As I bid a fond arrivederci to Venezia (one of the most magical, mystical, marvelistical places on earth), I want to highlight two young graphic design studios from the region. The first is Oxstudio (above), named after the trusty old ox or, plural, oxen, which is an interdisciplinary collective with a fresh DIY eye. They include Emiliano Marton, Neill Kidgell, and Eleonora Marton, who also publishes with Automatic Books. The other is the design duo Tankboys (below), based on the Island of Giudecca, Venice, and founded by Lorenzo Mason and Marco Campardo. They are also co-founders of Automatic Books, which specializes in quirky pics and lists in a quick copy but well designed manner.

 

Each were sponsors of The Session X at Fondazione Claudio Buziol in Venice on June 4. The workshop theme was "From Boring to Interesting" addressed the process of creating an interesting solution to a boring brief. It was borrowed from Bob Gill's dictum: "If a client asks for a poster for shoes, that is not a problem. You have to stay with him until you formulate a real problem. You've got to redefine it until it's interesting. If you don't have an interesting problem, you can't make an interesting solution." More about Session X here.