Interview with Eric Schockmel

I am a freelancer for commercial motion graphics and animation, as well as an artist with a personal practice.

Design is a creative process channelled to fulfil a commercial brief. It should aim to be intuitive and efficient.

Moving images.

I recently came across a video game called "Monument Valley" by the studio ustwo, which I think incorporates all the best practices in design. The interaction from the user is perfectly integrated with the aesthetics. Every design choice has a coherent logic behind it, and the usability is gradually and intuitively introduced, making a perfect interaction possible even to a non-gaming audience.

A poster for a festival event.

Anything that shows moving images.

At night.

I try to find aesthetics which serve a narrative purpose.

Complete euphoria, sometimes interspersed with utter despair.

A certain pride that perhaps my work serves a useful purpose.

A design is successful when you can't separate beauty and usability.

I first consider whether a design is easy to use or understand. A creator can go as far as they want in their own creative universe as long as they allow the audience access to understand that universe.

To be efficient, sustainable, and to add beauty to everyday life.

The optimal future for design will be when things have become so natural and intuitive to experience that we forget that a process design is even involved.

My last exhibition was at Gallerie Helga Maria Bischoff in Berlin. I'm particularly looking forward to an installation I am planning later this year at Luxembourg's Casino Forum d'art contemporain.

Science fiction, computation, artificial intelligence, computer games, art history.

Not sure I can be very objective about this. I'd rather let others establish where I stand in a global design context.

I'm originally from Luxembourg but live in London at the moment. I feel that perhaps coming from a small country with less cultural baggage as most larger countries has equipped me with a certain permeability to different influences. It broadens the horizon in terms of accepting outside influences, but at the same time it doesn't make it easier to find one's own creative identity.

To the best of my abilities.

A company should be aware of how a designer's style fits in with the goals and intentions of their product or message. But that awareness should not keep them from trying out new things and allowing the designer to make the choices that they are good at.

I start with a lot of research and considerations about whether there are specific constraints from a brief. Ideas and solutions usually start appearing from the start, and then it is merely a matter of trying out design options.

I'll name just the first one that comes to mind. It's a Nouspelter Péckvillchen. Look it up, they are cool.

It usually involves a lot of coffee and work. But not only.

Always keep learning.

The positive side definitely includes the elation of being able to see your creations and design choices being useful or enjoyable to an audience. The negatives can include the pressure of having to control your creativity, which sometimes flows in unpredictable ways.

You can get away with breaking the rules, but never with not knowing the rules.

Mastering your tools, and the awareness of context.

3D modelling and animation software, video post-production and editing, and some audio design tools.

By planning ahead and allowing a design to mature either for as long as possible.

Depends on the object.

What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?

Freelancing for all kinds of clients while still at university. It gave me great groundwork in learning how to design for people, and not only for myself.

Some of my most memorable clients include Intel, which I got to make an experimental animation, entitled "The Great Western Singularity" for. And I enjoy working with interactive studio unit9 on anything that I possibly can.

I most enjoy projects that combine two elements:
The design work should be close enough to my speciality and skills that I am at ease with the medium, but at the same time be new and challenging enough to present the opportunity to learn something new as well.

I would like to continue designing location-specific moving image work, and I'm hoping to direct an animated documentary in the near future, pending funding.

Depends on the brief and the client.

My design "Vestibule" plays out in a narrative universe which I am constantly developing. The overall project is called "What If You Created Artificial Life And It Started Worshipping You". More from this is already under way.

By email: contact@ericschockmel.net

I'm always looking for interesting collaborations and compelling challenges. Get in touch!