I Love Dust are a company who pride themselves on their individuality and have shown this with some high profile jobs ranging from an album sleeve for Charlotte Hatherley, illustration work for Computer Arts Mag as well as pushing on with their own projects. We chatted with Mark Graham about… stuff.

Hello and welcome to the world of Thunder Chunky. How do you do today?

Very well thanks.

How would you sum up I Love Dust and the work you do?

Hmm… summing up is always hard; I don’t feel like we have to fit into a specific area. I think we just love creating different things for different people.

How does the I Love Dust story begin?

Myself and Ben Beach met about 2 years ago and just found we were both being bled dry by our employers, so we planned what we could do for a while, grabbed some work and just went for it. It was far from easy but we knew we had something to give in terms of design and creative solutions.

You’ve just launched the new site. What improvements have you made from the last site?

Well we were getting loads of really nice emails from people saying how much they liked our work, and we wrere like ARGHHHH its all old work! So we just tipped all our work from the last few months out on the table and grabbed the camera! We worked on it over a week and tried to keep it clean and quirky and not too fussy. Were very happy with the results of the Winter Edition and have some cool ideas for Spring 2005.

You’ve worked with some great clients including the likes of Ash, Charlotte Hatherley and Computer Arts. Which projects have been particularly satisfying to work on?

I think they all have different merits to be honest. Some work is done for the sheer love of the person or brand involved. Its nice for people just to trust us and let us push ideas forward.

I think Charlotte Hatherley was a great example of being able to show what we could do if given the opportunity, and she’s a nice person to boot. We’re currently working on Charlotte’s new video with Shaun Of The Dead director Edgar Wright, and that’s proving to be alot of fun too.

You’ve got a new range of tees coming out which is a shift from doing client-based work to doing self-directed projects. Is this something you’ve always planned to do and is it something you see yourselves doing more in the future?

From the very, very start that’s what we both wanted to do. Ben has a great understanding of the industry from previous jobs and so it was always going to happen… it was just a matter of timing.

When and where will people be able to get the tees from?

Well we preview the collection in Berlin at The Bread & Butter show on Jan 23rd, and they will be available in a few selected stores in London , Manchester , Brighton and Liverpool. We’re also gonna have them for sale on our site nearer the time, with ‘ web only ‘ designs and colourways. Were working on some great collaborations for this project including Mr Jago, SBTG , Lmac Tv and our dear friends Freaky Facets and Fons.

You work alongside some interesting creatives like Dave White and McFaul. How were these guys brought to the table, and what do they bring with them?

Ha ha, what do they bring to the table! Hmmmm… Mcfaul brings his dirty great big 1200” monitor and Dave White brings another round of drinks! These guys are friends we’ve made over the last 14mnths we just bounce ideas off each other, its a very healthy way to work.

You’re also involved with TC faves lmac.tv! what exciting projects are you preparing to wow us all with?

Oh yeah very exciting times for that project. We’re doing their new site and some tee- shirts, and hopefully some toy collabs will follow. Those guys are great and we have a mutual respect that makes working a joy.

Lmac.tv are all about music and design being linked together. What music is usually playing in the studio?

Oh my god that’s hard ok … Beastie Boys, Tm Juke, Oasis, Charlotte Hatherley, Ian Brown , !!!, The Ludes, Happy Monday , operation Ivy, Richard Ashcroft, Audery Nugent, War of the Worlds OST, The Pharcyde, Phil Collins, Madonna, The Jam, Kasabian, Scala on the Rocks and Burt Bacarach ( well thats the last 2 hrs in itunes)

For people hoping to get into the design industry, yet still retain their creative edge, what’s your advice to them?

If you think you can do better than what the client specs…. you have to show them what you can do. Invest in a good coffee machine and water cooler.

Finally, what’s the one thing everyone should do today?

Have a whisky mac of course :
1 1/2 oz Scotch Whisky
1 oz Green Ginger Wine
a splash of Lemonade
add to some ice and a twist of lime.
MMMMMMMMMMmmmmm. Now drink whilst looking www.ilovedust.com
dont forget to visit our friends too!

Check out some of the work from the ilovedust boys by visiting www.ilovedust.com.