Studio Yukiko on why it’s not “particularly interested in design that looks nice”

We’ve long been fans of Michelle Philips and Johannes Conrad AKA Studio Yukiko, here at It’s Nice That. We’ve covered many a project delivered by the studio including the luscious spreads of Flaneur and Sofa Magazine and ogled at their dabblings with the likes of Sony Music, Apple and Calvin Klein. All in all, we were exceptionally excited to welcome the pair to the Nicer Tuesdays online stage. They kicked things off with an overview of their publications, visual identities, branding and commercial projects, providing the audience with a general feel of what Studio Yukiko gets up to on a daily basis which, most recently, involved a project for Nike Berlin.

Then, Michelle and Johannes took us through what they described as a “graveyard project.” An inevitable but rarely discussed aspect of the designer’s role – a proposed pitch which is later declined – Studio Yukiko discussed a suggested identity for a theatre in Munich. Shedding light on this lesser-known, experimental side to their practice, Michelle and Johannes took us on a whistle-stop tour of what this identity could have been. Concluding the talk, Michelle and Johannes answered questions regarding the experimentation process at the beginning of a project and how they deal with the issue of “style” when it comes to pleasing commercial clients.