Alt Group graphic designer Kate Cullinane wins ADC Gold Cube for graduate thesis ‘Sample Copy’

Copying comes as second nature when you’re a copy yourself. Identical twin and Alt Group graphic designer Kate Cullinane’s (left) graduate thesis dissecting the act of copying in design has won the young designer international recognition in two global design awards and has been featured in a leading international design publication.

The 25 year old designer’s thesis, a book entitled Sample Copy: An Exploration of the Role of Copying in Design, has won an international Art Directors Club Gold Cube, announced on 5 April 2013.

Cullinane’s book has also been named in the top three in the global Type Directors ClubAwards for Typographic Excellence (the final rankings will be announced in July), and a chapter of her book has been published in influential online magazine, Design Observer.

Cullinane says she’s honoured with the recognition.

Says Cullinane: “I love that Sample Copy is reaching the audience for which it was intended, and that people are responding to it so positively. Not everyone will agree with my arguments, but that’s the point – I want to challenge the way people think.”

Growing up as an identical twin, Cullinane only saw benefits of copying; from fooling teachers to perfectly synchronised sports partners.

Says Cullinane: “It was not until I entered design school that I became aware of the fear towards copying: the obsession to be original; the dismissal of an image that looks too similar to that of an existing piece. This negativity towards copying was something that I simply couldn’t relate to.”

Her exploration of copying for her graduate thesis project is encased in a carefully designed book written for the design community.

Says Cullinane: “Copying is fundamental to the creative process. Copying is where new developments begin because good designers copy an existing work with the intention of surpassing it. I believe the act of copying advances design.”

Citing numerous distinguished designs with roots in copying and appropriation – from Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Can, to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to Salvador Dali’s Chupa Chups logo and Alexander McQueen’s Bosch Silk-Jacquard Dress of Autumn/Winter 2010 – Cullinane asserts that “building upon what already exists is more productive than starting from scratch.”

The thesis Sample Copy features a slew of opinions from internationally renowned designers – from Barcelona to New York to Hong Kong, London and Auckland’s Dean Poole of Alt Group – all of whom Cullinane interviewed personally.

Says Cullinane: “Interviewing some of the world’s best designers was such an honour, and so exciting. Many of them sent me articles about copying that they found or even wrote. I can’t describe what it was like for me as a student to have correspondence with someone like Massimo Vignelli [an influential Italian designer responsible for the iconic New York Subway system signage and American Airlines identity].”

Cullinane earned first class honours from AUT in 2012 for her graduate thesis project, while working part time at Auckland design agency Alt Group – where she is now employed full time as a graphic designer.

She says working with Alt Group and its directors Dean Poole and Ben Corban also opened the floodgates for ideas from the design industry.

Says Cullinane: “I couldn’t have asked for better mentors. A large number of the paragraphs in Sample Copy originated from our Alt Group lunchtime discussions.”

To be awarded for both typographic excellence and art direction is no mean feat – the project was carefully crafted to convey the act of copying from first page to last. The book was created with CBF paper stock, commonly used to print handwritten invoices, which copies a mark to the next page.

All images have been put through a blue filter because the color has a strong connotation to a carbon copy. The 45-degree angle originated from the common position of a ‘sample copy’ stamp, and was used throughout the book.