Theme Machine
Text by John Lampard
Michael Dawidowicz’s Urban Collective website not only connects him with the work of designers all over the world, it’s also helped him clock up a few frequent flyer points in the process.
He has recently returned from a book launch in Malaysia, while the inspiration to start the project came in 2002, when he was working in Tokyo, Japan.
The Melbourne based designer had been looking for an idea for a submission based project that was a little different to what was around at the time.
“I wanted to start some sort of design website and a submission site was something no one else was doing at the time. It just grew and grew and now is a creative platform for designers around the world,” he says.
Urban Collective invites artists and designers to submit work on a 665 by 290 pixel sized canvas according to a theme Michael chooses each month. The choice is usually influenced by local or global events, and also gives designers something solid work to, says Michael.
“Themes can be decided at the last minute or laid out months in advance, it all depends. Sometimes I will use world events as themes, that is, war, the world cup, but I try to make it a challenge every month and see what results I get,” he says.
“Other websites just leave the topic open to the designer which is meaningless to me. Themes give the user an understanding of what the design is about.”
Michael is also flexible when it comes to accepting late submissions, and is happy to receive work from designers after an issue’s original closing date. Creativity doesn’t adhere to deadlines at Urban Collection, says Michael.
“It would be unfair to not allow submissions to past issues. It gives the designer more opportunities to be creative and that can only be a good thing.”
Despite appearances, and what some people think, Urban Collective is run and maintained solely by Michael.
“A lot of people assume there’s a small team behind UC, but in fact it’s only me running the show. I enjoy the responsibility of looking after this website that is hopefully making an impact within the on-line design world.”
In fact the response to Urban Collective is perhaps one of the most satisfying aspects of the whole project, says Michael. It not only keeps him in touch with what is happening in the design community, it also inspires him as well.
“I’ve created a space for designers from over 80 countries to showcase their talents, so that’s a reward in itself. Employers like the fact that I run UC in my own time, they know I’m in touch with the design world more then they are. It also keeps my creative juices flowing.”
Urban Collective has seen Michael being invited to a number of design related events in Asia, and the United States.
“I’ve just returned from a book launch for Territory - Japan Fever book in Malaysia, which I participated in with an interview and also was a speaker at the event. UC has a big fan base around Malaysia and Indonesia, so it was good to meet those people face to face and have a good time.”
