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UNUSUAL
Benoît Sauthier
Since the end of the 20th century, tattooing has become more popular than ever. But negative stigmata still tend to follow the tattoo community, especially due to the deviant roots inherent to the practice’s reputation.
Benoît Sauthier's project UNUSUAL is a visual experiment that aims to digitally “tattoo“ a number of people in order to externalise some features of their inner self. Based on an identity survey, visuals were created for each participant and projected directly on their bodies, as if they were tattooed.
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Benoît Sauthier
I am a Swiss artist/designer based in Berlin since 2018. Growing up in Switzerland, I developed an interest for many different media (graphic design, video, music, tattoo, etc). When I turned 20 years old, I felt the need to move to another country in order to get inspired by a new environment and other creatives from around the world. My study programme pushed me to combine and progress in all the different fields I am interested in.
Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
I don't have any specific goal for the future, except to make a living out of my creative work, whatever it is. I would love to have my own creative studio and work everyday with inspiring people.
What is a good design for you?
Simple, efficient, and striking. I really like simplicity, but I think it is important to always add something special to any design you create.
What was the most challenging experience during your studies?
Probably the Bachelor Thesis. I am definitely more confident when it comes to designing than writing, but it was a good challenge and a great achievement to finish my studies with such a big work.
Who or what inspires you?
Pretty much anything. I always keep my eyes wide open to catch any visual that I can be inspired from. I find my inspiration on the web and social media, but also outside with street art and graffiti. It is for me a pure form of art, that no one does for money or recognition ; it is real, spontaneous and bold.
How do you approach a new project?
I usually start by a spontaneous workshop, where I throw all my ideas on paper. When a strong idea emerges from it, I start to plan and design. But even when I have a strong visual in mind, I always leave a lot of space for creativity during the production process.
What advice would you give to students who just started studying in your programme?
Do your own projects, not only uni ones. Even though we are really free in this programme, it is important to experiment with others things completely on your own. For me, this is how you grow as a creative.
Have you changed during your studies? How?
I grew as a designer, as an artist and as a person. I finally feel confident not only with my designs, but also with the decisions I take, and the guidances I give when someone needs me as a creative support for their project.
Why did you choose to study in your programme?
To be honest, I did not choose Communication Design at first. I chose another programme that they stopped teaching the semester I started uni. As I was ready to move to Berlin anyway, I ended up choosing this programme which seemed to be quite open in any way. It was a really great decision.
What are you not going to miss in your studies?
Probably all the formal uni stuff, and the writing assignments. It was definitely challenging, and I improved my language skills for sure, but I am happy I won't have to do it anymore.
How are you going to celebrate your graduation?
I really want to get together with all my classmates. With COVID-19, I did not see some of them in real life for the last three semesters. And as we are probably all going to take different directions in life, I really want to see them all, at least one last time.
3 comments in total
This is A MA ZING!
Love this! Very inspiring :-)
the concept is so cool! beautiful work! congratulations :)