Take Five with...
Sue Murphy, Senior Designer / Art Director, Wolff Olins New York
What is the most unusual project you’ve ever worked on?
Each project I work on is different, which is thrilling and also head-wrecking at times. The most unusual is probably the last project I worked on while I was at Ogilvy, which was creating music out of tennis data for IBM. The entire project was unusual, from being on calls with musicians I’ve always loved (and ending up collaborating with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem), to working on a bajillion touch-points. It’s an uncomfortable process striving to do work that’s never been done, however the outcome is always worth it. Or so I say to myself when I find a grey hair 😉
Who is your creative hero?
I admire people who’ve made their own path, whom you have a hard time describing what they do. Aaron Koblin is a huge inspiration to me, if I had created one of his projects I’d die happy, but every single thing he does is stellar. I particularly love ‘Unnumbered Sparks’, a stunning interactive sculpture that hung in the sky in Vancouver. An two-thumbs-up example of a beautiful integration of technology and tactility.
What would you do with a spare €100?
I’d buy a decent VR headset. I recently tried out a VR headset in the Samsung Living Atelier (Samsung’s new concept retail store) in the Meatpacking District in New York and it was mind blowing. I can’t wait to work on a VR project, with a medium so new it’s exciting because the rules haven’t been established yet.
What piece of work do you wish you had created?
Man vs Machine’s on air identity for More 4 (http://mvsm.com/project/more4). It still gives me goosebumps when I see it. Every single piece of the work is incredibly considered. Everything from the branding (that color palette, swoon), to the delightful sound design and how they took it a step further and brought the pieces to life in the real world. I wish I’d been a fly on the wall for the process of the project. It’s timeless.
What’s your soundtrack?
I create monthly playlists, I’ve been doing this for a number of years and it’d fantastic to go back through them because I get a sense of the mood of the projects I’ve been working on and what time it was in the year. When I really need to focus I’ll often listen to one song on repeat, that way I don’t get distracted by swapping songs and different lyrics, it acts as white noise while still keeping me motivated. I also create mood playlists specific to projects, if I’m kicking off on a project this helps to set the scene in the early stages. Then it’s a handy little resource to have when I need tracks for videos for the project.
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