Q&A With Forest's Joel Speasmaker

nik.mercer — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:25:02 -0800

You may not of heard of Forest, but you've undoubtedly seen plenty of the studio's work; Joel Speasmaker (and affiliated artists falling under Forest's umbrella) has been the designing force behind online record store Insound for some time now, created, edited, and published The Drama from 2000 - 2006, and has worked on a myriad other projects for the past several years. Forest just debuted a series publication, Small Book, so we decided to ask Joel a few questions in relation to the project and Forest as a whole.

Tell me a little about Forest for starters. When did you start the design studio, where's it located, what's your overall aesthetic and outlook, and what are your goals, aspirations?

I started the studio several years ago when I moved to Richmond, Virginia. It's primarily just me, but I frequently collaborate with other designers and illustrators when I get the chance to. There isn't really an overall aesthetic; I would say most of my work is very simple and heavily influenced by the different countries I've been lucky enough to travel through. As far as the future, I've slowly moved away from web design to concentrate more on branding, print, and art direction work, which I enjoy much, much more.

What sort of tools do you use? Do you avoid computers and prefer more hands-on equipment? What's your favorite part of the creation process, too?

I'm actually a very computer-reliant designer, unfortunately. Though I'd like to think I could be more hands-on, its just not the case. But lately I've really enjoyed incorporating photography into my work, which is something I generally only do for fun. My favorite part of the creation process is the moment when you know its right.

You started the magazine, The Drama, eight years ago (and closed the publication down in 2006). Tell me a little about that project... what it was like working on a publication, what you were trying to achieve with it, and why you stopped working on it.

I have lots of mixed feelings about The Drama, but I'm certainly glad I did it, though happy to have stopped it when I did. There was never a plan at all; it started out featuring a bunch of friends, and then grew and grew into whatever it was at the end. It was always simply a medium to bring together as many creative people as possible, and I'd like to think we accomplished that in the short run that we had. I met and have stayed in contact with so many great people because of it, and that is what I will remember the most. I stopped The Drama because there are many aspects of the magazine business that I didn't want to be involved in any more.

You're now working on the Small Book series. What inspired you to embark on this new project and what exactly is it?

My favorite part of The Drama was the actual creation of it, designing it, and seeing it in its finished, printed form! So the Small Book series is my way to do something similar again, but with absolutely no restraints at all. I can publish each book whenever I want, each one can be about whatever I want, as many or as little pages as I want, etc. They are all hand-made and very personal, and its nice to be excited about something again. I'm also considering branching out a bit and publishing a few other things, but we shall see. For now, I am happy.