Thinking about the journey from initial idea to the finished piece, which moments had the deepest impact on the project and what made you realise those changes had to happen?

Starting with the initial idea that reflects the dialog with the client, the main challenge is scaling down to reasonable production and materialisation costs. During the process, the moment with the deepest impact on the outcome can sometimes be adjusting the production cost within the client’s budget.

Trust and dialogue within collaborations is key. During our process, every time we start by reevaluating our skills and what could be valuable for the project. This means we can push our technical and conceptual boundaries every time, delivering fresh graphic and conceptual results. The level of complexity that comes with some projects can push us beyond our comfort zone, but simple and playful projects can do that too.

When designing for a book as an object, what were the material or tactile decisions (paper stock, binding structure, format) that made the difference between something “nice” and something you believe will last?

Designing the Soft Migraine by The Lake book mainly consisted in choosing materials and binding methods to reflect a classic school notebook and Miruna Radovici’s artistic practice. The overall aesthetic and feel of the book carries the nostalgic yet fresh view of the artist upon her world.

The visual impact is the informal factor in the design language used in the publication. All the design decisions were directly inspired by Miruna’s artistic practice and the selection of works that are present in the book. The rounded corners together with the pale pink and omega staples are expressing the soft universe the artist creates through her work.

The only “constraint” that we had since the beginning is the school note pad format, which later on became very beloved and practical also used in future publications with Miruna’s work.