New Dandyism: The Minds behind Call of the Wild

Clothing label Call of the Wild is the work of London-based graphic design duo Kai and Sunny. You have seen their Fall collections of Call of the Wild and Sticks N' Stones here. Now find out more about what makes them tick and there other work including book jacket covers, interior design, and there upcoming project with Reebok.

Who makes up the creative team behind Call of the Wild? Where did you grow up and where do you currently live and work?

I, Kai, grew up in Yeovil, Somerset South West England. Anthony (Sunny grew up in Kendal, Cumbria the North of the Country.

We work mainly in London, Sunny also works from his home in Brighton.

What was your formal training/education?

Sunny and I both went to Epsom School of Art and both did a BA in Graphic Design and graduated with a first.

What first got you into design?

My brother was a few yrs older and always collected records. I used to always study the covers. So record sleeve art was the first thing to get me into design.

Where do you get inspiration for your work?

Everywhere from nature to current designers and artists, films, books etc.

Over the past decade, computers have changed the way designers work. Fewer and fewer people actually use pen and paper. How do you work? How does the design process begin with you?

I'm not sure it has. I think the world is getting smaller and trends worldwide are a lot closer. Sunny and I try not to look at current trends and do our own thing. This is based on our own experiences.

The design process for us normally works as follows; we sit down and discuss the project then go through books, look online etc. for inspiration and to get a feel for a direction. We would then draw out a basic sketch. At this stage we take it into the computer to draw and color. Our images are normally made up of elements so we would work on separate elements and then put them together to create the image.

How do you feel about the idea that “designers are a dime a dozen” and anyone w/ Illustrator can design?

I think everybody can design and it is accessible to most people. I think this is a good thing as it raises the standard. You need to be better then the next person to survive.

How do you feel about the philosophy of New Dandyism?

I think you are correct. It is very funny that we pretend to look like we have not made an effort. In fact we are snobs and need to wear the limited trainer, the t-shirt nobody has etc.

Besides your various clothing lines, you and Sunny are a highly regarded graphic design team. What are some of the projects that we may have seen?

On the graphics side we have worked for many of the blue chip clients on advertising campaigns. The list would include; Vodafone, BT, Becks, Miller, Sunsilk, Kiehl's, Method, Seeds of change, EA Sports, PS3, Honda, Toyota, The Observer, Evening Standard, CND, Nike, and Levis.

Some other work includes book jacket designs, record sleeve design exhibition work, interior design and fashion design.Which one of your projects are you most proud of?

I think our book jacket series for The Author David Mitchell is something we are both very proud of.

You have an upcoming project with Reebok in the works. Can you please tell everyone a little bit about it and how it came about?

We were contacted by Reebok to potentially work together. We sent some items over to Chris Torres and were then commissioned to design a shoe, a t-shirt, socks and a shoebox. Call of the Wild is always about nature so we felt an outdoor walking shoe would be perfect and Chris felt the same. We wanted the shoe to echo the A/W 06 range. We used a version of our kryptonite print with the Reebok diamond logo. We kept the over all look understated.

Reebok is a huge global brand and we were privileged they wanted to work with us. We also felt they are working with some great brands and can only be a good thing for us.

Does a designer have a certain responsibility to society?

I think they do and you need to be very careful. We worked on a campaign for CND a few yrs ago which was against the war in Iraq. We are working on a campaign for Keep Stamford Beautiful. I really like working on projects that have a good cause behind it.

What is your work environment like?

Our work environment is very humble and quite. When we are working we like to be calm.

What music do you listen to while designing and what music are you obsessed w/ right now?

Originally we were both into Hip Hop music. We both loved the whole Mo Wax movement and the Bristol sound of Massive Attack. For me I'm into Radiohead, Sigur Ross, Flamming Lips etc.

If you could travel back in time, which design/art period would you choose? Which artist would like to meet most in person?

We both really like the poster art of Saul Bass for Hitchcock movies. We both love 60's art and the whole Art Nouveau movement.

I would really like to have met Picasso or Warhol.

What are your 5 most coveted items in your life at the moment?

My computer, my books, my pictures, my t-shirts, my smeg cooker.

What items do you regret ever purchasing?

A pair of red Fila's that I swapped for my Black Jordan 3's, bad mistake. My Apple cube computer that always broke down.