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A Discussion with Joshua Lambert

This post is a part of our weekly series of articles and interviews focusing on current issues in today's design industry. Be sure to check back often so you can read the latest from our chapter.

If you attended any of the recent REEL Design Film Series events, chances are that you noticed the excellent posters created for each film by Joshua Lambert. Josh is currently a senior at the Kansas City Art Institute, majoring in graphic design. He grew up in Newton, Kansas where his brother and grandpa got him interested in the arts and music at a very early age. When Josh was in high school, he took as many art classes as the school offered, and spent a lot of time playing drums--both at school and in weekend gigs with friends. He went to Kansas State University my freshmen year of college, then transferred to KCAI his sophomore year. He enjoys collecting, creating and learning. Josh blogs at lambertjosh.blogspot.com, and you can find his work online at aigadesignjobs.org/joshlambert.



Had you seen the films before designing the posters?
No, I was just a lowly intern... but I did get to watch the trailers!

How did you approach the designs for this series of films?
The original Objectified film poster is a beautiful design on it's own but I didn't want to create anything that looked like it, since this was for an AIGA movie series. The film is about "our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them." I merely worked off that description to create an unrecognizable, almost abstract, object that had simple pieces coming together to create a complex, living thing.

On the other hand, I approached the Milton Glaser and Rem Koolhaas film posters differently- with these, a focus on their aesthetic was important, but I didn't want the posters to look like they designed it themselves. I pulled elements from their work that intrigued me to use as both inspiration and content of the posters, and ended up with something that's hopefully a new interpretation of their work.

Who are your favorite designers: Where do you look for inspiration?
I really don't have any favorite designers. I think the reason for that is because I'm a student- I'm learning everyday and I try to be open minded to new ideas and new approaches in my work. For inspiration, I look to completely different designers and artists for every project. So how could I have just a few favorites?!

Keeping up with what's current in design is very important to me. I look at tons of design blogs everyday, and save hundreds and hundreds of images to an inspiration folder on my laptop, that I reference constantly.

Although there are a couple of cartoonists that I've been following for a while now. One is Chris Ware, who is an amazing illustrator, designer, and storyteller. The other, my older brother--Joseph Lambert, who's been an inspiration to me not only because of the work he does, but being able to watch him grow as an artist my whole life has been a great influence. Right now, he's living in Vermont with his wife, and if you want, you should check out his blog: submarinesubmarine.com.

What do you consider to be the biggest challenges for students entering the profession today?
Well I'm not quite there yet, but I think that when I do graduate in the spring, I'll be most apprehensive about the economy, and the few design jobs available because of it's downturn. There are more designers today than ever, and if the economy creates less jobs, then there will be even more competition for students entering the profession. I do feel comfortable about how I've been taught and the connections I've been making so far though, which has helped me out a lot. I think you just have to be optimistic and be passionate about what you do, and not let things like the bad economy get you down.

Anything else you'd like to share with our readers?
I'm just really glad I got the chance to do some work for our AIGA chapter! So thanks! And thanks to Frankie Oviedo, who I'm interning for at Liquid 9, for giving me this project to work on.

>Lorraine Reinsch, Social Networking Chair

Posted by Kansas in Event Recap, Interview Series, Local Talent  |  October 2, 2009