Who: Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi
Location: Chicago, IL
Website: Sonnenzimmer

Trying to introduce the work of Sonnenzimmer is something of a tricky assignment, so I’m going to let others do it for me. Though their work defies definition, Dan Ibarra of Aesthetic Apparatus made good inroads in the January 2009 issue of Step Magazine:

In the design community there seems to be a recent rebirth of borderline-orthodox modernism, and on the opposite end, an upsurge of chaotic abstraction. One embraces strict conceptual, formal thinking, the other embraces dada-esque unconscious proformal process… Sonnenzimmer is creating completely original work that really breathes new life into what is mostly a polarized design philosophy of concept vs. chaos.

Well-said, Dan! Also, like their prints, this fantastic video portrait of Sonnenzimmer says a lot without having to lay it all out.

Even though I was only recently introduced to the work of Nick and Nadine, I am instantly enamored. My own career dances around on the increasingly-smudged shared border between graphic design, illustration, capitol-A Art in academia, and pretty much any other excuse to put pencil to paper, and the work coming out of Sonnenzimmer’s studio seems to tie all of that together beautifully in each print they create. Decidedly handmade, with an ethereal color palette and a celebration of mark-making, design, and typography, these images are so different from everything else out there right now! Each image feels like a discovery after a successful experiment.