Traumgedanken - Q&A with Maria Fischer

Last week I caught up with Munich based Graphic Designer Maria Fischer. The 2010 graduate - who has had previous work experience with the likes of designliga & häfelinger + wagner design -  produced a beautifully intricate 76 page book Traumgedanken as part of her final year at University. The Japanese-bound piece, which deals with the concepts of dreaming, was the winner of the Grand Prix 2010 at the  Bavarian State Award for Young Designers 2010.

First, tell us a bit about yourself:

When I went to school, I was already interested in arts, illustration and type design. After my A-Levels, I started studying Graphic Design at University of Applied Sciences Augsburg. During this time I discovered my special interest in typography and graphic design.

Explain the ideas behind Traumgedanken:

The book Traumgedanken ("Thoughts on dreams") contains a collection of different quotations about dreaming. The excerpts are taken from literary, philosophical, psychological and scientifical texts to provide a wide range of views. Most of the texts contain answers on either one or more of the following questions: "what is the origin of dreams?", "what function do they have?" and "how are they related to reality?". By bringing lots of distinct opinions together, I want to make the reader think and wonder about the topic, strengthen the awareness of dreams and encourage them to start dreaming. 

To ease the access to the elusive topic, the book is designed as a model of a dream about dreaming. Analogue to a dream, where pieces of reality are assembled to build a story, it brings different text excerpts together. They are connected by threads which tie in with certain key words. The threads visualise the confusion and fragility of dreams.

To create the final piece, I marked the points where I had to sew the thread through the paper by little dots. After printing the pages, I started sewing, which took about two weeks. Then the book was bound and finished.

Do you have any recurring dreams?

When I started dealing with the topic [for Traumgedanken] , I tried to remember my own dreams very carefully. One dream that I have had several times is that I'm back at school and have to do a maths test for which I'm not prepared. Waking up is a great relief then.

Which designers do you most admire?

I love the clear and beautiful work of Kenya Hara and I'm also inspired by a range of less famous designers and illustrators that I discover by reading design blogs.

You spent a semester abroad in Belfast - do you feel there is a large difference between design in Germany and in the UK?

I don't see a large difference between UK and German Design in general, but the semester abroad was a worthy experience anyhow. I learned doing a lot of research for inspiration and I had a course in Fine and Applied Arts, where I enjoyed working manually.

What projects are you currently working on?

Since September 2010 I'm working for a nice and small design bureau in Munich which realises projects in corporate- and editorial design.

View Maria's online portfolio HERE