FAIRspot.com » Interview With Tom Muller

Interview

Tom Muller

We're here to bring the flavor to your senses, and what better way of doing that than to feature one of the few designers that successfully mixes grid structure with Sci-fi-like style! We're talking about a design icon here, someone that every creative insider has heard of at least once, and if asked to describe in one word, might blurt out "orange" or "classic".

Say "hello" to Tom Muller, or just say "Hello Muller", you'll get the same reaction. Tom has been around the scene for several PhotoShop updates and most of you know his work, but it's always fascinating to hear from a creative professional that follows his own path in life and prospers from not getting sucked into the commercial vacuum. This is not Tom. THIS IS TOM...

FAIRspot: First off, we just want to congratulate you on your recent wedding. Welcome to the club! How does it feel?

Tom Muller: Thanks! It feels awesome! We actually had 2 weddings: we got married in London in February, and then went to Malaysia to have a big wedding celebration/dinner with my wife's family and friends and spent around 3 weeks there. Next up is finding a good time for our honeymoon.

FS: You don't hear a lot of "family history" in design, meaning Parents passing down the tradition of working in design to their children. What inspired you to become a designer?

TM: I think I kind of got into it very naturally... As you said both my parents were active in design (interior architects), so my brother and I grew up in this very creative environment. I spent a lot of my childhood in my dad's studio, at the college he was teaching and it all just started to rub off on me, plus the fact that our parents were gently pushing us into a creative direction. At first I wanted to become a comic book artist, but once in college graphic design took over, and the rest is history.

FS: What keeps you motivated and amped to design?

TM: Being able to work on projects that I think are cool... I've been very lucky in that regard I think. There's always that "Ooh this would be cool to do!" and then somehow it lands in my lap. And being able to do different things like web design, designing logos, doing some print work... It keeps everything interesting.

FS: What's your schedule like on an average day?

TM: My wife and I wake up between 8-9am, get greeted by our 2 cats. She gets ready for work while I make us some coffee and shuffle around. After she's left for work I hop in the shower and start my work day between 10-10.30am. Since 2005 Kleber has become a virtual office, so we all work from our homes. I spend most of the day in front of the computer doing the usual work/email/surf the internet routine, play with the cats, wander around the flat (its a 2 floor warehouse conversion hooked up for wifi, so I don't get cabin fever) until around 6-7pm. I pick up my wife from work around 7.30pm ("my daily stroll") and then we spend the night having dinner, relaxing a bit. Sometimes, when we have some of our own project going on we do some more work until around midnight and then call it a day.

FS: Do you do anything besides work?

TM: My wife and I have been doing some occasional freelance projects. Its quite fun working with your wife! (she's a graphic designer as well), and because we both have full time jobs we can be really picky with that and only work on projects that we really enjoy. Then I'm always playing around with personal design projects and we usually try to go out and about on weekends... hunting for cool vintage stuff etc... We also love to do absolutely nothing and just chill.

FS: Have you ever considered doing any other type of work or going into another field of design?

TM: There was one year in high school where I wanted to become an archeologist. I've always loved art history, so apart from something design related I could see myself as a stuffy art history professor or a museum curator. I can't really think of any other field in design... I've dabbled in a lot of ponds so far... Maybe screen design? Video and film? I studied product design for 2 years in college so designing a car or something like that would be fun as well I think. (Man! Talk about random answers here!)

FS: How do you find time to stay so active in the community while working on so many different projects?

TM: I have 2 clones.

FS: What happened to Plan B?

TM: Plan B just just died out like a candle... It was a moniker we used to present things Ash and I did together - it was never supposed to be anything more than that. We were both to busy with our own work and lives to really do anything with it.

FS: What's new in the comic book scene?

TM: Well, first there's the new comic Four Feet From A Rat, a collaboration between Mother Advertising and Mam Tor Publishing that's appearing periodically in the London edition of Time Out Magazine.

The big news is the upcoming comic book anthology Comic Book Tattoo, a 480 page graphic novel inspired by the songs of Tori Amos which my wife and I are designing. It'll be launched at the upcoming San Diego Comic Con and on sale in July. (More info here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=15838) News of the book is picking up steam and it might well be the anthology of the year, so we're really excited about being involved with it - although I haven't slept much lately!

FS: Has Kleber or yourself been effected by the fears of a recession/depression lately?

TM: Nope (*knocks on wood). 2008 is shaping up to be one of the busiest years so far. Lets keep it that way.

FS: If you could change one thing about the design industry, what would it be?

TM: People being more realistic.

FS: What is the single most important thing to you right now?

TM: Being happy with my wife.

FS: What music do you rock out to?

TM: Lately I've been rocking out to Black Sabbath, Dio, NIN, late 80s and early 90s hip hop, Metallica, The Who and Jimi Hendrix.

FS: Do you think print and new media designers will ever become main stream celebrities?

TM: Hah! Didn't they predict that 10 years ago? I don't know man. Not important.

FS: What should everyone know before becoming a designer?

TM: That nothing happens overnight and that it takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work to carve a name out for yourself. You really have to love it, design is not a 9-5 job. Be yourself, don't be a slave to trends. And don't be a pompous ass. Design is supposed to be fun.

Work done by Kleber Design Ltd.

FS: What are your plans for the future?

TM: We're looking around at places to buy a house, which is easier said than done in London. Do more design. Find more time for personal projects. Enjoy the summer.

Like what you see?
All works above are produced by and copyrighted by Tom Muller. To view more of Tom's work, please visit his online portfolio at hellomuller.com or Tom's working studio Kleber Design Ltd.

2 Comments

[...] Fairspot has added an interview with yours truly. Go ahead and read it if you want to find out what music I’ve been listening to lately… Add article to: Leave a Reply [...]

Pingback by Muller — Blog Archive » Interview on Fairspot — April 17, 2008 @ 2:13 am
Amazing work! Thanks for the interview.

Comment by nuinosis — February 19, 2009 @ 5:20 pm

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July 2, 2009