INTERVIEW: THE ARTISTS BEHIND COVER NO. 37

DI 37, design by Anna & Elena Balbusso and Dave Plunkert of Spur Design

“The DI cover doesn’t follow set rules or standards… it’s an all-over positive vibe that’s conveyed through a single artist’s work. If there’s something that ties all the cover artists together, it’s that they all have a wide and varied visual vocabulary.”

– David Plunkert

The Directory of Illustration is the world’s leading illustration resource.

Each year, we distribute our printed Directory free of charge to thousands of art buyers who regularly hire freelance artists and animators. To celebrate DI37’s outstanding cover, we sat down with Anna & Elena Balbusso, and art director Dave Plunkert to learn more about the creative process behind this year’s exclusive design.

MEET THE ARTISTS

Anna & Elena Balbusso are a powerhouse Italian illustration team based out of Milan, Italy, and represented by Shannon Associates. The DI37 cover is influenced by a personal artistic style that the Balbussos first developed during research for their award-winning design of the Folio Society edition of “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood.

The Balbusso Twins, represented by Shannon Associates. The Handmaid's Tale folio society poster

Dave Plunkert

David Plunkert is an award winning illustrator and the artistic director behind Spur Design: A creative studio that designs posters, covers, logos, brochures, websites, and more for non-profit organizations, publishers and corporations. Dave has a preternatural ability for brand identity, and his studio has designed many of our previous covers.

What was your creative process behind this year’s design?

Balbussos:

Our graphic design training has always influenced our work, and it is this mental and design-oriented approach that allows us to work in many different sectors. Before starting a project we do an in-depth iconographic research and our source of inspiration is fine art. We were inspired by and researched the instruments used by DJs (stereo amplifiers, records, cds, DJ mixers, headphones, turntables, players, DJ consoles, sound waves). We were also inspired by international pop stars such as Madonna and David Bowie. Through our interpretation of music and contemporary dance, we were able to strike the right balance between the abstract (music, rhythm, sound waves) and figurative (motion, modern dance, musical instruments) elements. To visually represent rhythm, sound, and movement, we used optical patterns and played with distortion grid lines inspired by the graphic design and optical art of the 1950-70s.(Russian and Polish graphics posters, Franco Grignani, Italian designer, artist and architect).

Dave Plunkert:

I change as many surface characteristics from year to year as possible while keeping the same energy. Most of those changes are made year to year by selecting artists that have different approaches and styles. Choosing the artist always comes first and that drives the concept and the look. It sort of goes along the lines of: “The Balbusso’s would make a great DI cover… so whatever subject that would work for them would work as a cover for The Directory of Illustration.” It’s not really that simple, but it’s not untrue.

What was it like to collaborate together on this project?

Dave Plunkert:

Anna and Elena were great. Very enthusiastic, prompt and friendly. Professional to a tee despite the inherent difficulties of working at the beginning of the pandemic. They brought a lot to the table and the cover is graphically strong and distinctive. It all looks like it’s very pre-planned, but the DI volumes come together from a bunch of little fragments that get tightened up or discarded over the course of production. In this case I think I did mention to explore making it predominantly red since we’ve had a number of cool hued covers and covers with a wider color palette.

Balbussos:

When we were contacted by David for this collaboration we felt very proud and honored, and it was an unexpected surprise. Working with David was very easy, with a few clear words he communicated his ideas to us, the only request was to use a very different palette from the previous books with multiple colors. Red and black are very present in all our work. Red is our favorite color.

What new collaborations do you look forward to in 2021?

Dave Plunkert:

When I work with another artist I want them to bring their own pov and sensibilities to a project. Not knowing precisely what you’re going to get means there’s a greater potential for a cool surprise.

Balbussos:

We hope it brings us interesting new projects in the new year….
David has always been one of our favorite artists. We love his design very much, his theatrical posters, his covers, his ability to range in many fields with very strong personal styles, always recognizable, with great wisdom and elegance.