Interview with Steven R. Gilmore

Steven R. Gilmore: If I had to choose, the most memorable was the work I did on the two movie soundtracks for the The Lord Of The Rings. Not so much because I am proud of the work I did (which I am) but more for the incredible amount of hours I had to put into those two releases. There were a number of special edition packages that had to be created as well as numerous worldwide regular releases and advertising. At the end of the day, the two combined releases took about 10 months of solid work but aged me about ten years.With that being said, what I’m usually most enthusiastic about is the project that I’m working on in the moment. The process of trying new things and learning from my mistakes is something I truly get excited about.

SRG: It varies for each release as the themes are always different but I do keep in mind that this music is mainly going to be used for trailers so I take more of a cinematic approach to the graphics as opposed to a musical one.

Generally speaking I value input from my clients, but it is also an important part of my creative process to have as little input as possible so I can let my imagination roam. When I have too much information or conflicting feedback I start second guessing myself and the work becomes homogenized, which is never a good thing.I prefer to work with a few key descriptive words such as dynamic, foreboding, romantic, uplifting or words of that nature. Then I start scouring my brain for ideas that fit those descriptions. I usually start with an obvious idea then I slowly abstract it to a point where I’m happy with it. For instance with Illumina my original ideas revolved around the middle ages and stained glass, which you can still see a hint of with the ghosted type in the background. But then my mind starting wandering which got me thinking about light in general, particularly in Tokyo with all the neon and super sized LED screens. But the lights of Tokyo were too garish for the airiness I wanted to portray so I started thinking about Japanese gardens. Eventually I ended up with what you see, a Japanese woman floating in a light luminous atmosphere of flowers and clouds with a hint of the middle ages.

I don’t consciously set out to make TSFH “stand out”, I just try and do the best job that I possibly can.

TMN: What is the process behind creating a brand identity? What is your method?

SRG: As I mentioned before I didn’t start out thinking of TSFH as a brand identity or perhaps I would have taken a different approach. But now that they have several releases under their belt and are revered by so many people in the industry it has turned into an identity. I’m just happy knowing that perhaps my packaging has helped them along the way.

TMN: One philosophical question: Where are the borders of branding? Nowadays everything is connected to a brand, and it seems like even a person can sell himself as a brand.

SRG: I don’t believe there are any borders in regards to branding. Some people inherently want to stand out and they are going to do it in any way that they possibly can if that is their goal. Whether it is with subtlety or a big bang.

TMN: What is your opinion of Two Steps From Hell’s music? Do you like trailer music?

SRG: I don’t get to hear the music of TSFH very often but the little I have heard is very impressive. That reminds me, I have to ask them to send me some of the recent releases (wink). I don’t normally hear the music before I start designing the sleeve, Nick and Thomas communicate their ideas and descriptions of the music and I usually take it from there.Of course, who doesn’t like trailer music? It sets the tone and gets you excited about a movie or product.

TMN: What are your plans for the future?

SRG: To finally get my new website up! Kidding aside, there are so many choices for me right now that I can’t answer that question with any kind of certainty. For the time being I’m concentrating on my paintings (which has been sadly neglected over the years) while still working on a few commercial projects. There is a link to a PDF of my personal work on my website along with my commercial work.

TMN: I know it’s a bit of a designer-geek question: what is your favorite font? I personally really like Trajan, which is used as Two Steps From Hell’s logo.

SRG: I don’t really have a favorite font. I either design a title from scratch or use a type style that I think is appropriate for the job at hand. But there are fonts that I come back to time and again, which are, Trade Gothic, Bell Gothic and DIN (FontShop version) but these are mainly for body copy. And as boring as this may sound, I’ve been really getting into Helvetica and Times New Roman these days. Perhaps because they don’t make a statement which leaves me open to concentrate more on pure visual imagery and not so much on the typography side of things.