Concrete Nature is the studio of Clementine Carriere, with an output including design work, printed goods and experiences. The studio aims to collaborate with individuals, organisations and institutions on design projects across print, digital, and space. Alongside commissioned projects, Clementine also works on self-initiated projects across a range of platforms and disciplines from limited edition prints to publishing.
Concrete Nature revolves around the notions of sustainability, experimentation and collaboration. Sustainability is integral to the design process itself, and it leads Clementine to create considered design that positively impacts human experiences and the environment, even utilising paper stock made from algae.
So far, most of the self-initiated projects released through the studio have explored print, specifically Risograph printing. The projects focus on exploring compositions and colours in the context of illustrative and photographic work, with an emphasis on faux-CMYK.
Clementine studied in France, Ireland, and the UK. She completed a BA and MA in Visual Communication at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Nancy (FR), partook in an Erasmus exchange, and in 2012 completed an MA in Contemporary Typographic Media at LCC. After completing her studies, Clementine interned at a few places before starting to work as a junior designer in a London-based studio who worked for international clientele across the luxury and fashion industry. She decided to start freelancing in order to expand her skillset, and to work with a more broad range of studios and companies.
In September, she moved from London to Glasgow, and continued working as a freelancer whilst also focusing on self-initiated projects. Clementine fell in love with Risograph printing and started producing more work with it. “In 2020 I decided to finally launch the studio and take things to the next level, motivated by a desire to positively impact human experiences and the environment” says the designer.
Every project, be that commissioned or self-initiated, starts with research. Clementine states; “I focus my initial part of the research process around a first set of questions to develop a better understanding of what the project is about… The second part explores wider subjects and initial ideas. At this stage the goal is to discover new things and learn more about a range of elements to be able to start making connections between what I discover and what the project is about. For the third part, I focus on more precise elements based on the connections established in the previous phase.” The research process is generally followed by initial sketching, writing and collaging; “I start putting on paper all the things that have been happening in my mind and I start testing out ideas on paper”. It’s only once she’s got a plan mapped out, that Clementine will move on to using digital tools; “It always starts with putting words down before moving on to creating visuals”.
“Something I find fascinating about graphic design is the way in which it connects to other disciplines. Each project will focus on something specific and I do take a lot of inspiration from that. The content and the subject area of each project is my first source of inspiration. It hugely motivates the research and design process.“
Clementine particularly enjoys working on editorial and book design projects because she is interested in exploring further curatorial practices through the medium of print. “I’m obviously inspired by what’s happening in the design world, in typography and graphic design, but I’m also conscious about the fact that it’s necessary to look elsewhere too to avoid creating repetitive and sterile work” explains Clementine.
More generally, she inspired by her environment; “I tend to document things through photography, which means that I’m constantly building a personal library of textures, shapes, and colours, which I dig into it when looking for specific things depending on the projects I’m working on. Sometimes it also happens to be the thing that inspires me to start a specific project.”
Clementine will be releasing new prints in the upcoming year that further explore Risograph printing through illustrative and photographic work. She also hopes to create more zines and mini publications that investigate specific subjects in greater details, and put her editorial and book design skills to work. Clementine is looking forward to working on more curatorial practices next year through exhibition, physical, and digital experiences, exploring graphic design and typography in a more spatial dimension.
She concludes; “Collabs are a great way to push your own practice further, to discover new things and to expand your own world. It’s also important for me to use the studio as a platform to promote other voices and I would like to push more collaborative projects between the studio and other creatives.”
www.concretenature.store
@concretenaturestudio
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