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Q: Hi Moshik! Where are you from and where do you live? A: Hello. I come from the north of Israel. A small city called Kiryat Shmona. It borders on Lebanon and is famous for it's caves but now I’m living in Jerusalem because that is where my school is located. Q: What did you study? Is this the result of a conscious choice or did it just happened by chance!? A: I’m still a student. I'm in my fourth, and last, year in the Typography department of Bezalel – Academy of Art and Design. Typography and typeface design has always been in my blood. I always said that I can design only with typography. For example, I don’t really need illustrations, photos or even colors to design a good poster. I see Typography as a distilled form of design. Q: How did you fall in love for Typography? A: I think the beginning of understanding type came from bad Typography that I saw on the streets, in magazines, on posters, in advertising, and the like. I remember that I didn’t understand how people could, and would, actually pay for bad design? Every time I saw bad typography it pushed me harder to create a wider variety of esthetically pleasing typography and, most of all, to do it correctly. Today I can say that the study of typography took full control of my life and I spend every second that I have playing with type. I don’t see it as work, I see it as true love. Q: What characteristics are essential for a Typography designer? A: A good Typography designer must know to look and feel the small details. We need to recognize the problem and know how to fix it. Of course, this kind of knowledge requires time to learn how to understand typography and experience in the field with understanding and experience and, of course, a lot of patience one can become a great Typography designer. I definitely believe that a type designer must be a hard working person and he/she needs to be in love with this line of work. One must enter into this career with a commitment to succeed and know in advance that they will need to sacrifice free time just to improve and be better. I think that all those characteristics and commitments together can take a designer to high levels in the area of typography design. Q: Let’s see the technical side….what software do you use? A: Since I was 10 years old I used freehand and photoshop. With time I also became familiar with Illustrator, FontLab and Indesign. Recently I have become very interested in learning and mastering 3d software. I think it could be amazing to combine typography with 3d. Just imagine the possibilities. Q: Do you sketch by hand to start with? A: It depends. Sometimes I have an idea and I can sketch it right away on my Mac, But sometimes I feel that I need to use my real live pencil and sketchbook to get the right shape. In any event, I love this line of work and can work both ways. Q: How do you start a project …can you list few steps to create a new type: A: The first step is having a good inspiration and then getting the concept right. Then I often get an image in my mind and I start to play with shapes. Most of the times the first image that I have is far away from the finished design but I often just need something to start with. Then I continuing playing with the type, test it and, no matter what, I’m always thinking how to do something that has never been seen before. Q: Where do you take inspiration from? A: Inspiration is one of the most important things a designers needs to develop a good design. Most of the designers that I know get their inspiration from other designers and from wonderful projects that they have seen or sometimes even done themselves. Personally, I think that is the problem. I think that if you want be an original and a successful designer you must extract inspiration from other ways. I believe that inspiration can come from anything and everything. Anything can be a good designer's muse. One can get inspiration from people - the way they talk, the way they walk, even the subtle way they hold and/or present themselves. Inspiration can be derived from a sound that one heard in some random night club. From a feeling to a bus station, anything can be one's muse. A good typeface designer has their past designs and/or favorite designers to inspire them but a great typeface designer knows in their heart of hearts that you just need to keep your senses open and the inspiration will come to you. This is how it I have always designed and this is what truly works for me. Q: Do you take inspiration from your country? A: Israel is a very small country and I am familiar with most of it but the pace at which things happen here is crazy. Every second we hear news that can change the dynamics of the entire country and that, in itself, can actually give me inspiration for new project. On that note, last year I was on a six month student exchange program in Toronto, Canada. During that time I got so much inspiration from everything I did or saw. For example, my "Toronto" typeface was inspired from things that I saw in the streets. Even the ceiling of OCAD, the school at which I was studying, was the inspiration Toronto typeface. I definitely believe that a new place can open your mind and give you a lot of inspiration. Having said that, some of my favorite designs that I have developed came from home grown inspiration. Q: Your favourite artists? can you name few for us… A: One of the type designers that I admire the most is Erik Spiekermann. I love his passion for type and I certainly sympathize with him. I also admire Israeli designer Ron Arad. Arad is not a type designer, however, he is definitely an awesome designer that knows his business. Pentagram also includes great designers like Paule Scher, Michael Beirut and many more. I only hope that one day I’ll have the honor to work with one of them in the future. Having tipped my hat to the famous ones, I must say that the most influential artist in my life has always been my father, Jacob Nadav, He is not famous like the aforementioned artists but I have learned a lot from him. I admire his work and his personality that has enabled him to reach all the successes he has achieved in life. Q: OK and now we want to know a bit more about you! What music do you listen to? A: I really enjoy listening to Electronic music, Techno, Dubstep, 90’s, 80’s and of course Israeli music. Everything that can give me a boost of energy or makes me be nostalgic. I believe that music can give you energy and, in turn, a lot of inspiration. The project that I designed for the "Typolyrics" book was all based on the techno track "Window Licker" by Aphex Twin. On the other hand, silence is golden and sometimes I need silence when I’m working. Q: What is your favourite dish? A: Oh, where to begin? I have a lot! Sushi with shrimp or a great carrot & avocado inside out roll is my favorite! I also crazy about pizzas and pastas. A juicy homemade burger with thick cut fries will work 24/7. Yes, I’m a junk food lover not a health nut. Still, nothing compares to home cooking. Fresh Israeli dishes like skewered chicken beef, and/or lamb, hummus, and raw cabbage coleslaws. Nothing compares to the traditional Moroccan cooked tomato and hot pepper salad that my cousin Tiffany in Toronto makes. If you tasted it you would think you were in a small tented cafe in Marrakech. Then again, in all fairness, the only thing that I know how to make are toasted sandwiches! :)) Q: The best place to go out in your town? A: If we are referring to Jerusalem, there is no doubt that the Western Wall is one of the most special places in the world to visit. It gives its visitors some sort of special, unexplainable feeling of energy and spirituality, especially if it's at night. If we are referring to Kiryat Shmona, it is in the North of Israel in an area commonly known as the Finger of Gallilee and it is next to the Hula Valley. If visiting there, one might want to take the cable car to the top of the Manara cliffs to look down on the city. It is a truly awesome view. I recommend visiting both places in your lifetime. Web page: http://www.moshik.net