How can a sense of empathy make you a better designer?

Empathy is an essential aspect of working as a designer in publishing

As visual editor of The New York Times, Tracy Ma has worked on all sorts of projects. She’s known for her witty take on communicating ideas, and in the past this has taken the form of “something fluffy” where the reader can pet a dog on screen for example, or more directly, a step-by-step article complete with diagrams on how to make your own face mask.

Kicking off October’s event, Tracy joined us from New York to talk us through how she taps into the visual language of today to communicate ideas. First things first, she introduced herself with a whistle stop tour of an impressive career to date; how she cut her teeth as deputy creative director at Bloomberg Businessweek and how that, in turn, caused her to question what an editorial package really is, and how a designer can contribute to this.

Having worked extensively in both physical and digital publishing, over time Tracy has discerned how to evoke an emotive experience for the reader through an article’s layout. “In my industry people are always going on about meaningful storytelling,” she explained on the niche clichés of the publishing design world. But with this in mind, the designer took us through how she has carved her own unique spin as visual editor. For Tracy, there isn’t one correct formula to successfully “editorially package” an article. She took us through example after example of different articles which demonstrate this. Articles which do much more than “decorate text with words”, as she put it.

Throughout the talk, Tracy treated us to nuggets of valuable advice, touching on how not everything a designer creates has to be groundbreaking, and coming toward the end of the talk, exploring the differences between designing for print or for web. By the end of the whirlwind talk that revealed the behind-the-scenes magic that goes into a New York Times interactive article, it seemed Tracy has her medium nailed to a tee. And despite an endlessly interesting portfolio that we could go on and on about, significantly, Tracy ended her talk by returning back to the reader’s needs: “I think empathy with the reader is something I’m still developing and is a skill you have to learn.”

At what point is a deconstructed animal still recognisable?

Creative polymath Lucas Zanotto may have come from a product design background but now, to the delight of his thousands of followers, does much much more. A graphic designer, animator, director and filmmaker, the Helsinki-based creative works with a myriad of brands – not to mention his own initiative Yatatoy which makes playful tools to inspire kids – in a multitude of interdisciplinary projects.

In the first couple of minutes of the talk, he showed the audience an ad which demonstrates signature techniques he likes to employ. More namely, in camera and mixed media tricks which cleverly create hypnotic, light hearted scenes. His work has taken several different forms (kinetic sculptures, animated characters, endlessly soothing loops, even giant rocks with friendly pairs of eyes) but all in all, despite this variety of medium, Lucas’ work is consistently heartwarming and joyful to view. If you watch the talk when it’s released next week, you’ll see what we mean.

Taking us through his creative development from 2D to 3D, which has swivels back and forth a wee bit throughout his career, Lucas also discussed how his characters have developed over time. At what point is a deconstructed animal still recognisable to the viewer? Can we feel empathy for an everyday object adorned with eyes? Exploring these talking points throughout his talk, it’s no wonder that members of the general public thank Lucas for his soothing creations that he puts out into the world. “People thank me,” he said on the matter, “mainly people with anxiety of panic attacks and they come back to the account to just relax… It’s just positivity and I really enjoy it.”

Folklore, mysticism and the arcane meets a colourful psychedelic twist

Sophy Hollington likes to do things a little differently when it comes to Lino cutting, albeit this may be a horror to traditionalists. During the penultimate talk at Nicer Tuesdays, the esteemed Brighton-based illustrator took us through how she got into the medium she is so well known for today, and a couple of significant projects along the way. Having distinguished her own contemporary way of attacking the Lino print process (including a wooden spoon and lots of Photoshop) Sophy showcased some of the intriguing influences that make her striking print-based practice so unique.

Despite the limitations of the medium, Sophy’s work appears in a variety of forms from album artwork to book covers. Notably, back in July, she was commissioned by The New York Times to creatively unify its issue. Taking us through the topical issue which explores the Black Death of the 14th century against the backdrop of the Coronavirus epidemic, the illustrator explained how she connected the disparate subjects and time periods in the issue with her Lino cut emblems.

When it comes to Sophy’s personal works, folklore, mysticism and the arcane are equal inspirations. It was this distinctive nod so evidently aesthetic in her work that’s attracted the likes of The New York Times to her. That being said, as Sophy alluded in her Nicer Tuesdays talk, she’s “not stuck in the past”, injecting her illustrations with a colourful psychedelic pop to bring the ancient form of printing into today.

How similar are photography and choreography?

Luis Alberto Rodriguez’ fascination with the human body stretches far longer than his career as a photographer. Having started out as a dancer, he’s long had an appreciation for the physicality of movement, which he captures so effortlessly in his beautiful photography. In a Q&A with our very own editor Matt, as the evening drew to a close, the audience was enlightened to a captivating conversation detailing how the Berlin-based photographer made the move from dance to photography, and how, contrary to popular belief, the two aren’t that dissimilar. “The body is what I know,” he said, “it’s been my school, it’s what I know and what we all have in common.”

Luis took us through a few recent works – stark, black and white portraits always accentuating the subject’s particular gait – before introducing us to the significant body of work that is People of the Mud. Recently published in a new book, the series is a collaboration between the US-Dominican photographer and the communities of County Wexford in Ireland. Prior to making the series, Luis explained how he knew little of Ireland, let alone this small community.

Intrigued by the area’s cultural heritage shaped by industrial labour and the popular sport of hurling, in People of the Mud, Luis thoughtfully captures the coarse yet graceful physicality of the players. “I saw there was a sense of intimacy and trust between the players that was built through many years,” Luis told Matt, and honing in on that sense of trust and community, Luis’ time in Ireland shooting People of the Mud is a tale you won’t want to miss out on.