Tyler Studio may not be a recognizable design industry name outside of France, but for those in the know Phil Caubit & Ludovic Bondu are ‘the’ go to guys for hot graphic design. Their unparallel and highly sought after talents are hungrily snapped up by the likes of Nike, Sony, Adidas and Levi’s etc… Because these boys know that good design moves units!

The main purpose of this interview is to really give you a background and history into Tyler Studio and get intimate for a while with Phil and Ludo. Introduce them to the good folks outside of France… and oh yeah! Did we forget to mention Tyler Magazine? Jeez how could we… Well read on little homies!

FMCS: Hi Phil & Ludo how are you both?

Phil: Fine! And you? Eating a steak at the moment with ‘Mogettes’ a typical dish in the west of the France. The ‘Vendée’. Hmmm… I think we are only the only people in the world to eat this kind of dish!

Ludo: Excellent! I am very happy, because I’ve just finished a rice based model of the Great Wall of China.

FMCS: Tell us a little story on your backgrounds, where you are both from, how you first met and the events that led to Tyler Studio being born?

Phil: Well I have to talk about the beginning, the Big Bang! First there where nobody on the earth! And then I met Ludo in 1998 during our graphic design studies at the Superior School of Arts Pivaut in Nantes. (The same school than Monsieur G used to go to).

Then I found my first job, as art director & graphic designer for Radikal magazine (Hip-Hop Culture). This was a great place where I could improve and test my possibilities. Ludo joined us shortly after at Radikal because we needed some help as we were working on many projects at the time. We worked at Radikal together for almost 6 years!

After that I was working for Luxe & fashion magazine called ‘Double’ for 2 years. That was a very interesting time because we had to create the layout and the concept with a new team, and we had to forget our Hip-hop graphic roots. The layout was very light, very soft and ‘luxe’, the total opposite of where we had come from at Radikal.

Well, during time I wasn’t satisfied, I was looking for something that would transcend not only rap, not only aesthetics… But something which I could express in my own style! I came from a basketball culture, like Ludo… I liked Hip-hop & basketball but also I was really influenced by social thematic and other cultures. My aim was to embrace these interests under one title and Radikal & Double were just too segmented for me.

So, I came to the conclusion along with my friend Francois to create our own Magazine based around ‘Sport & Urban Cultures’, and we decided to call it TYLER in reference to the movie Fight Club, Tyler Durden, and the duel identity theme.

Tyler, became a real platform of graphical experimentation for me, and also for all the guys who I invite to test their artistic capacities…photographers, painters, graphic designers etc… Like Monsieur G, Level-art and so on… And also the Guy who followed me from the beginning of Radikal LUDOVIC BONDU.

I gave Ludo the opportunity to make the majority of the creative with me on Tyler. This was at the same time, I was working for Radikal and Double during the day, and continuing my freelance activities working for Nike and other magazines like Reperages, Vibrations etc… I was very tired at that time!

So the only spare time I had to work on Tyler was during the night. That was the beginning of a long story. Radikal had stopped in 2005, so that situation allowed me to spend all my time on my freelance activities, and Tyler magazine of course.

Ludo: The amazing thing is that we were sitting beside each other in the first year of Pivaut School, due to the alphabetic order. We didn’t know each other, but to this day we have been working together. I’m very sensitive; this kind of detail affects me a lot.

An anecdote… In the beginning, while Phil was working for Radikal magazine, I was working for its direct competitor, L’Affiche magazine. It was rather funny, because we used to discuss in secret, the content of the next editions to be released.

So I went to work with Phil a little later because they were looking for a new graphic designer in order to create a new magazine.

FMCS: What is Tyler Studio and what are its functions? How many people do you have on staff, and what kind of clients do you work with?

Phil & Ludo: We decided 3 months ago, to make something together comprising of our respective skills, and create a studio of graphic design, www.tylerstudio.com was born, but we can’t talk to you about this! Chuuut, our first rule is ‘You do not talk about Tyler Studio’ and the second rule is ‘you do not talk about Tyler Studio!’

You know what I mean…? We’re keeping our freelance status, but we’re working together. And we have an agent who represents us!

FMCS: There are two things that are most striking about the work you both do… The first is that you guys never seem to compromise your creative style, is this a conscious decision?

Phil: Well, first of all we know that we both have a brutal and identifiable graphic style with a personality, very ‘masculine’, with matters, splashes etc… So we try consciously to preserve it when it’s possible.

We are lucky to get the opportunity to work with customers who want this outlook on their work! But we can work differently when needed, as you can see when we have worked for Double magazine, or L’Oreal for example, and we try to have another stylistic approach based on a cleaner more commercial layout style for flexibilities sake.

Ludo: We always think that we can add an important graphic value in our works, even for a very institutional client.
When we occasionally get a classical and careful client we always propose to them a classical or plain design research, complete propositions on graphical points…

FMCS: Do you both work well together… Same ideas, share same outlook! Is there ever any friction?

Phil: As I told you before, we are very complementary, we know each other very well, I know his strong and weak points, and visa versa. Ludo is calmer than me though, but we understand each other. Sometimes it does happen that we do not agree, but it’s always still cool between us!

Ludo: Indeed we have graphic universes and influences quite alike. Also on music, movies, literature we share the same interests. Phil has a very spectacular creative capacity & rapid work flow, so it’s very motivating for me.

FMCS: The second is the very noticeable focus on sports and extreme/physical pursuits in your work! From football to baseball, cycling to skateboarding the list is very long and the design output so huge. The Tyler theme seems to be a real clash of popular culture… Hip hop, fashion & street art intertwined with high end graphics and sports… So why such a big interest in physical pursuits?

Phil: we come from Sport culture you know! I think it’s just logical, I was practicing rugby for 11 years and basketball forever! We are both heavily influenced by sport since a young age. We love to express the aesthetic of sport, of the physical effort, it’s why our graphic style could appear to be ‘brutal-physical’.

Ludo: Phil, you forgot to add that we have a very ‘painting pictures’ approach. During our studies, we learnt allot about painting. We were fascinated by rough sketches and loved to mix techniques and materials.

Also it comes from the blending of all our artistic influences: Egon Schiele, Jean-Michel Basquiat, the American draftman George Pratt, the painter Alex Powers etc…

FMCS: Tyler Magazine has recently celebrated its 23 issue with a compendium release featuring the very best layouts of previous issues. What kind of freedoms do you allow graphic designers & photographers etc… When they are approached to contribute to the magazine?

Phil: Well, first I select the guys who seem to be in the same “vibe”, it’s very subjective, I know, but it’s how I’m working. I’m looking for the guys and girls who have a good technical approach! And…Well a good graphic touch!

Ludo: Tyler means graphic freedom, there is no visual restraint. What is really unusual is the press area, it’s a real luxury!

FMCS: What have been some of the highlights of working on Tyler over the past few years?

Phil: Too much! Well just for the nostalgia, the first issue was a highlight in itself. Cause it was like childbirth without an epidural!

But there’s another highlight! Our meeting with Michael Jordan who accepted that we could take a picture of him with a Tyler magazine in his hands (the second issue)… Ouaaahhhh….. That was something very “symbolic” for me, for us! He opened it, looking inside the pages…. very intimidating!

FMCS: How many copies are printed in each issue, and where can you buy the magazine?

Phil: For each issue, we print around 30,000 to 40,000 copies; however exact numbers depends at the time on demand. You can buy Tyler Magazine throughout France, and occasionally in a few other European capitals like London etc… But it’s easier to order it from the website.

FMCS: Any plans for the ‘Tyler’ movement over the next few years?

Phil: Well, the context and theme of Tyler is very difficult, so I prefer not to plan…. If you see what I mean? Maybe to become free, in another form…But well, we will see!

FMCS: What’s your opinion on the French graphics scene right now…healthy? Who should we be looking out for?

Phil: Like in all the countries you have good things… and less good things…In France we have great creatives like 1,2,3 KLAN, 9eme Concept, Level-Art and other graphic design collectives who are doing some very interesting work.

But it’s very pretentious to say which are gods and which are not! The worst in France is probably Monsieur G! I think he doesn’t speak French very well, not even English! So it’s difficult for him, but we try to help him with sign language!

Ludo: And Monsieur G isn’t able to write anything either, that’s why his name is so short! I would add the artist from Marseille ‘Tous des K’ for the most famous.

FMCS: Phil, Ludovic thank you so much for the time spent getting to know you both…. Was a real pleasure! Before we depart do you have any shout outs you would like to give?

Phil: My wife Elsa, family, friends… and Jesus cause all the rappers like to thank Jesus, or his father at the end of their album! Ah yes, and they always finish with ‘Peace’… Then I say PEACE! And thanks a bunch for the interest FMCS demonstrates on the scene! That’s cool!

Ludo: My wife Isa, my daughter Lilirose, my family and my friends also.

P.S. Phil believes he is a rapper, he believes that he could have had a date with Beyonce!

TYLER STUDIO WEBSITE
TYLER MAGAZINE

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