Q: “What is the weirdest behavior you have ever seen from an animal?”

A: “Being stuffed.”

Jan and Randoald studied in the same school—Jan in fine arts and Randoald in graphic design—for four years but spoke hardly one word to each other the entire time. Randoald was “a suit man” and Jan was “an overalls man”. Now they are both suit men. They teamed up and formed a studio in 2004, aptly named Jan en Randoald.

They started off by discussing some of their work from Graphic Design Mic-Mac I & II, highlighting the identity systems they have created for clients including Antwerp museums, Les Ballets C de la B, De Werf, and more. When creating an identity system, they are not slaves to a logo. In many cases, they opt instead to create a template or frame into which other content can be placed, and allowing this template to serve as the primary strut of the identity system. A common theme holding together the work of the two is a creating rigid base system in and around which they can then play and explore. They set systems and rules for their work that are both strictly adhered to and wistfully broken. In this balance they hit their stride, and we can also see useful universalities for our own lives and our own work in this method; sometimes rules are made to be broken, and the most beautiful moments sometimes occur outside of convention.