Frith Kerr discusses her studio's work for the Frieze Art Fairs

Producing graphic collateral for one of the world’s largest international contemporary art fairs is a brief that would have some graphic design studios quaking in their boots, but when London-based Studio Frith was approached by Frieze Art Fair they accepted with relish.

Having previously produced work for a whole host of art institutions including the Serpentine, the Chisenhale Gallery and the V&A, as well as photographer Juergen Teller, fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic and publisher Phaidon, Studio Frith were a natural choice. All the same, to create a concept which functions across the campaigns for Frieze Art Fair in London and New York, not to mention Frieze Masters is no mean feat.

Following in the impressive footsteps of Graphic Thought Facility (who’ve worked on the identity and the campaigns for the past 11 years) they were challenged with coming up with a visual concept which would link New York and London while reflecting the striking diversity and breadth of Frieze as it exists now in its 12th year. The solution? Birds. Birds which migrate to New York’s Randall’s Island and inhabit London’s Regent’s Park respectively, to be precise. We spoke to the studio’s founder Frith Kerr to find out more about working on such a project.

How did you come to start Studio Frith?

I was never interested in working for anyone else, so on leaving the Royal College of Art I started a joint studio with a friend which we ran for 11 years, and then in 2008 I started Studio Frith. We have some really fantastic clients, work with some very interesting people and are continuing to grow. One of the best things about having your own studio is you can choose how you want to grow.

What are the key points you wanted to keep in mind when you started working on the campaign for Frieze? What was your brief?

We wanted to build on the great work of Graphic Thought Facility and move it on. We worked closely with the team at Frieze to identify the brief at the outset. Frieze is in its 12th year, so it is not an enfant terrible anymore, it’s an established brand and one of the most interesting out there.

We defined the brief to reflect its scale and sense of purpose of the fairs. We devised the concept of “International Nomads” – the scale of movement across this world was a key part of what we wanted to express. Together with Frieze we decided to make the campaigns for New York and London relate to each other each year. So we identified the birds that migrate to Randall’s Island every spring for New York, and the wonderful variety of birds you can spot in Regent’s Park for London as the metaphor for our campaigns. Frieze is unique in that it creates this beautiful neutral space in a plain air setting for each fair, to which people travel from around the world. It is this sense of place and movement that we have captured.

What are the biggest challenges of working on an event as huge as Frieze?

The campaign is a reflection not of the fair’s size or the many different events that take place because it is happening, but much more a reflection of the many different stakeholders – gallerists, artists, collectors, public, sponsors. That’s quite a mix; Frieze has stature but it’s in its nature to be modest, and I think that is integral to its success. Anything can fit inside, it is about letting the work live. It lends its energy to the events, critical studies and the meeting of people for a purpose.

Advising a client in a working world driven by visual communication demands creativity and attention to detail. It’s an art fair but we’re not making art we are very careful to be visually engaging rather than artful.

Do you have to take into consideration what it might look like next year, and the next and the next etc?

Absolutely, Frieze has become such a cultural landmark that stretches way beyond only the art world. The Frieze brand inspires a lot of love and people are excited to see what’s next, so planning the visual rhythm of the campaigns is extremely important. We want people to feel excited and inspired. We hope they enjoy making the connections between the campaigns for each fair.