Jana Blom and Caitlin Berner teamed up as *Glitterstudio in 2014 during their study at the Royal Academy of Arts in the Hague. At this moment in time, they are an interdisciplinary graphic design duo that tackles a wide variety of projects with an energetic, concept-driven, and playful approach. From silkscreened T-shirts to publications, to Art-prints, to VJ installations, to music videos, to corporate identities and everything in between their practice keeps a healthy balance between commissioned and autonomous work.

“We met each other during the second year of our study of graphic design at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. After a trip to Morocco organized by the academy, we decided to rent an anti-squatting studio to have more focus on doing our school assignments… Not long after that, we collaborated on a project. And what started with doing some assignments at the academy together (we even were advised to graduate together) and VJ-ing at parties in the weekends, soon turned into that we couldn’t wait to graduate just so that we could go for it ‘in real life’. We started going to our studio full time immediately after the Academy(2016) and haven’t done otherwise since. So we have been working together for over 8 years now. We often compare ourselves to being in a healthy long-term relationship. We complement each other and it requires good communication.

The way we work is a bit like playing ‘estafette’ or ping-pong. At the start of a project we both sketch stuff and after a while, we switch or take parts of what the other is making and combine them. We often create building blocks, an archive full of elements, which get combined with typography and built into the deliverables that are needed. We create the elements by collecting, cutting out, drawing, often combining digital and analog techniques. Being aware of what is going on in the world is something what we try to implement in our work, as well as making esthetically pleasing artworks. The way we create is usually the same for a client as for our autonomous work. Sketches/elements we don’t use (or get turned down) for assignments, we just keep for our own archive and use it for our shop items/autonomous work. And vice versa, sometimes we just create things with no particular purpose, and later we apply it to an assignment. Zero waste design!

Due to Covid a lot of clients kept us on hold. So we started creating more and more autonomous work and merchandise to sell. In December 2020 we made the decision to leave our super nice shared space at Maakhaven to move to our current studio at Zuidwal 39 in the city center of The Hague. Having a space furnished and decorated all by ourselves helped us define our style, created more visibility and we love the social aspect of being in the center. Since moving to the new location we kept on creating more for our shop and decided we really enjoy having the balance between commissioned assignments and autonomous work. So we also launched our webshop in March 2021. The items we create usually have a positive message, are often (partly) handmade and or created locally, and range from silkscreened handbags to T-shirts to hand-painted mugs to prints to hang on your wall. Our motto is ‘Unlimited ideas, limited editions’. A statement which probably fits our mindset the best in every aspect of our lives :)”

Instagram @glitterstudioo

Interview 3voor12 (in Dutch)