Featured SCCA Graphic Design alumni (c/o 2014) Alice Wicks & Gabriel López of the design company Form°
Form° is a Seattle based design company founded by SCCA graphic design alumni Alice Wicks & Gabriel López (c/o 2014). From print to illustration to branding and web, they have worked with a variety of local businesses in Seattle and around the world. We caught up with Alice and Gabriel to get a glimpse of the work they do, what they would focus on if they were back in design school, and what they hope for their future.
Describe the work you do at Form°.
At Form° we take pride in focusing and building timeless brands with graphic design and illustration. Not only do we focus on our customers’ clients, but we also create brands that grow along with their business.
Pint designs for Frankie & Jo’s, a plant-based ice cream shop in the neighborhood of Capitol Hill.
Frankie & Jo’s website reflects the idea of making mindful ice cream that uses tasty and unique fruits, vegetables, plants, and trees.
How did each of you find your way to studying design at SCCA?
Gabriel — The creative arts have been a major part of me through most of my life. However when it came time to trot off to college, I was encouraged to study the sciences. And so I did. After working a few years as a clinical microbiologist, I decided to go back to the arts. I’d visit the 5th floor on a weekly basis to get inspired to the point that I finally applied.
Alice — Growing up the arts were always a sacred past time activity for me. However, in college, I was encouraged to study business. In between my statistics and economics classes, I would sneak off to the design department at Western where I first started to learn about and fall in love with this new art form. A year after graduating, I realized I needed to go back to school for design to follow my true passion. From there, all my research and the people I spoke with pointed me towards SCCA.
What’s your creative process/workflow like as a team? What work environment(s) work best for you?
We thoroughly enjoy face to face meetings with clients and thus begin all projects in that manner. We feel that it is the best way to extract their vision for their business and it helps build good rapport between them and us.
As a team, we then discuss possible directions for the client. And we always begin by asking ourselves one question:
Do these ideas work for both our client and his/her customers? If the answer is no, then we haven’t thought about the project completely and we begin anew.
Upon agreement with possible directions, we design, critique and revise. When we feel we are in a good place, we invite the client back for presentation of our executions.
Website for Jennifer Ament evokes sensations that are fluid and meditative but edged with intensity.
Website for Jennifer Ament evokes sensations that are fluid and meditative but edged with intensity.
What’s fascinating to you these days?
Perhaps what is most fascinating to us is that nothing is constant, the design world is forever changing at a high speed. We find change alluring because it keeps us on our toes. Change encourages everyone to keep learning, encourages everyone to progress and never stop. Knowledge allows us to keep pushing boundaries. To those who read this, we encourage you to never remain static.
If you were a student at SCCA right now, what would you be excited to focus on?
Our minds would be focused on motion/animation. During our time at SCCA, we had no true dedicated time for it. We feel it would bring more dynamic elements to the projects we have worked on and could possibly work on. Motion design opens the doors to unlimited possibilities.
Album artwork for Postcard from the Badlands, a four member new music ensemble.
The website design for Postcard from the Badlands utilizes the idea of an audio tale filled with conflict, hope and resolution
What type of design projects do you enjoy the most and why?
Branding is our first love. The thrill of beginning with a blank canvas is unparalleled. The joy we bring to people when they see their business come to life via a brand makes our hearts sing.
We love illustration as well. It’s a breather from rigid design work. It allows us to flex our brains in a different manner.
What blog(s) or website(s) do you recommend for design students?
We honestly have none to recommend. We instead recommend thinking for yourselves before hopping on a computer. Create your own world, not mimic those that have been created by others.
What’s next for you and what do you still hope to accomplish?
In the future, we would love to have an international reach. Perhaps open an office in Barcelona. We are allowed to dream, right? Yes we are, of course we are.
See more of the great work of Form° at formmade.com