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Graphic Design

Clem Rousset

Hello I'm Clem. I'm a French designer with a strong interest in print and a mild obsession with grey things. I am currently working and living somewhere in between London, Lyon and Lausanne.

My work involves graphic design, writing and publishing. Most of it deals with grey — which happens to be my favourite colour — but is also a theme I use as a metaphor to approach topics such as neutrality, non-binarity and liminality.

While being a designer, I'm also an amateur baker, a cat person and a game master.

Recipient of The Augustus Martin Prize

Contact

Website

RCA Shopify link

Degree Details

School of Communication

Graphic Design

Let’s talk about grey.

I write about, think about and look for grey things because they are small gateways out of the binary and out of labels. Grey things are little prisms that can project non-binary fragments if you shine a light at them. They can become an invitation to whoever is interested to take a look at labels and categories, at how they are made, at what is crammed into them and at what falls through the cracks in between. Inviting is important. Because it is not about being right. It is about generosity. It also implies that the invitation can be turned down.

I like grey things, and most greys, but I do have a favourite grey; the grey of my favourite shirt. 

Shopping for a shirt won’t make you feel better. It’s probably true. And I don’t really care.

I wasn’t planning on buying that shirt. I was out on a Saturday to buy a shirt, but a white one. Actually, I was out to buy anything. I walked into a shop and found where the white shirts were pretty fast. But next to them was a pile of very grey shirts. 

I bought it, my shirt, and I put it in my bag. Then I stepped out of the shop and into a glossy puddle.  

cover

pages 2-3, pages 14-15

pages 20-21, pages 22-23

pages 26-27

pages 40-41, pages 46-47

pages 56-57

pages 66-67, pages 68-69

back cover

"Grey Stuff" is an ongoing research project using grey as its anchor point. From and through there, it branches out to investigate things liminal and non-binary, the limits of categories and the weight of labels. Some of the existing fragments deal with a variety of themes such as chimeras, queerness, neutrality, hope, memories, the state of grey affairs and an old fable about a clever bat.

The review gathers in a single publication a year's worth of the research, which consists of both written pieces and collected material like images and quotes. Most of the texts compiled in the review exist separately as individual printed objects. In that context, the review is meant to exist in parallel as a summary or guide offering a way to navigate between the different points of entry into greyness each of them proposes.

Medium:

Saddle stitched book, digital print

Size:

80 pages, 210x297 mm

In Collaboration with:

"Grey Stuff" is being published and distributed in collaboration with Sold Out Publishing.
chimerasgreyliminalnon-binaryPublications

text bundles

text bundle, chauve-souris handout

chauve-souris handout

image and quote handout

risograph print test swatches

risograph print test swatches, image handout

risograph print test swatches

list of grey things, a conversation about grey

handout prototypes

grey-stuff.space is a simple online platform archiving my research and enquiries on greyness, as well as the various physical forms it has taken over time. It allows anyone to navigate through the different iterations of the fragments, from the most recent to the oldest.

Medium:

Web page

In Collaboration with:

"Grey Stuff" is being published and distributed in collaboration with Sold Out Publishing.

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