Daniel

HE IDEA OF CREATIVE COLLABORATION IS
conundrum. THAT PARTNERS ARE SUPPOSED
O BE IN TOTAL AGREEMENT OVER DEEPLY
ERSONAL DECISIONS IS SO DIffiCOLT TO
ATOM AS TO SEEM ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.
W 00 YOU REALLY SHARE THE ATTRI00
ION Of AN INTUITION THAT LIES AT THE
ART Of THE CREATIVE PROCESS? HOW 00
00 EXPLAIN AND DISCUSS AND fORM THE
RECISE AND YET UNEXPECTED ELEMENTS
*VOLVED IN CREATIVE WORK?
-ONY KAYE: W H ALb
BY I.EWIS BA ACHWELI
9
With the occasional collaborations of British director
Tony Kaye (based in Los Angeles) and designer/
director Jonathan Barnbrook (in London), such prob-
lems are brushed aside. Collaboration across the
globe has become a practical, routine activity. "Tony
tends to just set you off on an area and let you get
on with it," explains Barnbrook disarmingly of the
partnership that has involved him in providing ani-
mated typographic elements for Kaye's commer-
cials. "He's very trusting; we both know what's good
and what's not:'
But while it is easy to agree on what is, say, a
good and a bad apple, one would have thought it
was a little less clear-cut with some animated type.
Not so, it seems. "It's difficult to remember the
process," says Barnbrook. "It is usually very quick.
We will use the fax a lot. I will create much more than
ever sees the light of day. But there is always a
mutual respect, a concern with doing the best job:'
Kaye is probably the single most powerful influ-
ence in bringing animated type into commercials
in the '90s, with a series of award-winning spots.
He not only brought Barnbrook into contact with
film in 1990, but has since pushed him forward as
a director on the roster of Tony Kaye Films. This led
to Barnbrook directing three of the multi-award-
winning BBC Radio Scotland commercials in 1995,
which have influenced a rash of animated typo-
graphic commercials across Europe.
Barnbrook continues to have much to offer to
Kaye on the typographic front through his own
development as a designer, now with a range of
typefaces released besides his work in print. He
admits to being drawn to work more fully in film,
adding, "I am not sure how much more animated
typography we want to see in commercials. There
is also the frustration of being asked to work on
a six-second end title and then having it cut to two-
and-a-half seconds, as has just happened to me.
I would like to try more live-action:'
Kaye says his work with Barnbrook reflects his
fascination with designing in film. "I started off as
a designer, a not very good one, before I went into
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advertising. I've since been able to work with a lot
of very good designers, but Jon stands out for his
innate understanding of film. Once I introduced him
to working in the medium, he immediately under-
stood what a huge potential there was for him in film:'
Like Barnbrook, Kaye describes the collaborative
process in remarkably simple terms. He gives Barn-
brook the words, an idea, and waits for the results.
Typically, Barnbrook would not be able to see the film
that might surround the typography while he is
creating it. "In many ways, I think we have evolved
beyond our earlier collaborative period. Now I am
OT
working on a feature and Jon is shooting his own
things," says Kaye.
But the mutual respect remains, the knowledge
that each is stimulated by working with the other.
Barnbrook knows that at some point he is expected
to tackle the typography for Kaye's magnum opus,
a personal film on abortion (500 hours-plus of foot-
age currently shot). This could be a tough one, but it
holds no fears for Barnbrook: "The thing about Tony
is that whatever happens in a project, you know he is
always working for the best result, that he cares
passionately about it:'
LEWIS BLACKWELL IS THE EDITOR Of THE
LON00148ASEO COMMUNICATION ARTS
MAGAZINE CREATIVE REVIEW.