Interview: Vertebrae Design

Name: Matthew Barton
Website: www.vertebraedesign.net
Email: matthew@vertebraedesign.net

TPS: What does the name of the series mean?
It is clever word play right? Landscape and land escapes – maybe it sounded more clever when I thought of it.

TPS: What inspired the series?
I was thinking about landscapes and children and isolation – and how escaping can be seen in two ways and the difference between wanting to be alone and isolation.

TPS: What are you currently doing in terms of client work?
I am working at an interactive agency in Raleigh called Brooks-Bell Interactive and my own portfolio site is www.vertebraedesign.net – but I have not updated that in a long time.

TPS: What do you want to do in the design industry?
I want to keep pushing design forward while still meeting the demands of the project at hand. Is that an answer? That is a terrible answer!

TPS: Who are your influences?
Well there are tons of course. Growing up I was influenced mainly by german artists, I was in love artists as diverse as Kurt Schwitters, Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer.

In terms of designers working today I know this will not be a surprise to anyone but these people are really doing interesting things

Scott Hansen: www.iso50.com
Joshua Davis: www.joshuadavis.com
Chris Ryan: www.atmostheory.com
Christopher Cox : www.changethethought.com

There are of course many many more. I am also a huge fan of what both bittbox.com and Go Media are doing in building a really great online community that inspires both budding designers and season veterans a like.

TPS: What programs did you use to make these?

Illustrator mostly with some photo manipulation in Photoshop – but my goal is to stop using Illustrator all together for the next three months and dive more deeply into Photoshop.

Matthew used to run Vertebrae Design for 5 years where he focused on small to medium media and entertainment driven companies, before the lure of working for a dynamic corporate studio with larger clients drew him out of office and into the corporate world.

TPS: Are you available for Freelance inquires?

No, I am currently working full time and my free time is dedicated to my own personal projects