Interview: Universal Everything
24.11.09
Categories: Interviews, Studio Culture
by The Editors
Here’s another excerpt from Studio Culture. It’s an edited version of an interview with designer Matt Pyke. He talks about his studio Universal Everything, and his network of global collaborators.
Nokia 3G Video Ringtones
Matt Pyke is an example of a new breed of designer who works for major corporations – as well as other smaller entities – yet has none of the trappings of a large studio with a smart metropolitan address. Instead he produces a fizzing cocktail of commercial and art-based work from his custom-made studio in his garden in Sheffield, in the north of England. He does this with the assistance of a project manger (his sole employee) and a roster of designers, animators, coders and musicians from around the world. Pyke’s network of talent – with him at its centre – is living proof that the design studio no longer needs to conform to the old rigid formulae.
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Q: You worked for eight years for one of the most famous graphic design studios in the world – The Designers Republic. Was it there that you got the itch to start your own studio – or did you have the desire from the start?
A: I grew an itch over the eight years I was at TDR. In the first three years it was the best art school education I could have had – learning from my peers, insane deadlines, talking about music and not design, being given autonomy on entire projects from brief to delivery. The next three years was spent outgrowing square music sleeves, and I explored Flash, interactive and motion design. In my naivety I found unusual ways of achieving things. The final two years I felt constrained by the stylistic legacy of the studio, and what the public had began to expect, but this gave me the impetus to build my own universe-sized blank canvas.
Lovebytes 2006 Festival
Your studio has evolved into an unusual global collaborative entity. Was this your vision from the start, or did the vision evolve?
At the start I had a desire to explore everything – a dangerous vice, as it’s so easy to spread yourself too thinly. I wanted to resist becoming a manager, and desperate to avoid becoming pigeon-holed. Projects came in which were beyond my skill-set, and I began bringing in the amazing talent I had met over the years to assist me in the conception. This network began to grow in new fields with each diverse commission, and has now become a global roster of over 50 experts in everything from code and structural engineering to stop-motion and wood carving. Now we have a core of regular members, and a fulltime studio/project manager to ensure a well-managed creative environment for us and the clients.
So you’ve employed a studio/project manager. That’s a big step after working solo for so long, isn’t it?
As the projects became bigger, the production and management responsibilities grew in parallel. An increasing amount of energy was going into managing clients, collaborators, schedules and budgets – potentially at the expense of the creative focus. I learnt a huge amount from this hands on experience, but I knew that a professional could do the job far better. So I hired a superb studio/project manager, whose job is to ensure I am 100% focused on what I do best.
V&A Forever
How much money did you need to get going?
Laptop – £1500. Smartphone – £300. Programming of www.universal everything.com – £1500. I’ve always insisted on keeping the overheads low. The core studio was my laptop and a mobile phone. No office, no commute, no staff. This allowed me to take risks, such as unpaid in-house projects and gallery exhibitions. It also granted me the freedom of turning down unsuitable projects, even if they paid well.
How did you find your first clients?
I knew that wordy emails and in-depth websites are so inefficient for communicating an overview of a studio, I wanted to hit people with the diversity of my past in an instant. I emailed a one-sheet collage with 50 thumbnails of past work, which was sent to everyone who I could think of who knew interesting people. It was my viral six-degrees of separation theory.
History of Dance 90s for MTV
History of Dance 90s for MTV
What is your attitude to growth? Do you see a time when Universal Everything will have in-house designers?
We were approached by a much larger global agency who wanted to buy into our culture, it was tempting to gain that foundation but any resistance from us in growth would have been met by the needs of the agencies backers to make their investment grow, so we declined the offer. I’m opposed to the traditional model of expansion, gaining staff, and offices, therefore clients become needed just to keep it afloat. By keeping the core small and the network growing, we can shift into new directions quickly. I recently read some good advice: ‘Only do what only you can do’ – and have begun seeking an all-round senior designer, who can expand upon my initial creative direction and see projects through to completion. In theory this will free me up to focus on development of ideas, research projects, finding talent and finally starting to paint again.
Short film Onedreamrush
You work from a custom built studio in your garden – how important is it to separate home from studio?
It’s important to have a commute, whether its 25 metres or 30 miles – it’s a psychological airlock between home and workplace. It’s a very productive place, usually me alone, and time is planned to every half hour. I’m devoid of any distractions which helps me stick to the 9-5 regime I impose on my self. It’s equally as important to ignore work as it is to obsess about it – time away gives your mind clarity.
How do you maintain the balance between creativity and profitability?
As with most studios, we take on well-paid commercial projects with less creative freedom, from internal brand films and advertising campaigns to websites for management and property companies. These sorts of jobs are rarely mentioned but they underpin everyone’s creative foundation. These projects ‘buy’ us time, funding smaller, creative projects which give opportunity to grow in a new direction, or open up another audience to us. The studio is building up cash reserves which give us the confidence to keep taking risks, and having the luxury of choice in which clients to take on.
Nokia Heathrow Terminal 5
Manhattan Loft corporation website
You have a very good profile in the design and advertising world. How do you go about building and maintaining this?
When a project is complete, it’s essential to get the work out there selling itself – we send updates to press contacts, bloggers, and well connected clients. Our website uses Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, video podcasts and Flickr to seed our activities to online communities. Once things are out there, they keep the profile buoyant.
You’ve recently completed an interesting new DVD – Advanced Beauty. Is that part of this process?
Yes, the Advanced Beauty DVD was a method of releasing our collective thinking into the wild. 18 films – one video podcast per week for 18 weeks grew our profile as the project gained momentum. Now the concept of the project is in the public domain, we are keeping it alive by inviting new filmmakers to contribute working within the same parameters.
Lovebytes identity
How important are external advisors – accountants, etc.?
Accountants – essential for a birds-eye view of the studio. Business Development Advisors – essential for formulating and focusing on what we should really be aiming for. Older, wiser generation of designers – essential for retaining integrity and vision, without being seduced by the next big thing.
How would you define your studio’s culture today?
After the effort of encouraging maximum creativity for commercial clients, we have now reached a happy medium between the freedom of art and the realities of design. We have started generating and self-publishing our own in-house content, devoid of brand involvement. This is then often licensed to brands such as Nokia or Apple. It’s a healthy working method, in which we find the right homes and audiences for heartfelt work. Now larger clients trust us on bigger commissions, through us achieving unproven, ambitious projects with proven results such as a recent V&A commission to design and build a major installation for the museum. Our next aim is to develop gallery and public art commissions, the fewer steps between the creator and the audience, the more fulfilling it becomes. From a commercial side, we are now working with brands from the ground up, being part of their culture, and having the 360º vision for every medium they communicate in. But most of all, never stop exploring and evolving.
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The full-length version of this interview can be found in the book Studio Culture: the Secret Life of the Graphic Design Studio. Available here.
