An interview with Tom Muller, creative director of Kleber

Tom’s personal site, Design by Muller

Congratulations on a successful launch of the new Dixon Baxi website. How did the project come about, and did it go smoothly?

Thanks! The project came about last year when the guys from DixonBaxi (that would be Simon and Aporva respectively) got in touch with me after they saw the Kleber-built blog for Build (Michael C. Place), to have a chat about doing their site.

Build’s Blog, built by Kleber

I’ve known Simon and Aporva for a few years now (we met at Semi-Permanent in Sydney in 2005 where we were speaking), so we were already familiar with each other’s work.

They were looking to redo their site from scratch, since their previous one (the only version they had so far) was basically showing images without context, and every time they wanted to showcase a new project (like their recent work for Five) they were forced to create a stand alone page that didn’t fit with the rest of the site at all. Suffice to say they were looking for a streamlined rethink of the site and basically build a ‘real’ site where they could properly show their work, case studies, behind-the-scenes bloggery etc within a structured framework.

They knew what they wanted, but needed someone to take their ideas and give them form, and thats where we came in.

It certainly was an interesting project. Since its designers working for other designers, the dialogue is as much about the type choices, colours and grids as it is about the functionality and user experience (i.e. if your grid is a pixel off, they’ll notice) - which is a nice change to the usual one way street between designers and clients. Especi

ally because Simon and Aporva have experience designing and art-directing sites, we ended up shooting the designs back and forth, where they would tweak the colour schemes for example, with both parties inputting ideas to create the end result.

Can you tell us more about Kleber?

Kleber has been going for 12 years now. The company was formed in 1997 (rising from the ashes of a web agency called Obsolete), and quickly built an enviable portfolio of clients in the music/entertainment/art/culture industries.

I joined the company in 2002 and haven’t looked back since. In 2005 we got rid of a central office space and became a ‘virtual’ company - we all work from our home studios scattered across the UK and through the wonders of technology we stay in touch.

Currently we’re 4 people strong located in Sheffield, London, and the South East.

Kleber’s new website

Kleber is known for the vast number of music websites that they have designed and produced. How did you involvement with the music industry come about, and how do you find working with bands, artists, and their labels?

Kleber’s involvement with the music industry has been there since the company started really. In the early days we had Ninja Tune and Warp Records as our ‘main’ clients.

The work we did for them got us noticed (winning us some awards in the process) and over the years we’ve worked for almost every known label (big and small).

Its just something that we like to do and we’re rather good at it as we understand how the music industry works online. Working for the music industry isn’t that different from other industries really, at the end of the day they’re your clients and you provide a service for them - the only difference is that they don’t wear suits (unless they’re Spandau Ballet) and you bust them smoking weed in your kitchen.

And just to pop that bubble: No, its not all rockstars, parties, and the lifestyle of the rich and infamous. We rarely see the artists themselves (especially when working with the bigger labels), and usually deal with management, but from time to time there can be nice perks that come with the job.

You’ve been a keen and active player in Layer Tennis. How did your involvement in the game come about, and when is your next match?

I wouldn’t say active, I’ve only done it twice now. I’m not really sure - one day I got an email from Jim Coudal asking me if I was interested in participating in their initial pre-season ‘game’ where a PSD file was passed around the world, and if I was up for a ‘real’ game later on. And thats that really. A lot of fun to do though.

Your work is not solely web-oriented: you obviously love print and typography too. What do you prefer: designing a new website, typeface, or piece of print and why?

All of them. Thats the reason why I do all those things. Doing just the one thing all the time would become very boring to me.
I like to be able to design sites at Kleber, and then design comics or logos in the evenings. Its all design anyway, and one informs the other. In the words of Massimo Vignelli: “Design is One”.

Where do you find inspiration?

Ah, the “inspiration” question. Tried and trusted friend of so many interviews! Honestly, no idea. Anything. I can kind of pin it down to going “Oh, that’d be a cool thing to do…!” and then I’m off.

You can follow Tom on Twitter, or visit his own, or Kleber’s, website.

— Posted on August 18th, 2009 by Daniel in: Interview

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