Name: TRONIC

Location: New York, USA

URLs: www.tronicstudio.com

Who is Tronic?
Tronic was founded by Jesse Seppi and Vivian Rosenthal in the summer of 2001. We created the first joint thesis at Columbia University’s Graduate Architecture School. Our thesis was a study on collapsing two spaces, a physical space and a digital space, that existed in two distinct locations to create a seamless single environment, called the Blue House. This study into the simultaneity of physical and virtual space has permeated and influenced the trajectory of our work since.

Your studio has a strong background in Architecture. What made you move more in to a graphics base studio?
We are still to this day approached to be involved in various architecture related projects. That said, we have become forever seduced by the image, or more specifically, the idea of a spatial condition in motion.

What way does that background influence the studios work and clients it leans towards?
Our architectural and spatial thinking and backgrounds definitely influence our design. With each project we are looking to create an experience, which is a very architectural approach, whether it be a broadcast spot, a website or an installation. Many of our projects have a spatial element to them. For instance, the BQSEA spot is an investigation into our surrounding urban fabric and the Creative Review spot is about a person’s interaction with the physical and digital space around them. Nikelab approaches shoes as architecture…the layers of the shoe are revealed in the same fashion as the layers of a building. Simply put, we have been programmed to think in a 3D space. That has been very useful, like breathing.

Tronic made an installation for the diesel denim gallery in NYC-tell us about that?
The "The Retail Experiment" is an interactive video installation created for the Diesel Denim Gallery in NYC. The show was curated by Sebastien Agneessens of Formavision. (www.formavision.info) For the installation we interviewed over 100 people, of all different ages, asking them to recall one of their fondest memories. A morphing process shows these people becoming younger and younger as they recount their fond memory. In order to further engage the consumer we designed an "atm" like booth that captured a shopper's photo as they signed in to the Retail Experiment. Then, in real time, their image was incorporated into the video projections and they too became part of the cycle and were projected onto the walls of the gallery. Over 5000 images were captured over the course of the month.3D space and architectural structures have been used a lot in graphic/web design. People say putting 3d perspective in your design always gives it more of an impact or makes it more in depth either with type or shapes.

Do you think this is a vital tool to use in communicating the message?
We have always designed with a third dimension in consideration. People speak a lot about 2D vs. 3D but to us it is a personal decision and neither approach is more or less appropriate in conveying a message.

How does your 3D environment NYC you live in influence your work?
Living in NYC is like living eternally inside. There is no outside here. All of the tall buildings keep you away from the sky and sun and fresh air. Perhaps this is why we work so much, to escape the lack of outside and nature. The computer, the screen itself, is a window into another reality. It frames a world of potential, which is why we gravitate towards it. The window frame, on the other hand, only points to what we already know, the interior world of NYC. Our work often reflects our urban surroundings (the BQSEA project) and interior spaces (Creative Review/Digital Remix).

Who are your main inspirations? / What are your influences?
Nature and robots and the duality between them are a huge source of inspiration. Cyborgs excite us. Anything extremely beautiful, ugly or violent is an influence. Some of us become inspired by strange moments and strangers in and around New York. I once saw a giant man sleeping on a bench who had spontaneously awakened and began to punch a billboard promoting peace. That is a clear source of inspiration.

Do you think you are more human or robot?
A human is a robot, I am convinced. The question is causing me to malfunction.

Do you have any new projects coming up that you can tell us about?
We’re working on two commercials for NEC. We just completed the Choose or Loose spots for MTV and a bunch of work for Fuse. We’re about to start on a very secretive motion capture project…this is going to be groundbreaking…we’ll let you know when it’s finished. And we recently finished art directing the Wired Magazine technology conference called Nextfest. (www.nextfest.net) and created an all CG piece for the Nike Speed campaign.

We have just updated our site www.tronicstudio.com where you can see a lot of this recent work.

What do you know about Australian design/designers?
We know that there is a lot of interesting design coming out of Australia….

Thanks Tronic!