transforming disorder into order.

DB: given your experience are you able to finalize an identity much quicker or does it remain a matter of trial and error?
MD: to a certain extent, but thinking of the core idea is always unpredictable. it can happen in a flash or take agonizing weeks.

DB: what mistakes or ‘traps’ should a young designer avoid when working on an identity system?
MD: don’t create a graphic stranglehold. there should be certain givens to establish a familiarity for the audience. but there must always be elbowroom for creative expression. without it boredom and blandness can quickly set in.

poster for movember/ireland

book cover

book cover with die cut holes

poster for text gallery

DB: the work you produce is quite diverse, what are your thoughts on specialization vs generalization?
MD: some designers, especially here in the UK, are wedded to the swiss grid style and, although I can appreciate that, it does often engender a clinical feel lacking in humor or emotion. for some designers it is like a religion. I am not religious and like to have fun in my work.

DB: do you think it’s important for a graphic designer to be able to draw?
MD: no, but it helps. to draw means you look a lot. I am amazed at how many designers don’t bother to look. drawing is also a very useful universal language.

DB: how do you think the popularity of online design resources have influenced design being produced today?
MD: while an amazing resource it has made everything globally available 24/7. no more waiting for design annuals or magazines, it’s all put out there instantly. a consequence of this is a blurring of national design characteristics. those traditional geographical boarders have been broken down. 

book cover

poster for AIGA

poster for london design festival

royal designers 70th anniversary postcards with die cut

DB: besides design, what are you passionate about?
MD: I love theater. had I not been a designer I would have been an actor. it is such a wonderfully creative area. I did study the stanislavski method in my early sixties (a bit too old for a career move) and became so obsessed that I had to stop after two years, as it was beginning to take over my life and I was still in love with graphic. difficult to juggle two mistresses.

poster

postage stamps

DB: what is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
MD: don’t give up. always question.

DB: what is the worst piece of advice you have ever been given?
MD: ‘get a good trade behind you. you can always do that drawing stuff in your spare time’. so advised a careers officer back in 1959, as I was about to leave school aged fifteen. that advice lead me down a path of horrid jobs spanning a four-year period. it was only enrolling at an evening class one cold november evening in desperation that was to change my life.