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36 VISUAL COMMUNICATION VISUAL COMMUNICATION 37HUNGARY FORRECOGNITIONNew Graphic Design from Hungarytext: CALUM ROSSLászló Moholy-Nagy, György Kepes,Marcel Breuer: three creative pioneerswho embodied the idiom that design isnot a profession, but an attitude. All hailing fromHungary, these visionaries produced work thathelped to define an era, paving the way for thelikes of Saul Bass and Philip Johnson. The threeare a tough act to follow, but a new generationof Hungarian artists and designers are eager tofollow in their footsteps.Hungary has a number of quality artschools, from the University of West Hungary inPécs to the Moholy-Nagy University of Art andDesign and the Hungarian University of FineArts (MKE) in Budapest. It is at MKE where youwill find Péter Orbán and Dániel Nagy, two 21year olds from Western Hungary who are bothcurrently studying in the capital. Situated east ofthe Danube on the luxurious Andrássy Avenueboulevard, the MKE’s classic neo-renaissancecampus has been standing since 1876.Péter and Dániel began their studies atMKE in 2008 and are half way through theuniversity’s five-year intensive Graphic Designcourse. Unlike traditional university courses,the BA and MA degrees are merged into asingle course, covering all aspects of classicaland contemporary Graphic Design. Relyingheavily on competition briefs rather thanhypothetical projects set by the tutors, thecourse gives students the chance to collaboratewith big-name companies such as telecomgiant T-mobile. These opportunities offer thestudents a unique insight into the workings ofthe creative industry.To further bridge the gap betweeneducation and the ‘real world’ Péter and Dánielhave started their own design agency HiddenCharacters. Founded in the summer of 2010,their independent design venture allows themto put what they learn at university immediatelyinto practice on a professional level.From their highly addictive, interactive Dragand Drop Pixels to the very hairy BiologicalTypography, Hidden Characters show greatversatility in their work. Impressively, thetwo are equally as strong when working onindividual projects. Dániel channels Pop Art atits finest in his Subjective Colouring poster andPéter deconstructs Hungary’s national emblemas well as traditional reading methods in hisbook on Hungarian Graphic Design.‘The collaboration with Péter has beenstrong since the beginning. We have a goodfriendship and our philosophies and tastesare very close” says Dániel. Indeed the twodesigners’ influences are very similar, withStefan Sagmeister, Paul Rand and Vince Frostlisted as some of their shared favourites.But what is the main objective of HiddenCharacters? ‘We want to make fresh and cooldesign and pick up girls!’ jokes Péter, ‘Okay,in fact we want to take part in interestingprojects and discover new design methodssuch as unconventional identity systems orlateral typography.‘Our mission is to, one day, develop thereputation of Hungarian graphic design andgain international attention,’ continues Dániel. ‘Ifeel Hungary doesn’t get enough recognition.‘We want to be able to do wide projectsand to cover the whole design process frombeginning to end. We would like to collaboratewith companies and professionals from differentcountries and maybe even open other studiosaround the world! This is our future...’Opposite Goetheorie—Subjevtive Coloring, MATTcompetition work, Dániel Nagy, MKE Budapest,nagydaniel@ hiddencharacters.huLeft Hungarian Graphic Design Book concept, Universityproject, Péter Orbán, MKE Budapest, orbanpeter@hiddencharacters.huRight Hidden Characters poster, hiddencharacters.hu