morag myerscough interview

morag myerscough interview – morag with her dog lemmy

designboom spoke to graphic artist morag myerscough about her influences and the evolution of her work.

DB: please could you tell us briefly about your background and how you came to do the work you do now?

MM: I am born and bred, holloway, north london. I had quite a bohemian upbringing, my father was a viola player and had his own quartet ‘the fidelio quartet’ he was also one of the most sought after session musicians in the 60s and 70s and played on the beatles ‘white album’, with bob marley, elton john, top of the pops, bond films, tom jones show and so on and so on. my mum is a textile artist and she would weave and dye wool and make, make, make. music in one room and making in the other.

to add to that my great grandfather was a clown and my grandmother a high diver in the circus. on the other side of the family my french grandmother was a milliner for hartnell’s and my grandfather played the violin in the band on the queen mary and they lived next door to me when I was growing up.

so, from a young age I always made things and particularly loved sewing. I went to local grammar school and decided at the end of it that i wanted to go to art school even though I think my father would have preferred me to take a more academic route, my older sister is a solicitor and my younger sister is an artist.

I am really glad I did what I wanted to do. after st. martin’s I went to the royal college of art. I always wanted to work across disciplines and I have spent all my career working towards what I am doing now. I may have been a little slow but it has been worth it. I love what I do and I think that comes across in the work.

movement cafe – with lem sissay
photo by gareth gardner

movement cafe – with lem sissay
photo by gareth gardner

movement cafe – making of

DB: how has your work evolved so far?

MM: I have been working a long time, but it’s only recently that I have looked back at its evolution. now I realise that there are many more connections than I thought at first. I have come full circle I am back to making analogue things much more but combining this with digital tools. we just bought a 3-D printer and I can see endless possibilities for me to realise some of my most recent work and ideas, which is very exciting.

the most amazing thing now is that I am building spaces like the movement café and the discovery pavilion, I have always designed exhibitions but they were often about a particular subject whereas these recent projects don’t have those restraints which I find very exhilarating. it all depends on trust and I am lucky enough that I was given complete freedom on these projects, the movement café thanks to martyn evans, and richard upton at cathderal and the discovery pavilion, lisa meyer and capsule.

westminster academy
photo by tim soar

zynga, headquarters
photo by kaufman

DB: who or what has influenced your work the most in terms of your taste in colour and typographic preferences?

MM: colour could be from my mother, I think my colour sense comes from being very young and understanding the difference between a dye made from a natural source and one from an artificial source. when I make my big pieces of work I much prefer to paint them as I can get pure pigments and as they are used in spaces it is important how colour responds to light. there is nothing better than to see an amazing colour in the right environment, it can change your whole mood.

I like to be brave with colour, at college I was introduced to albers, and I was very interested in his theories on how colours respond to each other. I love memphis, bridget riley, warhol, dan flavin, schwitters and more. an exhibition I saw while at the royal college was ‘ hockney paints the stage’ at hayward gallery had a profound influence on me, I was blown away, seeing how colour can work in space, amazing.

in terms of typography, geoff fowle was the most amazing tutor I had in the 3rd year at st. martins he saw the potential in me and opened my mind. I have never really been taught formal typography except for a few classes in my first year at st. martin’s and so I have always chosen and used type the way I wanted. I did not want to be constrained by rules and I also shy away from using formal grids. I love the forms of letters and how typography changes the meaning of words, but I just do what feels right to me.

the discovery pavilion with luke morgan
photo by gareth gardner

the discovery pavilion with luke morgan
photo by gareth gardner

DB: what do you enjoy most about working on environmental graphic design projects?

MM: what I enjoy the most is that people enjoy and respond to the places we make and it makes a difference to them. I put a narrative in the building, we make places where people feel they belong. I like working collaboratively with architects especially on the projects with paul monaghan, allford hall monaghan morris architects where we have made some great steps in how schools are used and how the students connect with their schools. the team needs to want the same result and for the project to be successful this involves everybody. westminster academy has been another great success, the students grades have increased hugely, I believe this is because they have a building that works for them, that they can be proud of, with teachers that care about them and when you put all the parts together it produces success.

ooh-la-la installation with luke morgan

future vintage

design for david adjaye exhibition
photo by luke hayes

non-sense stools with luke morgan

DB: what advice would you give to a designer working on environmental graphics – what traps should they avoid?

MM: think about scale, distances, light, the audience, time, what are you trying to achieve? it is not about just putting a picture on the wall.

DB: how do you think the popularity of online design resources have influenced the design being produced today?

MM: it’s a great time at the moment but people do need to know how and when to edit. it’s great that we can do so much for ourselves and not have to wait for other people to do things for us as often as we used to. I also love how certain conventions are breaking down and new ways or working and communicating is evolving. but with so many many changes happening so quickly some of the good things don’t get lost on the way which can be a pity.

vinyl lounge
photo by gareth gardner

vinyl lounge
photo by gareth gardner

vinyl lounge
photo by gareth gardner

DB: besides your professional work – what do you have a passion for and why?

MM: sadly my passion is my work, when I do new things and push myself as far as possible it gives me the biggest buzz. when I’m not working I like watching loads of rubbish television, going to see luke morgan’s band the highliners and taking my dog lemmy for a walk.

morag at ‘luke & morag’s’ summer workshop in LA, 2013

DB: what is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

MM: ‘always aim for the highest’ – geoff fowle

DB: what is the worst piece of advice you have ever been given?

MM: ‘you will never be a good graphic designer if you have a messy desk’ – better not say who said this to me! maybe they are right but personally I am still happy with a very, very messy desk.