究竟現代科技為現今的設計工作室起了什麼樣的作用？ 第三集我們採訪了英國倫敦的Unit Editions，創辦人提到現代科技與實體書本並不衝突，人們可以很舒適地生活在兩者並存的環境裡。 這次介紹的W—E則是充分利用了現代科技的最好例子，兩位創辦人分別處於不同地點工作：Piera在瑞士蘇黎世、Claudine在美國紐約，兩個人橫跨了6個時區，依然合作得天衣無縫，這個優勢也讓她們得以服務來自全世界的客戶。
JT: Design Weekly interviewer
PW: Piera Wolf
JT: 工作室一開始怎麼成立的呢？
CE: 當我們第一次見面時，發現彼此其實有許多共通點（兩人生日也是同一天），相同到有一點瘋狂。之後我們發現我們曾經跟相同的人們在不同時間裡都合作過。當我們的友誼繼續進展後，我們發現我們的共同理想是創立一個小工作室，並且同時在紐約及蘇黎世運作。這是我們共同的的夢想。知道這件事後，我們馬上著手進行，一開始以兼職型態經營，因為這樣可以同時為一些之前認識的美國的小客戶工作著。
JT: 由於你們分隔兩地（紐約及蘇黎世），你們怎麼配合呢？
JT: How was the studio first founded ?
CE: When we first met back in 2016, we realized that we had many parallels and things in
common, it was almost a little creepy...We are born on the same date, we had been working
with a lot of the same people but at different times and the list goes on. As we developed our
friendships further, we discovered that we shared a dream of starting a smaller studio that works
both with New York and Europe. We started collaborating immediately, and we tried the shared
studio work on a part-time basis, which lead to what we are doing right now: working closely
with clients both in New York and Europe as W—E studio.
JT: Since now you are based in two different places, one in New York and one in Zurich,
how do you work as a studio?
PW: 其實在不同時區合作有一定的優勢，因為你基本上就含括了更廣闊的客戶：我們得以跟國際上的客戶合作，而且可以為客戶提供更廣泛的目標受眾。有時候這也蠻具有挑戰性的，但這是我們工作室其中一個目標，也就是連結空間與時間，並且透過將平面設計將拉近這些作品的距離。除此之外，我們非常相信連結性，原因跟我們各自的背景有關：Claudine是瑞典人，我是瑞士人，我們在紐約相遇。我們最近剛接到一個柏林的案子，而現在我們跟一個瑞典的客戶合作著，大部分我們的客戶都來自紐約以外的地區。
CE: 技術上來說，我們透過Google Meet，打給對方並且互相討論工作內容。這基本上就像是我們在對方旁邊工作著。我會透過Google Drive與Google Meet，它讓我們的距離更為縮短。而誰離客戶比較近就會有他/她的聯絡方式，所以我通常都跟紐約客戶會面，而Piera則是處理歐洲的客戶。
PW: 還有一件事我特別想分享，在年初的時候，我們也會一起旅行，也就是找機會跟對方待在同一個地方。這也是我們積極達到的目標之一，像是在紐約與蘇黎世以外的地方一起工作，不只是虛擬地一起工作，理想的話一年一次或兩次。同時，多虧現代科技，我們得以將空間與時間相互連結。這是我們在紐約這樣國際化及多元化的環境中學到的，也就是說，我們通常都跟來自全球各地的客戶工作。我們非常相信魔法的發生。
CE: 對的而且我們常常跟外包團隊合作，我們曾經跟日本的字型設計師合作、跟一個曾經住在柏林的人合作編碼、以及倫敦的插畫家合作。
PW: There’s actually some advantages of working in different time zones, because one can
cover a wider range of time; Work (almost) around the clock. Therefore we’re also able to
accommodate international clients and address a larger target audience. It can be challenging
at times, but one of our studio goals is to bridge time and space. We really believe in diversity,
connectivity and synergy while striving for the same goal as a team. That’s what happens when
a Swede (Claudine) and a Swiss (Piera) meet in a high energy environment such as New York
City. So far we have worked with clients in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, however our
clients are mostly based in New York, where our professional network is the strongest, as we
both established our career paths there.
CE: Technically speaking, we always work over Google Drive and Google Meet, where we have
our server, screen-share and talk. It’s almost as if we are working next to each other, and it
makes it easier to shorten the physical distance between us. The person who is located closest
to the client handles the direct client contact, so I meet with people in New York, and Piera
meets with people in Europe.
PW: All the above being said, we aim to be in the same physical space ideally once or twice per
year (alongside the virtual space), while trying to be conscious and aware of our carbon
footprint. One learning by living in an international and diverse environment such as New York is
being adaptable to work for clients from various backgrounds that located all over the globe,
thanks to the latest technologies. We strongly believe in making magic happen, while
connecting brilliant minds and creatives regardless their nationality and geographical location.
What’s the REAL space anyway, it all becomes a blur these days…
CE: In addition we sometimes collaborate on parts of projects by outsourcing people that we
know and have worked with in other places. Examples of that being a type designer in Japan, a
developer in Germany, and an illustrator in London.
JT: 所以我推測這的遠距經營模式對你們來說比一般人更為合理且平常囉？
CE: 沒錯，這就是未來趨勢。
PW: 而且你也同時在過程中學習著。在紐約你遇見許多厲害、神奇的人們，而紐約對他們來說只是人生旅程中的一部分，可能更長或更短，但你始終想要跟這些擁有厲害腦子跟創意的人合作。而對現在這個時代，這已經變成可能了。在這樣的國際村中一同匯集創意能量。
CE: 我也同意。並且小工作室有好處，也就是你可以跟你相信的人一同產出作品，不論是書籍或是策劃展覽。而這件事是我們雙方都極度同意的，我們應該要對他們產生的內容及作品有正面的態度，而這樣也讓事情進行得更順利。
PW: 其中一件事情，我們也很喜歡跟很有能力、充滿能量的女性創作家一起合作，這件事情絕對是我們想更鼓勵自己去參與的，因為這樣的合作再現今有很大的潛力在。舉例來說，這個為Oddo Body所做的案子，我們是專案的藝術指導，而這個品牌是女性導向、並有著清晰理念的內衣褲品牌：在意女人的身體並且重視健康。產品於日本製造，並且是非常美麗的產物，而其背後有著非常強烈的女性意識。而我們邀請來自柏林的攝影師Katja Wik一起合作，她自己也是一位女性主張非常強烈的攝影師，並總是透過強烈的風格，在美麗的作品中帶出情感。這又呼應了我們先前講的，我們一直嘗試著連結空間與時間：Katja在柏林，而我們的客戶則是在紐約。
JT: So I guess in terms of the working pattern of your studio, it’s feels like remote
communicating with clients is the common sense in every process for you.
CE: Exactly. This is the future.
PW: Agreed. And it’s based on trust. I believe this is a very important word for us. New York
brings people together that ride on the same wave length. For most this city is just one stop on
the journey. One learns to embrace that everything is constant flux and change, however people
you trust mean the world, even after they depart to the next homebase. Interconnectivity with
these unique people while striving for the same energy means growth for us in many aspects;
personal, professional and beyond.
CE: I completely agree, and that is one great benefit of working as a small studio. To collaborate
with people that you believe in, and value the work they produce, no matter the format. We both
feel strongly about being invested in the content that we are working with which ideally produces
work that lives on.
PW: One of the things we value and want to stay encouraged doing more often is to team up
with strong women. One example is the brand Oddo Body, where we did the art direction for
one of their campaigns. It’s a women≠run lingerie line with a clear mission statement: to create
conscious lingerie that cares about the natural female body and its health. A beautiful project,
produced in Japan, run by and for women. For this specific gig we brought on the photographer
Katja Wik, who is based in Berlin. She creates stunning work. Another example of trying to
bridge time and space: Katja is based in Berlin, the shoot took place in Spain and our client is
located in New York.
PW: 下一個我們想介紹的專案是為了柏林一間博物館中空間策展有關，這是一個駐村計畫叫Reinbeckhallen，而我們也跟這次的客戶合作過兩次。在這個專案中，我們要為這個Otro amanecer enel trópico’ 的團體展示展發展出識別設計系統；展覽本身是集結來自古巴的當代藝術家們與歐洲對話的作品。我們很喜歡的一點是：策展中，我們有機會碰觸到來自不同領域的人們，例如博物館館長、策展人、藝術家、企劃與動畫部門、製造業者、建築師等等...
CE: ‘Otro amanecer en el trópico’ 代表「熱帶中的另一個日升」，我們便以此出發去變換這個極簡的意義以及日升的動作，讓他同時動態又反映出藝術家們在不同媒材中創作的對話。
PW: The next project we’re introducing is an exhibition design identity for a museum space in
Berlin. It’s for the residency program of Reinbeckhallen; a client we’ve worked with twice so far.
We were asked to develop an exhibition identity design for the group show, ‘Otro amanecer en
el trópico’ , and it is showcasing contemporary artists from Cuba, in dialogue with Europe.
One fascinating aspect of museum exhibition design projects is that we get to tap into
multidisciplinary fields, e.g. collaborate with museum directors, curators, artists, content and
CE : ‘Otro amanecer en el trópico’ means ‘Another sunrise in the tropics’ so we were
playing with the simplification of the sunrise and its movement, making it dynamic while
reflecting the dialogue happening between artists that are working in a variety of formats.
PW: 最後，我們最新的作品是跟一間很重要的出版社合作出的一本建築書，工作成員有來自倫敦的插畫家、柏林主編以及來自紐約的作者，而此書也透過這樣的方式讓整個世界更為緊密連結。我們大概會在2019年的秋天分享這個作品給大家，屆時歡迎大家關注喔！
PW: Last but not least, our most current work is an architect book with an important publishing
house that brought the world closer together again; with the Illustrator based in London,
Managing Editor in Berlin, and Author in New York. We’ll most likely be able to share this latest
project in the fall 2019. Stay tuned.
Website W—E studio , Instagram: Claudine Eriksson and Piera Wolf