Philippe Intraligi is a German-born, Brazil-interning, New York-dwelling, Graphic Designer whose impressive client includes Telecom Italia, Adidas (and their Missy Elliott collection that a Gopher Editor who will remain nameless loves) and whose branding work is rooted in aesthetic philosophy and love of Bauhaus.  He also just confessed to us that even though he’s a branding rockstar (our judgment, but clearly!) we have the privilege of getting his first interview, where he talks design, TV and even sends us songs he listens to during work, for you. We’re loving this “read and listen” idea.  Plus, we eat the same breakfast!

Tell us a little bit about yourself: Where do you live? Do you like coffee or tea? What did you have for breakfast?
I’m living in New York. I drink tea with sugar and milk. My breakfast was milk with cereal & fruits.

What is the story behind StudioIntraligi? How did it start? What did you set out to do?
The Idea of Studio Intraligi is easy. I’m doing a lot of different work, from fashion to corporate design.
Studio is the right word for this kind of offer. Maybe in the future I’ll expand the business a little bit more, and the “Studio” gets reality.

What projects do you consider have been landmarks for you as a designer?
GeneralIy I think every project is a landmark, small or large. But a true landmark was the Corporate Identity work I did the entire last year for FIFA.

You studied, live and work in Germany. How do you think the German aesthetic has evolved throughout your career?

At the beginning of my creative producing I discussed with friends about Bauhaus, Ittens color scheme, Typography and proportion. At University I was very curious about the design theories of Vilem Flusser. I think the German Geist of accuracy is also very deeply embedded in me.

When did you know you wanted to become a Graphic Designer?

There were several steps, I think. It started with my grandfather, who was a graphic designer himself and was inspiration to me.
After college I started to study law and five months later I knew that I wanted to work in a creative field. So I switched, and studied visual communication & graphic design. In the beginning I worked in advertising, until I met a amazing designer from LostinSpace/London. His Portfolio was mind blowing and I knew I had to change disciplines and become a graphic designer too.

How would you describe your work to someone unable to see it?

Imagine a hot kettle of delicious soup on a cold winter evening. Yummy!

What do you hope to communicate through your work? Do you expect any reaction?

A kind of Happiness.  I don’t expect any reaction, I’m happy to work, that is enough.

Do you have any recurring themes or figures in your work? If so, what are they?

From time to time I try to draw flowers, I think that’s it.

Do you listen to music while you work?

Yes, all kinds of music. I’m always looking for new music. At the moment I love to listen to coeur de pirate from Canada, Ty from the UK and Seu Jorge from Brasil.

Seu Jorge – Tive Razão

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CSS – Move (Cut Copy Remix)

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Aphex Twin – Bucephalus Bouncing Ball

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What medium are you most comfortable using?

Pen and Mac

Whose work do you admire / draw influence from?

LostinSpace, Joshua Davis, Attik

Tell us about a typical day for you.

I get up at 7.30, breakfast. When the weather is good I walk in the park, read international news, then start working, lunch, work, dinner, work. In between, I’m on Twitter and do all the other things like going to the dentist, supermarket, eating ice cream, skyping with friends, kissing…

Your work has commissioned by clients like Adidas, DuPont and Audi. As a designer, is there a client you dream of working with?

Yes! NASA, Chanel, Lady GAGA, and so on… there are so many.

If you had do the branding and image campaign for a country which one would you choose?

Mongolia. I saw a film of Mongolia and the country looks amazing. It must be amazing to do a shooting for the image campaign and to capture the spirit of the country in a modern branding structure. Kind of a challenge. Great!

What have you learned from working in the design and art scenes of Berlin, Herzogenaurach and Sao Paulo? How do they compare to one another aesthetically?

In Berlin I learned to work structured, in Brazil I learned to work really hard, in Herzogenaurach I learned to work for Fashion. To compare all of them I can say that it was amazing to work with different kinds of people in different disciplines, to see how everybody was working & reaching their creative results. Aesthetically it’s hard to compare because of the different needs in each instance. I think Brazil was kind of free style and Berlin required much more brain work.

Would you comment on the differences between the art world and the design world? This is a recurring topic in our interviews and we’d love your two cents.

An artist can do a design, a designer can do art? I think the wall between art & design is shrinking.

We were reading an interview with Andreas Gursky that Art World magazine published, and we’re stealing a question from them: If you had to live with a single piece of artwork for the rest of your life, which one would you choose and why?

I would choose TV. It’s the biggest piece of art we had so far. Look how many people are affected by it. Incredible!

What is your favorite thing in the world?

Water.

Is there any question you wish we had asked but didn’t? Please do tell!

Is this your first interview? Yes, hahaha!

And finally, the inward-looking question: we are magazine editors and fans. Do you read any magazines on a regular basis?

Yes, designboom, hypebeast, honeyee, Fairspot, anygivenname, Monocle, Vogue, and so on.