/Interview/ The brains behind: Daily Monster
30/04/2008 | Filed under Discover > Interview
Graphic designer and illustrator Stefan G Bucher draws monsters and films himself doing it. Now he’s turned the popular project into a book, 100 Days of Monsters
.net: How did you come up with the Daily Monster project?
SB: The Daily Monsters evolved from an earlier book pitch called “Upstairs Neighbors”. I was convinced that they would find a publisher the minute I showed them to people. Well... I was very wrong. The publishers I showed it to took months and months just to get back to me. Which was really lucky, as it turns out. As I was waiting for word I wanted to do something to keep myself interested. That’s when I had the idea of drawing a monster a day and filming the process for my blog.
.net: How do you draw the monsters? What process do you go through?
SB: For each monster I put a few drops of sumi ink on a sheet of paper and blow them out with a straw. This creates a nicely complex ink blot shape that I rotate on my desk until I see a monster in the shape - basically a homemade Rorschach test. Once I see the monster, all I have to do is draw it, which I now usually do upside down, just to show off.
.net: How do you prepare the videos for the web? And why did you go for Revver?
SB: I create a really crude time-lapse effect by squeezing the original video in Quicktime Pro. I’ve tried more sophisticated methods, but they tend to somehow filter out those great compressed marker noises. Once that’s done, I’ll compensate for my crappy lighting with a quick curve in AfterEffects.
Just about everything on the site has happened because one of the visitors suggested it. I was having a technical issue with YouTube and a viewer suggested that I try Revver. I started using them with Monster 20 and I haven’t looked back. They’ve always been extremely nice to me, and their video quality is great.
.net: What’s the feedback been like?
SB: It’s been just fantastic. I get comments and stories from little kids, other designers and illustrators, from professional writers, from seniors, and all this from all over the world. Most of my work is seen as very specialised, so it’s really nice to think that the monsters are universal. I even got stories from a captain in the US Marine Corps in Japan. Can you imagine?
.net: When did the readers of your blog start to invent stories to go with your monsters?
SB: That happened really quickly. Within a few days of the start of the project somebody asked me for the name of a particular monster. I told her “Well, that’s not my job. That’s for you to decide.” From there on the visitors named the creatures, and I’d start asking questions. “What does this one eat? What music does it listen to?” On Monster 10 a gentleman from London, Simon Darwell-Taylor, wrote the first real story and showed everybody what was possible. That really set the tone and got everybody involved.
.net: How has your life (and work) changed since you started the blog?
SB: Don’t tell my clients, but the monsters have really taken over my life. It’s been an incredible experience. I’m not a social person by nature, so to have all this kindness and great creative energy flow into my inbox every day has been unbelievable. It’s been a complete blast!
.net: Your book features 100 monsters but you’re already well on your way to your 200th monster. How long will this go on for?
SB: I did another month of Daily Monsters from April 1st, leading up to the UK release of the book (through David & Charles). That brings me to exactly 200 Monsters. At that point it really depends on the reaction to the first book. I’d love to do a Volume 2 of the book to document the new drawings and new stories, some of which easily stand toe-to-toe with the best of the first 100. Will I do another 100 after that? Maybe. If it really, REALLY takes off. That said, I’ve got a few new ideas that I’d like to explore, too.
.net: How did you get Ze Frank to write the foreword?
SB: Ze and I have spoken at a few of the same conferences, and have remained friendly. He knew my more complex poster artwork and commented to me once that he’d love to see me channel the energy from one of those big, involved illustrations into a whole bunch of smaller illustrations. So he was directly involved in the genesis of the monsters. He was also an early friend to the site, linking to it from his massively successful blog. He gave the monsters a great big zap of his energy. He was there from the very beginning. Having him write the foreword was simply necessary.
.net: What’s your favourite monster and why?
SB: Oh, I don’t know that I can even answer that. Some I like for the drawing, others I like the stories it provoked. Some ended up with really funny animation at the end. There have been so many new favourites lately. I know... ugh! What a sugary answer, but there are so many fun bits that came through.
.net: What have you learned from the project?
SB: It’s OK to give up a little bit of control. In fact, it makes the hardest part of the work - the sitting down and starting - a lot easier and the whole thing more fun.
.net: What are your plans now?
SB: I’ve got a few new books in the works — several as the designer, one as curator, and one or two pipe-dreamy things that may or may not be anything.
I’m also going back on the road to speak, at corporations, design associations, and schools. There is some blue sky talk of putting the monsters on TV. Fingers crossed on that one. Odds are it won’t happen, but how fun would that be?
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