Q&A with Rob Gonzalez

I am a graphic artist / designer working as one half of Sawdust (Jonathan Quainton being the other) based in London, UK. I am passionate about creating interesting and progressive typography often combined with some form of visual ingenuity and dimensionality. We have been fortunate enough to work with a diverse range of clients that have included Nike, WIRED, AKQA, Esquire, Ace Hotel, Fast Company and Puma across advertising, fashion and publishing sectors.

Software / hardware

We both work on 27” Apple iMac’s. I am usually at my happiest working in Adobe Photoshop but find it helpful to sketch ideas and compositions using good old fashioned pencil and paper. The process involves; Brain > Sketch book > Computer. These can be interchangeable.

Ideal work environment

Calm, not too noisy, not too many distractions. I find it essential to turn my email off for stints and to put my phone on silent, screen down. We are bombarded with alerts and updates in the modern age so I find it important to switch off from it all during the thinking and planning stages of an artwork or project.

Work inspiration

Things that I find visually stimulating, whether it’s how the light falls across an object or the distinct shape of a letterform I’m constantly trying to remain open so inspiration can take hold of me. I think as a creator of visual work we have to become interested in something, what that is is the golden question but it almost needs to be obsessive allowing for an interesting visual output to happen.

Creatives you admire most

So many, here are a few: John Alvin, Jorge Martins, Studio Najbrt, William Klein, Benbo George, Herbert Bayer, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Yago Hortal, Mario Hugo, Non-Format, Diet Wiegman, Herb Lubalin, Wim Crouwel, Reece Jones to name a few.

© Sawdust