Interview with Peter Sunna

Hi Peter, welcome to DC! Can you give us some information about yourself, just who is Peter Sunna? Thanks for having me! Well, I’m a 33-year-old Swede living in New York. I’ve been working as a designer for about ten years now. I’m married and have a cat called Burger. How did you come to migrate to New York from Sweden? Did your initial success have anything to do with it? It was nothing I had planned on really. After graduating from college in Stockholm I moved to London in early 2000 to pursue a career in design. I ended up staying for about two years before a friend of mine asked if I would be interested in working for JDK Design in Burlington, VT. This seemed like the most unexpected opportunity so I decided to go for it. Things worked out and next thing I know, I'm living in Vermont and learning how to snowboard. I spent about four years there before relocating to the company’s NYC office. That was in 2006 and I've been in NYC since. So, it took six years to get from Sweden to New York! Hardly a straight shot. That also sounds like I’ve reached the end destination, which I’m pretty sure is not the case. Storm - Visual identity and advertising for a club night As a Swedish designer, do you think your design style differs from American design? If yes, how so? I'm not your typical Swedish designer. Maybe that sounds a bit arrogant, haha, but what I mean is that although I'm schooled in Sweden I haven't really worked there much. Swedish design is associated with functionality and simplicity and those are values that I learned to appreciate in college. But, I think I'm equally influenced by my experiences abroad. It's hard to say what my style would've been had I stayed put in Stockholm, but I'd like to think I'm better of for having more diverse experiences. Your work demonstrates a balance of strong graphics with white-space. How do you incorporate white-space without leaving your work looking bland? Figuratively speaking, to use your analogy, if you fill the whole page with stuff nothing will stand out. Pretty obvious, but in the end it's about contrast and about what you're trying to communicate. Less is more. Though sometimes less is less. That's when you realize your working is looking bland and you have to start all over! Snowboard design '05 - 2003 You've worked at Wolff Olins among many other top agencies in New York. What can you tell us about agency life compared to that of freelancing? I spent most of my career working at studios, including six years at JDK Design and some time at Wolff Olins until recently. So, the freelance life is still pretty new to me. As a freelancer, I think the first thing you realize (at least for me anyway) is that you need to wear multiple hats -- one being a project manager, another as creative director, designer, and so on. Sounds doable enough but all of those details take time and it's not something you're necessarily aware of as a creative, going into it. It can be stressful scheduling multiple projects and on the flip side, making sure you have enough work. Luckily, I've kept pretty busy so far and I'm really enjoying where I'm at right now. It keeps me on my toes, I get to meet new people, and I'm learning new things. Has working at agencies given you any techniques in marketing, project management or client relations that you now use in freelancing? What are some of these techniques? I think you are bound to pick up techniques, procedures and how to go about certain things but you don't always realize it as it happens. I have a tendency to take these things for granted and sometimes wonder "What have I really learned?" But then at other times you're doing or presenting something and you surprise yourself with the stuff that comes out that you've picked up along the way. It's great if you're picking up and learning news things but it's equally important to know what not to absorb as well. Some things you experience you just wanna remember so you never repeat them yourself. Microsoft Zune - Branding and art direction We saw that you were responsible for branding and art direction for Microsoft Zune. The result is nothing less than stunning. Can you tell us about the thought process behind the logo and what inspired it? Feel free to elaborate. Creating the visual identity for Zune was a project I did while working at JDK Design. The idea for the brand was that music is a shared experience and that Zune is a friendship amplifier. Meaning that it's a social and living experience and Zune is the enabler. The identity had to reflect this in some way and part of the brief was also to create an icon that could work as a stand-alone. So the icon, or gem as it's referred to, is a constellation of points that are all connected and is a visual metaphor for shared experiences and a social community. It's of course also a somewhat abstract and dimensionalized 'Z'. As for the wordmark we wanted something elegant and legible to compliment the icon but simple to not be tied a specific genre of content. Overall this was a great project to work on, the core creative team was pretty small which meant I got to touch many different aspects of the brand. We're sure it's a great feeling seeing your work in print but how does it feel to see yours tattooed? Haha, can I pass on this one? If you want to but it's a fun question :) All I wanna say is that the tattoo artist did a nice job. He even seems to have nailed the 60° angle on the orange-to-magenta gradient! You've worked on some amazing projects; some would be described as dream projects by many designers. Which of these was the best to work on? If it's hard to nail 1 down, what are the top 3 and why? Zune was definitely a great project because of how it came out but also because we got to help inform and create the brand from its inception. Having had the opportunity to design snowboards for Burton is another one. It was never something I dreamt about doing but it's rewarding when you see the finished boards out on the slopes. I can't talk about details, but the the project I'm currently working on could be amazing in the end. You never know. I think that is what keeps me going, the next project could be the best one. Higher Ground Music - Screenprinted poster designs for Al Di Meola, Ratatat, Matisyahu, Cat Power, Damien Rice, and Andrew Bird Did you ever have to defend a design you believe in to a client? How did you go about doing this? Yes, more often than not. All clients are different but sometimes I find they need to be educated in the design process. I'm still working on my presentation skills overall but explaining why you did what you did, making sure it relates back to the brief, and also how it relates to their business seems like a good start. While with a previous employer, one client said how much he appreciated that we listened to what HE had to say. Apparently that wasn't always the case for him. But it makes total sense. If I was a client and got run over by some designer going on about his fancy colors and tight kerning without getting a word in, I would take my business somewhere else. Who are some designers that command your respect and why? There are so many designers who's work I admire and that I look up to, that I don't want single out any specific ones. The ones I can safely say I respect are some of the people I've had the opportunity to work with throughout the years. People that are inspiring and great at what they do but that are also just decent in general. (Apart from some exceptions I've had good luck with that so far.) Do you think that your style of design is a reflection of your personality? What's with all the tough questions? :-) I guess so. Simply put, the creative process happens in my brain and that's also where my personality resides so they have to be related, right? To get a bit pretentious I think all my work (at best) stems from some kind of aesthetic values or root philosophy but the output is always varied. And sometimes it's completely off the map. I do have a soft spot for tight grids and clean and rational design which could be a reflection of me wanting to be an engineer in high-school and the fact that I'm the most relaxed at home when the place has been vacuumed and picked up! New Era - Brand identity redesign In closing what's the most valuable thing you've learned as a designer that you think could be useful to our readers? I heard something once that really stuck with me, and that was to never become assuming. You know, a brief containing a familiar problem lands on your desk and therefore you immediately think you know the answer and solution. That's seems like a dangerous place, not to say boring. The cliche 'stay curious and always keep learning' is a cliche for a reason, but it's difficult to keep at it. I've also learned that although great design sometimes can have a positive impact on the world, often enough it's just a "banal exercise in profiteering," to quote Peter Saville. So I guess the point is to not take it too seriously, it's just ink on paper in the end. Great! Thanks for answering our questions Peter. It was a pleasure and I certainly enjoyed your answers. I hope our readers feel the same. I will wrap this up with some of your stunning work. You can check out more of Peter's work at PeterSunna.com or follow on Twitter @petersunna R.E.D. Protection - Art direction for helmet collections Logos & Wordmarks Interview Questions by Damian Madray Edited by Khadija Benn