Guillaume Wolf is a cat you can dig easily… A charming chap and a boldface name in French graphic chic!

FMCS: Hey Guillaume hows life with you man?

Guillaume: Right now? Very interesting, exciting and full of the unknown… thank you!

FMCS: Please let us know where you are at the moment and why you are there?

Guillaume: At this very moment I’m typing this from my bed with my laptop, drinking coffee. I’m in downtown L.A. in a little loft (in skid row). Why? Cheap rent and dangerous neighborhood… perfect for creativity!

FMCS: Let’s focus firstly on some of the work that you have done for your fashion related clients like Lacoste, Lucien Pellat-Finet and Isabel Marant. How as a young designer did you first become involved in this area of creativity and business? Was it through contacts? Or your own natural interest in fashion?

Guillaume: First of all, to answer this question, I have to rewind, and tell you something very specific about me: I didn’t go to any art school in France because none of them would let me in. I’m self-taught. So, I started to work as early as seventeen to support myself, and to be frank, it was not the easiest period of my life. I had absolutely no contacts, I was terribly shy, broke and the only thing I had, was the dream that I could work with images one way or the other. At the times in the early 90’s there was this terrible economical crisis and it was impossible to find work or even a internship. It was gloom.

My small breakthrough happened when one my friends got involved in organizing underground parties and asked me if I could do their logo and flyers. At the time they paid $20 for a black and white flyer. Obviously the money was terrible but I was so happy to work that I put of lot of care into these flyers. Then I got noticed by a record label and started to do all their record sleeves.

Now, to fast forward back to your question, by the time I consciously decided that I wanted to get involved with fashion, I was already a “professional” in my young career with a lot of references in the record business behind me. I was really done with record labels and I needed a new area to work with. This time, the breakthrough appeared when I met the people of Colette and they asked me to design their logo for this new store they wanted to launch… that ultimately became an incredible success.

FMCS: How has the fashion industry allowed you to express your ideas and creative output…is there a forum readily available for your work in this area?

Guillaume: Fashion is a VERY competitive world with many complicated aspects to it.

My personal experience has always been of collaborating with an individual designer, understanding what they are about, and producing an image that reflects who they are.

FMCS: We think you must have some great stories working for fashion labels as a graphic designer? It’s an area where many individual characters exist!

Guillaume: Yes indeed. That’s what I like about it! This is an area where you meet truly original characters, individual thinkers.

The funniest time I had was when I worked at the French Vogue for a while. It can become a great circus, because there is so much money at stake, so much competition, so much backstabbing and jealousy that it becomes surreal. None of the movies on the subject come close to the reality.

FMCS: Let us know a little about the logo that you made for Colette! A very simple, clean and good looking identity…how did the project come about?

Guillaume: I met with them before they opened the store, at the time it was in project stage. They had already commissioned other artists to work on it but they didn’t deliver anything good. So they simply asked me if I could give it a try. I came up with just one visual, the two dots, and said to them: -”I know it’s bizarre but for some reason I know this the right logo for you, I just know it”. They loved it.

I have to say that I had a great connection with those people, who are truly inspiring. So my guess is that you do interesting stuff when you are facing with interesting people.

FMCS: Luxury Darkly (picture above) is an excellent conceptual character that dominates a lot of your work… We love LD to bits and we were hoping you would explain a little more around this character and the life you intend it to have?

Guillaume: First, thanks a lot! It means a lot to me right now. This character sort of “appeared” from a sea of subconscious mind, at a turning point in my life when I “woke up” after a very difficult moment. I was married for five years and got divorced, and the long process of separation almost broke me down in half physically, morally and creatively. It forced me to seriously consider my motivations and face the “dark side” of my personality. I went through an almost initiatory experience. This character emerged from that.

As a character, it is a very good outlet for me to vent out. I guess that’s why when people look at it they feel a strange emotional reaction. This kind of stuff cannot be “designed” or “manufactured”, it’s the raw deal.

As for the life of the character, the sky is the limit at this stage. Like with everything else, you have to hammer people on the head with something until they realize they can make a profit with what you offer them.

It very interesting right now, because I’ve had some great feedback from certain people, and I will not disappoint them. We will see how many people are out there reading this and who will have the guts to take a chance with it.

FMCS: How’s the life in LA? Are you enjoying yourself there and are the opportunities for work in the graphic design world?

Guillaume: LA is a very strange planet, full of curious people. It is also a very hard city to live in… It’s like a sea, everyone want to jump in to catch a magical fish, but very few can actually break through the waves, they get pushed back and end up on the seashore wondering what happened.

It’s quite funny for me, because after living here for over five years I’m a “LA veteran”. I know how to drive anywhere in the city using alternative routes and this, my friend… is what LA is all about!

As for opportunities, let’s just say that the U.S. has been very good to me so far. I’m very impressed by how Americans are ready to take a chance with you based on your work only and not on the people you know (unlike in Europe).

And then ultimately, it may sounds like a cliché but it is true: you have to create your own opportunities.

FMCS: Well thanks for the short chat Guillaume it has been a pleasure getting to know you, and all the best for the future.

Guillaume: Thank you, the pleasure is all mine. Long live FMCS!!!

GUILLAUME WOLF PORTFOLIO
THE LUXURY DARKLY SITE

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