w o r d s T h om a s R e e s a n d T i m S a puto I M AGE S M i c h a e l C i n a
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Michael Cina T h e G h ost l y d e s i g n e r a n d t y p e w r a n g l e r t a l ks a b out t h e cosmos , g e tt i n g l oos e , a n d L e d Z e pp e l i n ' s P r e s e n c e .
Left: Michael Cina exclusive for XLR8R, 2009
With clients as seemingly disparate as HewlettPackard, Pepsi, and Ghostly International, Minneapolisbased Michael Cina is a workhorse designer whose oeuvre is exemplary of an artist thinking in multiple media without elevating one over another.
An inheritor of the idea of the gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork), Cina's precise graphic design and typography for his YouWorkForThem design showcase is informed by his more abstract paintings, and vice-versa. “I don't feel my career is based on a specific style like a lot of artists and designers,” Cina acknowledges, but this penchant for a more holistic view of what design and art can accomplish explains his many successes: collaborative design work has yielded contracts from Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and numerous other corporate giants, while his paintings have graced the covers of magazines and records for Kate Simko, Bodycode, and many more techno heavyweights. A former DJ and electronic music fan himself, Cina is meticulous about his record-cover design process, listening to the album repeatedly and “thinking about what it would look like, or how to represent it.” With a palette that's equally informed by Twombly and Rothko, Cina's covers complement the abstracted but obviously sensual music within, bringing some much-needed color to the often black-and-white world of techno sleeves. Here, he talks about his processes, organizational skills (or lack thereof), and most important influences. youworkforthem.com, michaelcinaassociates.com