Epok Design was founded in 2009 in Paris (and since 2018, they have also been based in Rennes) by Marine Langenegger and Emanuele Fiori. Since its inception, the studio has been active in the creation of corporate identity and style guides, print and web media, and typography.
“We founded Epok design studio because right away we felt the need to combine our vision of graphic design and design under one roof. We created the studio on a whim, and it’s still going strong today,”
Marine is a graduate of the Architecture programme at the École Boulle in Paris, and Emanuele studied at the Bologna School of Fine Arts (Italy). These disparate courses of study come together in one vision, as they explain; “Architecture and the ‘structure’ (essential in the creative process, allowing the ‘foundations’ of the resulting work to be laid) is contrasted with purely visual creation (the result of painting, engraving and experimentation). These two starkly contrasting methods of creation are also complementary and allow us to explore the creative process in all its facets.”
In the studio, the duo have a very unique creative process. From the brief to the end of the project, they are always in dialogue and help each other constantly. Marine and Emanuele go back and forth, challenging each other rigorously in order to find the most suitable graphic design for each project they work on. “Everyone makes a contribution. It’s a real team effort!”
In recent years, the pair have witnessed an evolution in their work. Having mastered the techniques of DTP software over the years, they’re now turning more and more towards experimentation and reflecting on their graphic style by searching for new forms to apply to their projects.
“We feel the need to evolve to stay connected to the world around us. This desire is vital to breathe new life into our creations and align them with a more artistic and contemporary world.”
Emanuele and Marine are also interested in the idea of exploiting all the variables of a “free form in motion”; “In our opinion, a form (whether figurative or completely abstract) is always evolving. It is never limited to its own initial function, but evolves continuously. Our research centres on this concept. To take advantage of all the possibilities of this mutation and to fix in place the stages of formal transformation.”
To support their research, the pair believe it is important to absorb inspiration; “We’re always on the lookout, and we share mutual reference points within the studio”. For example, they describe the work of Vera Molnar as very inspirational. Emanuele states; “She is a pioneer in experimental computer and generative art and was one of the first to make use of a graphic language using the computer”. Similarly, the work of Ben F. Laposky and his oscilloscope also fascinates them; “With this instrument, the artist captures images through the waves, made static by the computer”. In addition to graphic design, Epok’s reference points also span the worlds of art, architecture, and music: from Marcel Duchamp to kinetic art, from the impressionists to the surrealists and their exquisite corpse (positioning chance as a creative process), taking in English subculture, alternative music, and French graphic design.
Emanuele and Marine give pride of place to printing and silkscreen. The duo work with many printers, including, not least, the Parisian silkscreen workshop Silium. “Thanks to this team’s fine work, we are able to push the silk-screening process to its limits. Through this technique and the efforts of the workshop, our creations take on another dimension.”
Over the past few years Epok’s online sales space for posters and silkscreen art prints has been growing with great success. These works are the fruit of their experiments, printed in limited editions, numbered and signed. Risograph prints are also available. Shop here.
www.epok-design.fr
@epok_design
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