STEP field guide to emerging design talent 2005

Agathe Jacquillat, Tomi Vollauschek, FL@33

LATIN NAME: Insula Triennia

AGES: 29 and 31

DESCRIPTION:
French-born Agathe Jacquillat and Austrian-born Tomi Vollauschek met on the Royal College of Art's post-graduate Communication Art and Design course in London and set up FL@33 after graduating in July 2001. FL@33 deals in "graphic design, including its blurry boundaries." The studio's clients include MTV Networks/VHI European, Creative Review, Laurence King Publishing, Royal Festival Hall, Alsop Architects/Valencia Biennale 2003, Toicommoi.com, Matelsom, and …cole Normale de Musique de Paris.

VOICE:
"We believe that keeping a balance between commissioned and self-initiated projects and publications is good for one's soul, and also good for out customers," says FL@33. Their personal projects include trans-form, a magazine, CD-ROM, and website dedicated to exploring the magic of urban sculptures that appear and disappear in the cities we are living in. Another personal project is Bzzzpeek.com, a website that juxtaposes animal and vehicle noises from different countries using sound recordings from native speakers. FL@33's most recent endeavor is Stereohype.com, an online boutique of limited-edition commissioned artworks.

DISTINCTIVE MARKINGS:
As students, Jacquillat and Vollauschek tended to listen constantly to music as they worked. "For some strange reason we have altered this habit. Now we either work in total silence - without even realizing it - or we listen to music far too loud and can't even hear the phone ringing."

HABITAT:
FL@33 is currently based in London's Notting Hill area, chosen for its plentitude of bars and restaurants, to "cheer us up in our spare time:" Spring 2005 sees FL@33's move eastward across London to a new (and much larger) office space in Clerkenwell.

SPOTTED BY:
Aidan Walker, editorial director of Media 10, London: "What appeals to me about FL@33 is their totally original imagination, their quirky sense of curiosity which they manage to express in the most elegant and eloquent ways. Their projects are infused with a highly individual humor that contes from ironie and precise observation. The world is definitely a better place for the work of Agathe and Tomi."

WRITTEN BY: ALICE TWEMLOW