Style 43

of Timothée Mathelin aka shift. Obsessed by the future, graphic design is the way for him to express that. With an atmospheric and aerial style, shift. tries to have a look of what surrounds him and wants to make some noise!Even if he doesn’t come from the classic field of graphic design, shift. is very productive and made a lot of graphic works, with many colours and lines in that special universe, sometimes dark, and sometimes more optimistic.www.futurorg.com

folio is quite interesting, you can find a big artwork session with a special layout, some photos and photographic essays, commissioned works and even videos… But first, let’s meet that young ambitious guy that we call shift. !

For those who don’t know you, how can you describe yourself and your run?
My name is Timothée Mathelin , I’m 21 years old, I live in Nantes, France, I’m still student and I’m trying with the secret hope to become graphic designer. To be honest, graphic design is a real part of my life since only one year. More precisely, since I left business studies, when I understood that this world was not for me.. I’m now studying Communication under all formats (theory, journalism, information technology, art with cinema, photography and of course graphic creation. That’s ace and this field gives me more possibilities to meet people and start collaborations and commissioned works.I feel freer with this activity and now, I dedicate more time to improve my techniques and to try to represent the universe that I have in my head.

So, what’s your universe?
Pfff…Hard to describe. I could say… I think I got two kinds of visions. I definitely love imagining calm aerial landscapes with many lines accessing something. I’m passionate by futuristic things. I hope for something peaceful with an alliance between man and machine. Pastel and cold colours are surrounded by a wavy sound… But at the same time, I don’t like when everything is peaceful, that’s not the truth. You need a kind of balance. Then, edgy drum n’ bass and heavy Hip Hop are my background to create destructured shabby stuffs. Tokyo bloody undergrounds, deserted Russian airports, Neo Munich battlefields, blablabla.This is for the moment my graphic universe which is not yet totally defined because novelty influences me every day…

What are your latest news about work ?
I’ve just finished the design for the website of an associative European radio www.euradio.fr, with several templates and a cool layout. Good experience, I learnt a lot about web design. And still a lot of personal work. I can’t avoid that.

Do you have projects?
I wish I could do an exposition. I may have a possibility somewhere and even in a great place, but I keep in it secret for the moment…I’m still very desirous to do professional works (and being paid!)

Do you have influences?
Of course, I do have! Everyone have… those who don’t have are lyers. Well, to sum up everything, that will be: The Designers Republic, 123KLAN, Chris Marker, Akira, Wip3out, Rubber Johnny, Alexandre Rodchenko, Diane Arbus, The Ronin, Autechre, Noisia, Sibérie m’était Contée, everything which rely me to the future and several things from every day’s life: the sky and its clouds, motorways, birds, freaks, train stations, have a beer somewhere…

Are you Mac or PC?
I’m definitely PC and I spit on the (so!!!) expensive Iphone! No, Microsoft is definitely neither the best corporation ever…
I always worked on PC. It’s just since few weeks that I have proper materials for graphic design. Before, I was working on a laptop with a broken screen, missing notes and 192 mo of Ram…… No one of my commissioners knew that!
But now I have a powerful computer with two screens, it’s more than ok!

The cd that you are listening?
The latest discover was Filastine, a guy on the label Tigerbeat6 that I’ve seen on stage, his album is really nice. But my playlist is really wide and I’m still listening good old stuff from AFX to Pink Floyd to Beastie Boys!

Latest movie?
A documentary: the cyberpunk educator.
Huge! A lot of movies extracts, some references to the Bible, psychedelic medias and trance music in background!

Latest book?
“Eloge de la faiblesse”, “weakness praise” in english. The spiritual discourse of an handicapped man who became philosophy teacher. The book is written as a conversation between him and Socrate. Lesson of life…

To finish, what’s your global vision about design and graphic creation of today?
I think that graphic design is a field between art and trade, because advert is never far away… That’s why it’s sometimes hard to feel very confident and determined in what you are doing. As well, it’s a very unstable area because all softwares are downloaded and cracked, then we have millions of little genius who become potential designers, then, the competition is very hard…But anyway, design invades more and more streets of our cities and that’s a very good thing. Mix the concrete with colours!

shift. is available for commissioned works. To check:
Website : www.futurorg.com
Myspace : www.myspace.com/thefutureisbeautiful