Andrew Johnstone from Semi-Permanent

Publisher of the long standing design blog Design is Kinky, Andrew Johnstone has expanded his activity to include publishing EMPTY Magazine, now in its 17th issue. He is also the organiser of the design event Semi-Permanent, which this year will be held in Sydney, Melbourne, New Zealand, Brisbane and Perth.

You run Design is Kinky, publish EMPTY Magazine as well as organise the Semi-Permanent design events. Do you find time for anything else?
People often ask me this, but the fact is that I have a fair bit of free time. This is mainly due to the events and magazine only happening a handful of times a year. So I get busy for a few weeks every now and then and then have time to do other things. It’s not a bad way to work. I’d hate to be busy every day.

We see that Semi Permanent Sydney’s line up of speakers has been announced, with Melbourne’s Tin & Ed, Craig Schuftan, T Magazine as well as international speakers like Jasper Goodall, Jill Greenberg & Jessica Hische. What do you hope the attendees of this year’s event will take away with them?
All we ever really hope is that people enjoy themselves and leave feeling inspired. That is what the event is all about, inspiration, so as long as people are inspired then we’ve done our job. If they get more from it than that, such as a bit of education or direction in their careers, then that’s great.

How have you seen Semi-Permanent develop over the years?
I think the event has developed a lot behind-the-scenes in the organisation. It’s become a lot smoother to run as we have learnt from our mistakes. This is reflected at the event by things, usually, running very smoothly but i’m not sure people would really notice it. Which means we are doing things right. The event that the audience sees hasn’t changed all that much really. The format works well, so we have never really felt the urge to make many changes.

In regards to your Magazine, EMPTY (which quite possibly has the shortest masthead of any magazine I have ever read), have you noticed a difference between work you find personally stimulating and the issues that sell better or are they generally one and the same?
They are one and the same. Everything that goes into Empty is personally chosen by me, and my only real way to choose is by putting in things I like. Almost every image is placed in the mag because I like it. It’s really the only way I know how to do it. After all, i don’t know what other people like so I have to choose from my own taste. It’s thankfully worked pretty well so far though and people seem to like the art in the magazine.

One thing I find difficult with Australian Edge is deciding what work should stay out. In the end it comes down to my personal tastes, which I worry may have a discriminate bias to what we publish. Do you ever publish work that you personally do not like? If so what criteria do you follow before you publish a creative’s work?
I pretty much answered this in the question above. One thing i will say though is that you should really never put something into any personal project you run that you don’t like. If you do then you will begin to dislike your own project and it will lose the integrity that you want it to have. I think it’s that integrity that people like in projects like Australian Edge and the things we do. The media has very little integrity or soul these days so we always try to make sure we don’t lose our own morals amongst all the crap that’s going on out there.

What do you find the most challenging out of all your ventures?
I think the week or two leading up to any Semi-Permanent event is the most challenging time. It’s when the stress levels rocket up and it all starts to get a little scary as there are so many things that could go wrong and you always have a niggling doubt that you forgot something. Thankfully we’ve been ok and have had no major disasters (touch wood) but it can still be very stressful. My business partner on Semi-Permanent, Murray Bell and I always seem calm on the outside, but inside we are usually freaking out.

In your time promoting designers and artists, have there been any standouts that you have kept an eye on over the years?
The main person is San Francisco based artist, Tiffany Bozic. I was always a massive fan and so we invited her to speak in 2007. I was actually a bit nervous when i first met her, which never usually happens, but she was so nice and cool that we became instant friends. I’ve hung out with her and her husband a few times in San Francisco and LA and am the proud owner of a few of her artworks.

What are you reading/watching/listening to/browsing at the moment?
I’m reading an account of World War I by an Aussie digger called ‘Over the Top‘. Amazing stories that really bring into perspective how good we have it these days. I’m watching TV show 30 Rock. It’s awesome. Listening to Sage Francis, a hip hop guy somewhere in the US. Hip Hop is not really my style but there’s something about his stuff that I just love. Browsing theworldsbestever.com

Where do you find inspiration (outside of design is kinky)?
I find i’m less inspired by art these days and more by history and nature. I’m more inspired by stories of amazing historic events and also nature documentaries and that type of thing than I am by art and design these days. I’m not sure that it influences what I do though.

Any advice for younger designers entering the industry?
Having taken a different path to the usual work-for-someone type job I guess i’d just say that if you have a passion for art and design then make it a large part of your life rather than just a 9-5 thing. If you do that then you’ll find you enjoy yourself more and that building your own business or project will come quicker.

Links:
semipermanent.com
designiskinky.net
emptymag.com