How to make enemies and gain fans. An interview with Fredrik Öst

They will probably remind you one of your favourite bands, shaking you around with their exotic rhythms. They will easily become your guide to an extraordinary trip to secret magical places. Their generosity with colour along with their genuine playfulness in style will definitely make you smile. Snask sure are some bold typographic players that exemplify that self-confidence does good. The Stockholm-based group, widely known for its expertise in design and film, started crafting most of their designs by hand, which soon made them popular around blogs and conferences. Today, they are one of the most creative film agencies around the globe counting many respected clients throughout Sweden. We approached their founder Fredrik Öst in order to find out more about their stylistic approach, only to learn how to succeed in making enemies.

Could you write down us some words that characterize your work and the people of your studio?
Ambitious. Rockn’roll. Down to earth. Groundshaking.

What is your strongest belief as a creative studio?
To make enemies and have fans. To make work that people hate and people love. And that the day you don't love your work anymore you should quit.

For what reasons do you follow the ‘Designed by hand’ technique?
Because it's more fun and looks better.

How would you describe your visual style in typography and what or who is responsible for it?
We don't really have a visual style of typography. We change with time and think that typography from every age can be beautiful. However we have a very hard time to accept this new “anti-design”-wave that's going on where designers kern “wrong” deliberately and fuck up composition deliberately.

How do you choose typefaces for each project?
References mainly as well as being up to date what great foundry’s offering.

All my life I’ve had more fun saying yes than no

When a font customization or a lettering is needed, do you address a specialized person such as a typographic designer or do you trust only the studio’s typo abilities?
Sometimes we take in specialized typographers but most often we do it ourselves.

What can we find in Snask’s collection of things?
Swords and champagne. Proof can be found in our book “Make Enemies & Gain Fans”. Can be bought here.

Where can we find most of you when you're not at the studio?
I would love to say on an Caribbean island of some sort holding a drink on a sun bed made out of hand quilted palm leafs, however the truth is probably in Stockholm at concerts, in bars, on stages and in beds.

Give us an exclusive short statement, anything, something like a tweet.
“All my life I’ve had more fun saying yes than no”. Said by SNASK in 2005

Fredrik thanks a lot for your time! To find out more about Snask visit their website.