Studio NARI/ Caterina Bianchini

Who: 

NARI is a creative consultancy and branding studio, founded by the award winning Caterina Bianchini, established to bridge the gap between design and art. Their practice focuses on giving brands life, character and spirit, through artistic technique, conceptual thought and brand literature. 

Their acronymised mantra, ‘Not Always Right Ideas’ is at the core of everything they do; drawing the focus away from the “do’s & dont’s” of textbook graphic design, practicing a humanistic and artistic approach.

Why: 

Although I've researched many other designers, I came across a video of Bianchini talking at an It's Nice That event and she (as well as her studio) seemed to be the perfect fit for my creative report. Upon doing just some very initial research into her practise I was willing to scrap the other designers immediately, as none of them seemed to be as much as a perfect fit. 

The studio works on commercial projects with huge clients like Apple, CRACK Magazine, Reebok, Adidas taking a creative and playful approach to everything that they do. As well, Bianchini has a passion for music and takes on countless side-projects creating graphics for events, clubs, record companies, artists etc. all while running the studio. 

I was so enamoured by Bianchini's philosophy of design and related a lot. She talks about that gap between design and art and I feel that that's where I sit. Her mantra for her studio is 'Not always right ideas' and likes to focus more on spirit, technique, and conceptual thought over 'traditional' graphic design. 

Furthermore, it's one of my long-term goals to run my own studio, another is to work in the music industry. Bianchini does both of these things synonymously and has become very successful doing so. For my creative report, I split my categories up into 

- The music industry

- Female led 

- Studios

- Fine art feel 

and Caterina Bianchini/ Studio NARI tick every one of these boxes, whereas other designers on my list only ticked one or two. 

What: 

Because I'm so interested by Bianchini and her studio I would want to ask her about her process and ways of working as well as the business side of things like how she set up her own studio:

- How do you find running a studio? What are some mistakes that you've made? 

- How do you generate ideas when first given a brief? 

- How do you justify your more conceptual style when pitching to clients? 

- How do you get the big clients that you do? Word of mouth, networking? And do you think that these ways of communication are more beneficial than a social media following? 

- What's the design culture like where you're based? Do you think that being in a big city helps with creativity/ work production? 

- Have you faced any negativity/ set-backs being a female designer? Was it more difficult to set up your own studio? 

- What's your preferred method of working - physically or digitally and why?  

- Where do you get your inspiration?

- Who's a designer/ artist that inspired you and why? 

- How did you get so confident with type?