[SON] Hello Emeric, please explain your handle’s [tksh / stillontherun] and your daily grind.
[TKSH] Well, first of all, I just wanna thank u Son for the interest you and David showed in my works. Tksh stands for Takeshi, I’m 26, French, my name is partly inspired by the great kitano, but other things too. I’ve always been an enthusiast about japan and asian cultures. Why “still on the run� Well, I loved the sound of the words, I always did and thought one could easily see similarities between the life of an escaped prisoner and a freelancer routine. The daily stress, the pressure, agencies trying to catch you.
My daily grind starts at 11 am. Spend an hour waking up between blogs and cups of coffee. Then start the working day, spending most of my time stuck on photoshop, but also dealing with tons of emails, administrative paperwork, until like 8-9 pm. Sometimes later when clients are pushing, sometimes all the weekend. Still after that I usually go out to get a cigarette, a guinness or a chat with friends, trying to share things about creation, about what we do, should do, could try, having a good time and then back home to get my daily after midnight hours of tv and start the next day.
[S] What is the design culture like in France?
[T] I’m not sure about how to answer that. I’ve quickly been acquainted to designers from other countries thanks to the internet… so I don’t really see frontiers in the design cultures.
Still, I think there are great talents in France, quite often coming from the 90’s street culture, graffiti and street art. Guys like 123 Klan, Super Deux, guys from Toulouse and many others. Pushing creation in really nice directions. The thing in France, is not about the designers, we got some and they are good, (I’m thinking about Gennitsakis and Sattler/Lysergid too) but I feel that the clients are really not that open minded, or willing to take risks in projects. I can feel the difference when I got clients from overseas. Moreover, I must admit that there is a particular “snob†attitude in some restricted circles in France, I’m not much into that. The design scene sometimes feels more like an expression than a reality to me.
[S] What do you do to clear your mind?
[T] I go back home real late at night, but it doesn’t work that much. To be honest, I havent had my mind clear for the last few months, I’ve just been working and working. I wish I could have a genuine break sometime, just to think about what I would really like to work on, find my style, expermient new directions and sleep too.
[S] I see lots of real elements displaced to create a surreal setting. Do you practice in different disciplines in order to give this mixed media look?
[T] I’ve been practicing different techniques over the past year. This was mostly due to my inspirations, the projects / graphic designers I discovered, etc. Right now, I guess it makes my creations stronger in a way. It allows me nice combinations and I can adapt myself pretty easily to clients demands. This is also tricky though, since every time I start a new artwork, I really don’t have a clue in which direction I should go.
[S] What are the advantages of networking online?
[T] Networking online makes contact easier for people like me.
[S] Whats next for TKSH?
[T] I’ve just updated and got a lot of nice feedbacks, this makes me feel lighter. I got a couple of big commercial things I gotta deal with now, but asap, I wanna get with a few collabs hopefully… and push creation… !
