Process: A Tomato project

by Steve Baker

Graphic-design group, art house, music makers, typographic sculptors - no phrase can accurately characterize the work of Tomato, the London-based design collective. Since its inception in 1991, the group's work has ranged across every conceivable medium, from photography and film to music and print, and it has established an international reputation with such advertising clients as Levi's, Pepsi, Nike, Sony, MTV, Philips, Orange telecommunications and Coca Cola, as well as projects for architect Richard Rogers. This text encompasses Tomato's output in its first five years. Each spread reflects the personal journeys and designs that form the graphic and commercial work of Tomato. In part an eclectic mixture of artistic concepts and working ideas which offer a glimpse into the creative processes that inform the projects, this text's formulation is unified by a single, mutating typographic text line around which the team's individual contributions revolve.

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Music, Art Design

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Michael Bohli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ende der Neunzigerjahre erscheinen, ist "Prozess" keine Retrospektive des kreativen Schaffens von Tomato. Das Kollektiv präsentiert mit dem Buch vielmehr eine neue Perspektive auf die, in der Kunst sehr wichtige Phase, des Prozesses. Texte, Essays, Fotografien und digitale Grafiken vermengen sich zu einer Publikation, die sich zugleich experimentell wie philosophisch nachdenklich gibt.

Das Studio Tomato, welches die meisten wohl dank der Beteiligung von Underworld kennen, sprengt damit die formalen Grenzen einer solchen Publikation, ohne den beschreibenden Sinn komplett zu vergessen. Es ist eine Gratwanderung, welche die Arbeiten von Tomato wunderbar widerspiegelt und zur Vertiefung der eigenen Vorgänge und Handlungen einlädt.

[Dan Pfeiffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the text and images inspiring to reignite my work in abstract photography and abstract/conceptual graphic design.