etapes to popularity

Joachim Muller-Lance leaves New York for San Francisco in 1987.

"I love this city for its steep streets, its houses, its marvelous views, the mix of cultures, the international cuisine, its human size (800'000 inhabitants). In San Francisco, walking is a pleasure. The countryside is close; you can be there in little time. It's easy to cross the ocean to go to Asia, to see my friends, to work."

His description of the city reveals two characteristics which can be found again in his work: simplicity and humanism. At the the time of this move, the career of Joachim Muller-Lance is already well engaged. He is interested in everything concerning cultural and international graphic design. He becomes Lead Information Designer for Barclays Global Investors.

"An information designer is specialized in culture, education, and orientation. He makes things more comprehensible, simple for use, he organizes information and expresses it in a manner that is clear, logical, and practical. He invents systems for thinking: simple interfaces, plans, manuals, pictograms, color systems..."

A pedagogical and intellectual ethic dominates his process in the same way as an emotional and spiritual dimension. In 1997, Joachim Muller-Lance creates his own studio Kame Design. There he works alone. He prefers solitude and with that, time of reflection, of concentration. An entire philosophy guides his work. The name of his studio translates his ethic. In Japanese, Kame means "turtle".

"In Japan, the turtle is the symbol for 10'000 years. In a legend, it carries the world. The turtle is slow, but strong. It is the incarnation of patience, of a time of reflection and wisdom."

This symbol is far from inferring backwardness and believing in the past. On the contrary, Joachim Muller-Lance insists on the importance of keeping at the heart of his productions a space that renders their permanent actualization possible. To inform also means to renew himself. To awaken the attention of his reader, he plays with rather provocative and subversive form. His graphic work tingles and refreshes. All his productions breathe joviality. His shapes are explosive (some of his characters have the appeal of manga heroes), but they are all perfectly determined, concentrated. This is contained strength.

In San Francisco, at the extreme point of the occidental and oriental world, Joachim Muller-Lance links wisdom and turbulence. He brings opposites together, livens up his musical or graphic compositions (by the way, both mix together), for Kame Design or for his band, Sadsadfun.