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LEAD AWARDS 2009
Der Hort war dieses Jahr nominiert zum Visual Leader des Jahres. Die Jury hat uns den silbernen Preis verliehen und wir bedanken uns recht herzlich dafür. --> LEADAWARDS2009 √		We've been nominated for Visual Leader of 2009 … and we became second. Thanks to the jury. --> LEADAWARDS2009 √

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

IT'S NICE THAT NO.1
Die erste gedruckte Veröffentlichung des tollen Blogs --> IT'S NICE THAT Ist ein richtig gutes kleines Buch geworden und man kann es hier --> KAUFEN Das Interview lesen kann man --> HIER √		First published book from the very nice guys behind the wonderful blog --> IT'S NICE THAT You can order it from --> HERE You can read the interview --> HERE √

IDN V16N1 THE CRAFT ISSUE
Das Magazin aus Hong Kong bringt ein schönes Feature über uns. Ausserdem liegt dem Heft eine DVD bei in der auch wir mit 2 Bewegtarbeiten vertreten sind. --> IDN √		The Hong Kong based magazine did a nice feature on us. When you buy this issue you'll get a free dvd including two of out motion works. --> IDN √

IDN V16N1

IDN V16N1

IDN V16N1 INTERVIEW

”Hort is an old german word for kindergarten. A place where children play, learn things about life and the meaning of living in a society and, in addition to that, a place where they are safe and people take care of them. Kids learn by playing. And they start playing when they feel safe.“ Eike Koenig always wanted to work in an office that embodied the ideals of the kindergarten, but after a few trial-and error experiences with various companies that didn't share his attitude to working, he realised that he would have to establish his own workplace. Hence Hort, a plae where young creative and open-minded people are allowed to grow. As Koenig explains: ”By supporting them in their individual development, I hope to lead them away from the set paths they once followed to discover their own. So in other words, I take care of them and fight for them as well, because I want them to be strong people with a voice.“ He goes on: ”We 'play' on a very high professional level, in order to develop strategies and solutions. And we do so by using craft in our work. I think this is a very important aspect in our design process. Craft is something that was developed throughout many generations. We shouldn't forget what we have learned throughout this process. Craft is knowledge and knowledge is something very useful and powerful.“ IdN: You have said that Hort is a place where work and play can be combined. In this approach particularly appropriate to craft design, do you think? EK: I don’t really know. It’s just my experience of life. I learned through doing things by hand. My university bought its first computers during the second year of my study programme. I fell in love with the computer, used it for many years and found out that I was missing something in my work. I was missing the experience, the space, touching paper and seeing the format on its original size, all the materials and their odours, to move things around, stand up and have a new perspective on it, etc. I realized that the computer was limiting me in my design process. Due to this reason, I started working again by hand and using the computer more as a tool. There is a very educated communication between the hand and the brain. We shouldn't forget that. IdN: Has a craft approach changed the way you design? EK: As I mentioned before, craft is knowledge. The more knowledge you have, the more possibilities emerge to come up with new solutions. In addition to that, craft is something you can pass on to someone else. So it is the knowledge that one generation can pass on to the next one. Our team consists of different personalities with different backgrounds and knowledge about crafts. We share this knowledge and that is how we learn from each other. The more we share the stronger we become as a team.  IdN: What is the common challenge you need to overcome when you are doing this kind of craft work? EK: If I understand this question correctly, the problem in doing things like this is TIME. It just takes you a lot longer to make things by hand, and, if you have to change something, it will take that much longer. So you have to have a different kind of time management if you include this kind of work in your design concept. IdN: You operate in as many different media as you have creative outlets. What’s their relation to each other and how does craft design play differently among them? EK: We work for everything we can build a relationship with. For instance, at the moment we are developing an architectural usable sculpture in Berlin. And we just finished an interface design for a music programme. For every job, there are always different solutions. We always try to find the strongest solution. But your concept for the brief guides you to the technique you have to use to visualize the idea. I think you can include it in nearly every process, like motion, branding etc. So, sometimes there is a relationship between all these different jobs we are doing, but it is not a strategy or system. By taking a look at the work HORT does, you can see a process mapped out along a timeline. A new discovery leading to a new idea and so on. And you can see that there are different personalities working together, bringing themselves into the design process without losing their personality. IdN: Do you think there are certain things that digital techniques can’t capture? Or do you believe technology and traditional art can co-exist? EK: These are two completely different questions. First, digital techniques will never be the same as handmade work. Very close to it, but never the same. Second, sorry, but technology is already traditional art.   IdN: What kind of power and beauty have you found in design works done by hand? EK: There's a kind of saved energy in handcrafted work. This is what makes it human. I can feel the person behind it. But there's also beauty and power in digital work. I would never say one is better than the other. Both are capable of creating beauty.  IdN: When you start a new project, do you already have a concept of its final image in mind? Could you pick one of your works and briefly describe its creative process? EK: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes just a vague image or feeling. Let's take a simple one. Werle & Stankowsky. When I listened to the music, I had an image in my head and a feeling. I saw myself sitting on a couch on a rainy sunday afternoon, drinking hot tea, cuddling with my girl (in this story I was a teenager), forgetting the world around me and listening to this music. What would be the worst-case scenario in this moment? When all of a sudden, your mum comes in with a vacuum cleaner and starts cleaning your room. So it had to be something to do with vacuum cleaners. We created sculptures out of the cleaners, played around with them and explored the possibilities and invented little stories around this object. They became alive. Pretty easy. So we had a photo-shoot and the artwork was done.   IdN: Is there any special material or medium you would like to use for your next craft-design project? EK: We just finished a fashion feature for Playboy Magazine. We used accessories and the beauty of the material itself, like leather or chrome. I can't show it to you because it's going to appear in the march 2009 issue. At the moment, we are working on a branding job for a human resources office and are working with material that is familiar and that this entity is surrounded by. We also work with metal tubes. √

HIPPY SHIT VOL. 1
Für dieses auf 250 Exemplare limitierte Heft haben wir 2 Türen beigesteuert. --> HIPPY SHIT √		This is what we did for --> HIPPY SHIT √

SLANTED - ISSUE 07
Slanted, der altbekannte Typo-Blog, hat mal wieder ein Werk gedruckt. Geometrics Porn. Sie stellen darin unter anderem auch unser System für die Berlin Music Commission vor. --> SLANTED √		Slanted, a german typo blog, has just published this new book named Geometrics Porn. They are showing our system we did for the Berlin Music Commission. --> SLANTED √

ETAPES 167
Unsere Freunde von étapes zeigen in ihrer 167ten Ausgabe unsere Arbeiten für Peter Heppner und Jazzanova. Merci beaucoup. --> ETAPES √		Our friends from étapes are showing our artworks for Peter Heppner and Jazzanova in their 167th issue. Merci beaucoup. --> ETAPES √

PAGE
Das Page Magazin zeigt einige unserer Arbeiten in ihrem Artikel über Handgemacht Grafik. --> PAGE √		Page magazine is showing some of our handmade work. --> PAGE √