20 Apr 2009, Written by Daniel Sinker in design

Sonnenzimmer: the shoestring portrait

Sonnenzimmer: the shoestring portrait from dsinker on Vimeo.

Chicago’s Sonnenzimmer is a collaboration between Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi. Part print shop, part art studio, part design firm, Sonnenzimmer approaches every job with a steady hand and a unique eye. Their unusual style–a mix between handmade color play and the less-is-more aesthetic of Swiss modernism–has built a small but dedicated following for the studio. In this Shoestring portrait, Nick and Nadine talk about the the power of collaboration, the struggle to break even, and the importance of independence.

Previously on Is Greater Than: International Chicago Design Overthrow: Sonnenzimmer

Video courtesy of Hanging by a Shoestring

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Daniel Sinker is the publisher of Independents’ Day Media, a Chicago-based independent publishing company. He teaches about magazines at Columbia College Chicago and is a 2007-08 Knight Fellow at Stanford University. All his blogging is collected at danielsinker.com.

View all articles by Daniel Sinker.

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Tags: video