Interview with Matteo Bertin

First off: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where are you from?
How did you come to do what you do today?

I am an Italian art director, I live and work in a town between Padua and Venice. I mainly work with  companies and cultural organizations. I first started out  studing industrial design at the IUAV university and subsequentlyattended various graphic design courses.
I have worked in some design studios for 15 years, before starting my freelance career in  in 2018 .
Almost 10 years ago I started a letterpress workshop with my wife, an activity that I have left on standby for a while
in recent years.

Your 100FOR10 book features some works of your 100 day challenge.
How did you come up with the challenge and what was the goal?

The book image based types is about my 100-day challenge that I completed during the 2021 lockdown. This project is the answer to a question I asked myself in that period: «How could I start a parallel project by leveraging my desire to do research?».

From a first analysis of the possible experiments, I had to find something that engaged me every day for a short time. At that moment I had just finished reading Christoph Grünberger’s book ‘Analog Algorithme’ and in it I found the answer to my question: Image Based Types.

This project had many advantages: it was a daily activity, an iterative process; I could play in an analogue but also a digital environment; it was an activity outside my comfort zone (I love typography but I’m not a type designer); it could include other experiments (eg posters, motion design,…).
The main goals were: to test an iterative process; do a personal research, free from daily work; focus on the process rather than the result; have fun!

Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Are the sources different for your work and private projects?

I think that the starting point for a personal project and for a project for others is different even if in some cases the arrival point can be similar. In a personal project you respond to your needs while in the work for clients you base your design on a brief from others. My approach to the project is very content driven, it is strongly influenced by the underlying objectives and the why, so this can also affect the type of sources from which to start the project research.

What are you currently working on now?

I had the pleasure of using a new image based type in a project for a theatre: the method fit very well with the theme that was Hyperreal Theater. In this case, the typeface has become an extension of the theatrical experience because it was generated from a grid obtained from a statue that is located above this theater.

At the moment I am carrying out projects on 3 different levels: cultural, corporate and learning.
This mix generates very interesting contaminations.

Well the last thing to ask: What are your plans for the future?

I feel the need to go back to printing!