Different

Renata Graw is a Chicago-based Brazilian designer, a partner at Plural studio, and the former Vice President of the AIGA Chicago chapter. She grew up in Rio de Janeiro, where she received her BFA from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica in 1996. At that time, Renata and her husband decided to leave Brazil and move to Chicago, where she has been living ever since. In 2005, Renata’s passion and curiosity for design brought her to Basel, Switzerland, where she attended a summer workshop held by Wolfgang Weingart. She then decided to join the graduate program in Graphic Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2006, through which she met her business partner Jeremiah Chiu¹. Renata and Jeremiah began their collaboration under the name Plural in 2008. Plural is an art and design practice which focuses on a process of research and experimentation through a variety of media ranging from print to digital and interactive installations. Their shared enthusiasm and contrasting mindsets yield projects that celebrate playfulness and diversity. “I don’t really believe in personal style,” says Renata. “I think we are all responding to a complex environment and take our cues and styles from the culture around us. However, I don’t think this process always happens on a conscious level, so we might think we are making personal choices when we are just reacting to the environment through our personal filters.”

From the start, Renata and Jeremiah’s interest in print propelled them to examine the possibilities of the medium and discover their underlying drive for creation —curiosity. Although influenced by modernist typographers and designers, one can observe a hint of playfulness in their early practices. Whistler Monthly, as well as Lumpen and Volume illustrate their fascination with rigid and grid-based typography. Yet, the imagery manifests itself in free and experimental compositions. The contrasting combination of the former and latter results in a surprising and playful experience which dominates their later work.

Through their collaboration, Plural has evolved from a print-focused studio into an experience-focused artistic practice. This turn has unfolded gradually over the past three years, as the studio began embracing other media, allowing them to expand their bases for creation. In an exhibition entitled Daily Practice, Plural’s attempt in experimental and formal investigation is apparent. The exhibition, which manifests itself as a hybrid workshop and art-show, showcases their sketches and exploration throughout their design process and daily routines—from series of prints to video installations to interactive projections and real-life collected objects. Renata believes that the play and experimentation in her work is derived from her childhood in Brazil. Play is a quality that she associates with many of her works, from initial sparks to the presentation and exhibition of her final pieces. These qualities manifest themselves in forms, colors, and even concepts.

Plural’s unique sense of color brings another dimension to their collaboration. The unusual and strong combinations of sharp, primary, and contrasting colors are reminiscent of Lucas Simões and Beto Shwafaty’s installations and Luis Barragan’s architectural work. These South American visual artists understood the unique power of color in creating atmosphere and communicating emotion and abstract meaning. Therefore, the interplay between forms and colors becomes an inseparable and fundamental component of their pieces. Plural’s collateral designs for MDW Fair, Modern Ball invitation cards, as well as Relax Attack Jazz series are all examples of active uses of color in print. Plural takes another leap in their interactive installation pieces by bringing their color experiments to life, where the audiences may create their own unique compositions via their body movements directly before the piece. All of these movements are captured by a video camera and translated to shapes, colors, and movements on the display. The New Nature installation is an example that employs the same technique in order to create visually engaging compositions.

“What’s next?” one might ask. Renata and Jeremiah’s sense of curiosity makes one wonder whether they might shift gears again. Will they be lead towards the investigation of yet another medium? Will their attempts fuse into a new experience? Nonetheless, Renata believes “[…] what we do at Plural is ephemeral and needs to exist in the context of a time and a place. Therefore, I don’t feel there needs to be a ‘grand narrative’ that connects all the work […] but there is something very freeing in not having to do that.”
www.weareplural.com

(1) Jeremiah Chiu is a co-founder and partner at Plural. He received his MFA in design from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2008. In addition to his design practice, he is an active musician and artist residing in Los Angeles. 
Jeremiah Chiu’s work addresses in-betweeness — conceptually and physically— between art and design, between performance and intention, between absurdity and aesthetics. With a wry sense of humor, his work presents simple solutions to complex concepts. Performative, sometimes enduring and laborious, Chiu’s actions are as important to the work as the aesthetic form.
Plural’s work has been exhibited at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, Art Chicago 2011, DePaul Art Museum, Salisbury University Art Gallery, Carrie Secrist Gallery, The Post Family, The Whistler, Version Festival, Co Prosperity Sphere, Hyde Park Art Center, among others. Plural’s work has been published by Thames and Hudson, Creative Review, Print, Type Directors Club, Communication Arts, Taiwan DPI, Chois Gallery Hong Kong, and KAK Magazine (Russia), among others. In 2014 Plural was one of 50 NewCity Chicago’s “Most Influential Designers”.