Samuel Davies
Self-taught graphic & web designer Samuel Davies is opinionated, impatient and doesn't suffer fools too easily, but what do you expect from a Brummie living in London who heads his own web design business.
Usually up no later than 7am, he can often be found tinkering around with the letterpress machine at the London College of Communication, where he studies Graphic Design. Or mastering the art of Photoshop at MixMatchMe, the company that brought the virtual fitting room to websites such as Boden and French Connection. All this and he is only twenty years old.
Having finished college he took two years out, working for his Dad's company whilst teaching himself everything about design. Today, all he can talk about are new design led gadgets, html codes and the beauty of typography - Bodoni, Garamond, you name it, he will know it.
Samuel has always thought of what his house will look like and what he would fill it. Somehow art just stood out to him as creating a personable home. So fuelled by the natural collectors ambition in him, but coupled with the precision gained from working in the design field he stumbled across the perfect pieces. Since then, he has continued to purchase work from Antoine+Manuel - known famously for designing the Christian Lacroix fashion week invites.
Q&A
What attracted you to Antoine+Manuel?
When I first started getting into design, I bought 'Contemporary Graphic Design', a book published by Taschen with a list of some of the top graphic designers worldwide and Antoine+Manuel really stuck out to me. Their style is something that I would love to be able to replicate someday, quite free flowing and abstract. Their work for the CNDC school in France is some of my favourite commercial work that they do.
What was the first print you bought?
The first one was the main Paris Metro Map print from Antoine+Manuel. With this I got a smaller print for a discount and their new book. That's where the obsession started. Since then, there's been two more from them, a bunch by Jeremyville and Invisible Creature, plus the Swine Flu ones by an illustrator I know called Charlotte Cooke.
What is the most you have spent on their pieces?
The first is by far the most expensive at €190. Worth it though considering the paper stock and the size. The frame was about the same price, and it really made a difference with non-reflective glass. I won't even say how much the total is for all 21 prints!
Who are your top 3 graphic designers/illustrators?
Antoine+Manuel are top by a fair distance, but I also love the work by Esau Andrews who is an American artist, and then I think it's generally typographers like John Baskerville and Jan Tschichold who have influenced every type of modern design.
Samuel created the Accent website. So if you like what you see visit his website at: www.bitingback.co.uk
