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August 2006

In Depth with
Andrew Sabatier
Stretch Brand Consultant
London, England

Born: Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa
Current Residence: London
School: Wits Technikon, Johannesburg, SA

From Opinion-Centered Consulting (which enables creativity to flourish without the interference of dominant personalities) to the ground-breaking art-brand Ignore Me™ (http://www.ignoremetm.com), British-based designer Andrew Sabatier brings an introspective, thought-provoking approach to design.

This approach is also intrinsic to Stretch Brands, which he describes as “a creative culture established as a supplement and potential alternative to contemporary brand consulting.” Stretch Brands is an almost entirely virtual design firm where projects are undertaken as self-employed freelance arrangements.

Through Stretch, designers can collaborate in an environment which minimises coercion by encouraging voluntary participation. Brands should stretch at their own pace and intensity.

“All communications are coercive,” says Andrew. “We say the world is a certain way in order to maximise our influence over others and to fast-track our personal objectives in a social space.

“The least creative environments are those that are overtly coercive. These are invariably authoritarian and pyramidal in structure with top down communication. Stretch encourages participation between brands on a human level, referencing all opinions against a core philosophical framework.”

Founded in early 2004, Stretch brings together individuals who share common creative and commercial goals. “Stretch is a space where brands can interact with each other, are guided, supported and nourished by Stretch creative resources,” says Andrew.

Here Andrew answers questions about himself, the industry, and his experience with designing a typeface.

What school/university did you go to and how did that experience influence you as a designer?

I studied under the capable tutorship of old-school fine artists and designers at Wits Technikon in Johannesburg. Life drawing and other art subjects were taught in conjunction with digital media. This provided an education where pure design issues were dealt with. Basic design principles such as the tension between negative and positive elements were given emphasis.

What personal trait or characteristic has helped differentiate you from other designers?

An intense philosophical investigation into the nature of media and of how brands perform in these spaces. Stretch represents the commercial end of an otherwise rigorous existential framework against which all expressions can be measured to determine their value relative to any given media space.

Where do you find inspiration?

My sources tend to be highly textual. I have been deeply inspired by the writings of Douglas Rushkoff, Erik Davis and Hilary Lawson. The design challenge is then to find a visual form to best convey the idea at hand. My solutions are often typographic and abstract.

I equate inspiration to reality. If I am not inspired I have too much illusion in my life and I must, with the help of others, work to remove it. Creativity is the natural consequence of inspiration and the value of the resultant products are measured by the degree to which the quality of life for those involved improves (physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually and spiritually).

Equate Identity

Which Stretch client best personifies and has embraced the Stretch branding philosophy? If measurable, what impact has it had on the company?

I’m proud to tell you about the first Stretch Brand outside of other Stretch Projects. Equate Translations made use of Stretch Currency in order to engage Stretch Culture and become a Stretch Brand. Equate is a German to English translations company specialising in the Investment Banking spectrum of language services, offering specialist translation skills in European Equity Markets. You can visit the website at http://www.equatetranslations.com. At the bottom of each page you will find that Equate identifies itself as a Stretch Brand.

Jonathan Spink has aligned Equate with Stretch Culture in order to draw on the creative resources provided by Stretch. This meant working with me as brand consultant and designer, as well as benefiting from the creative input of Johan Engelbrecht, Daniel Matthews and others less formally associated with Stretch Culture.

Although the relationship is more pragmatic than philosophical there are profound foundations for the creative integrity in the Equate branding. The Stretch Framework is schematic but the principles have been established in order to ensure the relationship is inspired. The framework defines the spirit within which all work in the Stretch World is undertaken.

For more detailed information on the basis of the Stretch Framework you can visit the Core Stretch Brand Usflux at http://www.usflux.com.

What do you hope people think or feel when they see your design work?

I hope they think and feel in such a way that they talk to others about my work. This then forms an emotional and intellectual impression which begins to describe a larger experience of which only a part can be articulated.

Stretch Sans Typeface

Tell us a little bit about your process of creating a typeface.

I’ve only designed display typefaces. Text typefaces are far more challenging in terms of finding original letter forms... and time to design them. I designed Stretch Sans based on the letterforms Daniel Matthews and I arrived at for the Stretch logotype.

Stretch Sans was a logical extension of the Stretch Brandmark. A distinctive personality emerged in the letterforms and I worked this into the other letters of the alphabet. It took about 30 hours to develop a full set of upper and lowercase letters.

Typefaces which have had an influence on Stretch Sans are Neo Tech by Sebastian Lester and Verdana by Matthew Carter – although I’m confident Stretch Sans has a unique stand-alone character. Without obviously distorting the letterforms there is a subtle stretching effect which communicates the meaning of the word.

I have plans to design other weights and I may market Stretch Sans at some point. My primary objective was to establish a distinctive, contemporary and flexible identity.

What are your favorite typefaces not designed by you and why?

My favourite display typeface is Cachet designed by Dave Farey and Richard Dawson. It has an organic informality underpinned by a sturdy formal architecture. Otherwise I use Interstate by Tobias Frere-Jones quite a lot. It has a bright clean quality which I value highly in a text typeface.

What do you think distinguishes British design?

Corporate brand identity design (my specialist area) in Britain is pared down to simple forms reflective of a modern pragmatism. There is a general distrust of intellectualism and a history of empirical philosophy in the UK. This tends to manifests itself in ‘un-affected’ (non-mannered and non-self-conscious) design. Invariably there is a play on language in the core ideas behind the work. These ideas often work on many levels and exhibit an effortless intelligence.

How would you like to be remembered?

As a significant and relevant artist of my time.

View Andrew Sabatier's designerID portfolio.