Breed Presents

Annie Atkins is a graphic designer who creates all those items you see in the background of films – posters, maps, signs and other props. She’s worked for Wes Anderson on films like The Grand Budapest Hotel and on Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies.

She also works for commercial clients from her studio near Dublin and gives talks on designing for film.

Breed London's Olivia Triggs talks to Annie about how a career in design led her to film; living and working in Ireland; and her book, Designing Graphic Props for Filmmaking.

Writer and journalist Clover Stroud is the author of books which tap directly into her life experiences, including The Wild Other, which was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize; My Wild and Sleepless Nights: A Mother’s Story; and The Red of My Blood: A Death and Life Story. Her fourth book, The Giant on the Skyline: On Home, Belonging and Learning To Let Go, is due to publish in May.

Breed London's Olivia Triggs, a long-time admirer of Clover’s work, talks to her about her books, family, loss and grief, and her podcast, Tiny Acts of Bravery.

Breed London is a creative agency for visual artists. We represent a small roster of diverse talent in the UK, Europe, and the US.

In our latest podcast, Breed Director Olivia Triggs talks to architect John Pawson. John has worked on everything, from private homes and monasteries to bridges and yacht interiors. And whether he's working on buildings, interiors, or furniture, John's designs are always simple, functional, and beautiful.

His aesthetic partly derives from time he spent in Japan as a young man, which he outlines in his book, 'Anatomy of Minimum'. John is also an accomplished photographer whose book of chromatically ordered images, 'Spectrum', was turned into an immersive exhibition at 180 The Strand. In 2019, his continued influence and dedication to his craft was recognized when he was awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours.

Check out John's work at johnpawson.com

This edition of Breed presents... The Podcast sees us in conversation with Kuchar Swara. Kuchar is the Creative Director of the Telegraph Media Group, where he leads a design team across branding, editorial design, marketing, and whatever else is thrown at them.

Originally from Iran, Kuchar arrived in London as a boy in the 1990s, going on to study typography at the London College of Printing. He started to attract attention while at Winkreative after working on the redesign for Italian art and architecture magazine Case da Abitare. magCulture’s Jeremy Leslie, who we’ve talked to previously for Breed presents, described his work as "an almost idealised version of early Modernist graphic design."

Working under Tyler Brûlé — the man behind Wallpaper* and Monocle — seems to have had an influence on Kuchar, as he co-founded the biannual men’s style magazine Port in 2011.

As if that wasn't enough, Kuchar wanted to translate his graphic design skills into a 3D format. So, he started British watch company, Sekford, where his ability to fit things together in intricate detail was put to the test. The company name is inspired by Sekforde Street in Clerkenwell, where many British watches were once made.

Kuchar has won awards from D&AD, the Society of Publication Designers, the Society of News Design, and the Type Directors Club. And he occasionally judges on international design panels.

Hugo Rifkind is a journalist and broadcaster, including as a presenter on Times Radio. He’s also the author of Rabbits, a new novel set in an all-boys boarding school that steps into the darker undercurrents of that environment. It’s been described by crime writer Val McDermid as "Saltburn, but with kilts."

Host Olivia Triggs chats with Hugo about his creative process on Rabbits, constructing fictional characters, as well as personal experiences that influenced the book.