The Freelance Republic is pleased to present a rare interview with Willem Henri Lucas – the award winning Dutch Designer and Chair of the Design Media Arts Dept, UCLA.

Biography:

Willem Henri Lucas studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Arnhem in the Netherlands and did his post academic studies at the Sandberg institute (Rietveld Academy) in Amsterdam. From 1990 to 2002 he served as a professor and chair of the Utrecht School of the Arts’ Graphic Design department. He works for clients mostly based in the field of Culture and Art.

In 1998 he designed holiday postage stamps for the PTT (Dutch Post and telecom company). He won several book design awards in the Netherlands and the US. Primarily a book designer (exploring sensibility of printed matter; in material as well as content), Lucas is interested in addressing social issues and bringing design back ‘to the street,’ and ‘humanity’ back into design, encouraging future designers to be a valuable part of their communities. His body of work deals with issues of ‘war’ and ‘love’, and ‘the human condition.’

Interview conducted by Gareth Walsh, June 11th 2009, UCLA

Client — UCLA Design | Media Arts

Concept

This poster is the presentation of three fundamental classes in the Design | Media Arts program, Motion, Video 1, and Dynamic Typography. An undergraduate has to undergo these classes in order to fulfill their degree. As a result I started with a three column grid. I then went on to choose the colors Red, Green, and Blue because they are the three fundamental colors that make up video, the format which all these classes display their work. I then overlaid all of the shapes to get secondary colors Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, as well as the completed White shape. I finished the poster off with a Processing texture I created to focus the poster and give the poster a little more depth. The shape reminds me of a candle-light or a rocket ship so the rather tangential association was the moment of having an idea. When the lightbulb goes off in your head.

Client — Luckman Gallery

Concept

The poster explores each artists’ perspective on the meaning of the archive and how it transformed throughout the seminars. The imagery explores the use of space as the ultimate archive of past, present, future, and its change in meaning through how each artist understand their unique reality through their own personal ‘lenses’.

Concept

Client — Rebeca Méndez Design

Concept

The World Arts and Cultures Curriculum is unique in that there are two distinct tracks that students are set in. These tracks intertwine with one another to create a truly unique and fruitful collegiate undergraduate experience. The infographic describes this progression with unit numbers in the margins and descriptions within the body of the page. In the fold out students can also view a more common list of classes.

Client — Institute of East Asian Studies University of California, Berkeley

Synopsis

In the wake of the deadliest battle of the Pacific War, Okinawa was placed under American military occupation. With their land and communities devastated, Okinawans relied on the Americans for their very survival; herein began a complex and ambivalent relationship between the Okinawans and Americans.
Painting to Live, as told by Stanley Steinberg, is an intimate collection of art and photographs of these Americans and Okinawans connecting with their collective humanity through art.
Buy Now on Amazon $25.00

Client — UCLA Design | Media Arts

Concept

Self initiated project and collaboration by Nick Soni and Cayla McCrae to create a memorable keepsake for the 2008 graduates of the UCLA Design | Media Arts program.

Client — UCLA Design | Media Arts

Concept

The D|MA Summer Institute is designed for high school students who are interested in exploring their creative potential by using the most current software and working with trained and experienced instructors and professionals. Students not only develop pieces that can be submitted for applications to college but also earn two units of college credit for attending class. In a short time they will taste the excitement of being a part of a cutting edge department that will help motivate them during their last years of high school and prepare them for college life. At the end of class students will have the ability to create their own online portfolio that they can show to friends and family and use in high school and college arts admission applications. Students can also stay in the UCLA residence halls to fully experience campus life.
The design is informed by the different types of classes offered and are generated by one of the flagship offerings of the department, the Processing Language Environment. The brand results in literally being a sum of diverse parts all found with Design | Media Arts. Finally, the typography and color scheme reflect the light and exuberant rational behind creating this curriculum. This is a fun and informative summer program for high school students. 

Concept

Client — Rebeca Méndez Studio for MIT press

Concept

In Closer, Susan Kozel draws on live performance practice, digital technologies, and the philosophical approach of phenomenology. Trained in dance and philosophy, Kozel places the human body at the center of explorations of interactive interfaces, responsive systems, and affective computing, asking what can be discovered as we become closer to our computers—as they become extensions of our ways of thinking, moving, and touching.
Rebeca Méndez designer, assistant designer and production: Donnie Luu.