September Banner Designer: Adam Mileusnic

Adam Mileusnic takes over from last month's banner designer Lee Goater...we asked him to interpret The Culture Vulture as he saw fit...what do you think of this cheeky design?

Adam tell us a little bit about Twenty Five and a half...is that your waist measurement, your age, or something else entirely?

It's been a long time since my waist measurement was that low! It was my age when I started working freelance and quickly needed to come up with a name for my practice. 

I work on a really diverse range of projects, so I didn't want the words 'graphics', 'design', 'public art' or anything too leading in my name. But soon enough though I will be relaunching as 'Studio Venn'. It comes from those Venn diagrams - the ones with the circles that cross over each other - as I find myself constantly working on a different types of project and moving from one discipline to another.

You describe yourself as a bit of a nomad...where's your hat currently calling home?

I'm living in Leeds city centre at the moment, and have been for the past year - but in a couple of weeks I'm moving out of my flat, going to spend a couple of months travelling around Ecuador, and moving to Manchester when I come back. I'm a Yorkshireman, but since I left Leeds the first time round I've spent periods of time living in London, Tokyo and Melbourne - and I guess I'm going to carry on exploring a bit more!

What have you been up to recently?

I've recently finished two public art projects for the NHS in Merseyside, one created with schoolchildren, and one more focussed on helping patients find their way around the building. Both had a sustainability aspect to them as the Blue Bell centre is the UK's greenest health centre and I worked with timber for one of the pieces and recycled lightbulbs for the other.

Originally I'm a graphic designer and have been working part-time for the Bradford Playhouse for quite some time now. Currently I'm working on a couple of exciting branding and design projects, but I have to keep those under wraps!

I also recently finished the Artimelt course with the people at the Culture Company, and am working on pushing my project idea forward, a piece of software to help graphic designers create more adaptive branding.

What's keeping you awake at night?

I've just got back from a few days in Berlin. For the last few nights the answer would have been 'flashing lights and loud music'. Tonight I don't think anything will keep me awake.


If you were to wave a magic wand over something you think needs changing, what would it be and what would you like to see?

I'd like to see local councils in Leeds and Bradford taking some more calculated risks when investing in the creative elements of our cities. There's too much worrying, red-tape and bureaucracy going on and a lot of the art projects that make it into public space continue to be middle-of-the-road and forgettable. I'd much prefer to see art that people really love or really hate - even if I did hate it myself, at least it would get people fired up! *(more on Adam's views over here on the WhatifLeeds Facebook debate)




Who or what inspires you?

I'm often interested in architecture, interior and product designers; especially those who cross over into communications. 'Ex-designer' Marti Guixe is a genius. His i-Cakes and branded omelettes make me smile. Architect Tadao Ando is another huge favourite. Joan Miro is an artist that's been around for a long long time, but I never get tired of his work. And David Shrigley makes me laugh out loud. 

As far as brand designers go, I really respect Estudio Mariscal, KesselsKramer and WolffOlins. Also, before I started working for myself, I worked for GBH Design in London for clients like Philippe Starck and Puma. They were a huge influence on my work too. I learnt as much there as I did at uni, if not more.


Anything you'd like to plug?

I'm currently putting together a proposal for a large travelling art installation that I'm calling 'Super Lucky', about the ambiguous and changing position of the UK as a world power. If you're a fan of those Japanese waving lucky cats, you'll love it.