KEY POINTS:
It's not always easy to decipher what Umeric's work means. Or is. But a sense of mystery - and a twist of dark humour - is what has made the Sydney-based creative studio a success.
Kiwi designer Von Dekker and her real-life partner and co-director Ash Bolland are back in their home country this week to speak about their work at the annual Semi-Permanent design forum.
They've certainly got some explaining to do. Like, how the heck did they come up with the graphic design for the Pacific Heights' Frozen Fears album?
At first glance the strange creatures gracing the cover look like dustmites blown up to enormous size or those odd, tentacled aliens from the Matrix films.
Then you realise they're icy sea anemones being attacked by floating prawns. Huh?
"At the time Ash was eating a lot of prawns and was really influenced by this whole prawn thing," laughs Dekker.
"We also went with the title of the album, wanting to do something quite beautiful, abstract and surreal."
Umeric have also worked with Shapeshifter and Salmonella Dub, producing extremely different music videos for each - Shapeshifter's Long White Cloud depicts singer P Digsss as though part of a moving painting of foliage and water; the Dub's animated Nu Steppa video has four manga-like monsters stomping through a futuristic city.
When they're not working with musos, Umeric are involved in the advertising, events and creative arts worlds, working with big corporates such as Nike China.
Their most recent job was a TV ad for the Christchurch Arts Festival; the strangest thing on their CV is probably a dating show they produced for MTV Europe.
The same company poured thousands into Umeric's graphics for the Australian MTV Music Awards last year, in which 3D animated creatures pulsed in time to the music within a city environment.
But for their first project - for Aussie rock event the Jack Awards - they cut up old magazines, spent $10 on photcopying at the local library and made a collage using glue made from flour and water.
"They're all totally different beasts," says Dekker of their work. "Generally we have free rein, although we don't always have the luxury of time. On the little projects we have a lot of freedom.
"The big names like Nike are a bit more managed. It's always a collaboration but we always feel like we're doing something we're proud of, which is really important to us."
Dekker trained as a designer in New Zealand, whereas Bolland is self-taught.
Dekker used to sneak him into her design school at night so he could mock up his band posters. The pair moved to Sydney eight years ago, with dreams of eventually moving to London. But a design boom across the Ditch kept them busy for 18 months before they launched their own studio.
Dekker and Bolland work full-time and contract designers as far afield as Manila, Sao Paulo and London.
Whatever the project, Umeric's work has to mean something more than the aesthetic, Dekker says.
"We try to have an interesting idea. We try to look at the job and figure out what's right for the individual thing we're talking about. We're trying to represent something for someone else so we have to be creative and come up with something that suits that. It's not just eye candy with parts whirring around."
Umerica
Who: Umeric designers Von Dekker and Ash Bolland.
What: Semi-Permanent design forum, Aotea Centre, Saturday.
Featuring: Every element of graphic design, including branding, advertising, motion graphics, animation, environmental graphics, fashion, music and graffiti art.
Tickets $140 or $90 for students from Ticketek.
Website: www.semipermanent.com
