Web_Designer_UK__May_2018

FORM AND FFUNCTION
It was2005,andFFunction’sfounder,
SébastienPierre,wasfeeling
disillusionedwithFrance.Hehada
Mastersinsoftwareengineeringand
abachelordegreeindesignandwanted
tofindawaytobringthetwofields
together in his career.
“WhereIcomefrom,cross-disciplinary
innovation is not that common,” explains
Sébastien.“Francehasacultureof
excellence,butthinkingoutofthebox
andstartingsomethingnewisunusual,
almost to the point of being frowned
upon.There,yougototherightschool,
getajob,payyourdues,moveupthe
ladder,stayinyourownlane.So,Icame
to Canada.”
After working in Montreal startups for a
couple of years, he decided to start his
own company. But he needed a graphic
designer to work with, so he went to the
graduate show of UQAM (Université du
Québec à Montréal) to see if there were
any contenders. “I saw one display that
was very strong; the designer had an
innate understanding of typography and
form,” Sébastien continued. “Other people
seemed to agree — there were no
business cards left so I had to Google her
name: Audrée Lapierre.”
Audrée also remembers this time
vividly: “Funnily enough, when I graduated
I had every intention of being a print
designer. I was interested in aesthetics and
Key Clients
UNESCO Institute
for Statistics
Google
Deloitte University
Press
Heifer International
Children’s
Investment Fund
Foundation (CIFF)
decorativearts,abstractimages,punchy
coloursandfinetypography.Ididn’tknow
whereIwantedtowork,butIknewIdidn’t
want to work in advertising. I wanted to
design to inform people, not to sell things.
OnedayIgotanemailfromaFrenchman
whosaidhe’dseenmyworkandwanted
to talk. It was Sébastien.”
After several discussions, Sébastien and
Audrée decided to set up shop, and rented
acoupleofdesksinthecornerofanother
company’s office in downtown Montreal.
Audréeexplains:“Thiswasbeforethe
InfographicBoomof2010andatthat
stagemostpeopledidn’tevenknowwhat
datavisualisationwas.Atthattime,themix
of visual communication, data journalism,
information, UI and design were a very
new way to get information across, and
wespentalotoftimedoingself-generated
infographics and explaining to prospective
clientswhytheywouldevenwantto
publishtheirdatainthefirstplace.”
Ashorttimelater,thestudiomovedto
an industrial-zone/hipster-enclave called
Mile-Ex, which has been FFunction’s home
eversince.Thestudioitselfisina
century-old brick building that has been
convertedintolargeopenplanloftspaces.
Asadatavisualisationstudio,Sébastien
andAudréelookedforanamefortheir
new business that would encapsulate the
kind of work they wanted to do. Sébastien
explains how they named their business:
“Being in a bilingual environment like
Montreal adds an extra layer of complexity
tochoosinganame.Istartedwiththe
name ‘Donnéelicieuse’ which translated to
‘Datalicious’ in English. But datalicious.com
The name FFunction comes from the
combination of form and function,
which to me is what data
visualisation is all about
TION
was taken by another company working
inaparallelindustry,andanyway,having
different names in French and English
was not ideal.
“Donnéelicieuseisstillourlegalname
butwestartedtradingasFFunction
shortly thereafter. The name FFunction
comes from the combination of form and
function, which to me is what data
visualisation is all about. It was also a wink
to fffound.com, which at that time was a
strictly invite-only magnet for graphic
designersallovertheworld.Thedomain
name ffunction.com wasn’t available,
profile___________________________________________________35