An interview with Marcus Kraft, graphic designer

Could you introduce yourself to Designer Daily’s readers?
My name is Marcus Kraft and I’m a graphic designer based in Zurich, Switzerland. My work includes a range of projects such as art direction and design for art and cultural institutions and other clients.

How did you get into design?
As a very young child, I always retraced comic drawings. Afterwards at school, I was chief editor and layouter of the pupil newspaper – I think that’s how it all got started.

Can you tell our readers about your design process?
Usually, as soon as I get a briefing, I start to think about it and try “to distill the essence” of it. I write down thoughts, ideas or do some sketches at that stadium. If an idea seems striking enough to me, I go on with the computer. – But if an idea doesn’t satisfy myself on paper, I don’t turn on the computer. I think it’s always the best solution when the content generates the whole design almost by itself. All you have to do then is to find and choose the right parameters. I also try to keep it very simple because I think that life itself is complicated enough.

Which of your projects are you the most proud of and why?
Puh, good question! As soon as a project is over, I somehow feel that it doesn’t “belong” to me anymore – I just don’t have the connection anymore. After one year or so, I usually have enough distance to review it. I still like my diploma project – it was a very structured yet personal examination of a lyrical text by the great French author Raymond Queneau.

What websites and magazines do you read on a regular basis?
I read a lot of daily newspapers because I still like the surface feel about it. These are usually Swiss or German papers like “Tagesanzeiger”, “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” or “Die Zeit”. I don’t read news on the internet because I hate it to read long texts on a screen. Like every graphic designer, I sometimes browse through different design blogs to see what’s going on in the world of design.

Which designers have been inspirers for you?
Well, I studied at the design school in Basel – of course, the big pioneers of Swiss Typography like Emil Ruder, Armin Hoffmann and Wolfgang Weingart were not teaching there anymore by then. But I really admire their design and their way of thinking things through. Andy Warhol is also a big inspiration.

Thank you Markus for answering my questions! For our readers, make sure you check out Marcus’ portfolio.