Artist Alex Trochut worked directly with the team at Mac on their latest campaign, released around the world this past month.  Mandi Wexler from L/L caught up with Alex at his studio in Brooklyn to ask a few questions about the project:

What/who were your key sources of inspiration for this project?
“We put color on people, thats what we do” – this sentence was something that struck me in the brief meeting with MAC when I was commissioned to design 4 different word styles for them. From there I put myself into the mission of creating energetic and un-premeditated images, full of impact and color. Yago Hortal is often in the back of my mind, so he is there in a way. Also I’m very excited to be introducing more and more 3D into my process, so 2 of the series created were made in collaboration with CGI Maestro Javier Leon from leonstudio.tv.

Which design principals did you implement in keeping the entire collection of words both dynamic and cohesive?
Many of these words are going to be used to communicate with professionals in the make up business, so for 3 of the series I tried to create word-images of beauty based on unplanned accidents in the make-up artists process.  For example, a splash of nail polish or the powder that falls during work – somehow relating to the artistic side of the make-up artists and somewhat showing their behind the scenes.  First I tried to just play with the product and see the possibilities of this new playground, using make up as paint or art supplies, allowing those accidents to happen. From there I tried to translate that energy into words – creating 4 different series based on that fearless vibe of creation.

Which MAC product did you use for the powder words? What was the name of your favorite pigment?
I worked with their glitters and color pigment powders. I thought the electric blue and pink worked really well.

The last time I saw you open up your laptop, a cloud of glitter emerged – what were some of the joys and pleasures of working with this new material? 
Haha yes, the studio turned into a glam party for some weeks.

What was your greatest discovery working on this campaign?
I think working for a brand that seeks beauty has been a great experience. MAC really allowed me go for it and try to capture beauty in my own visual language. They were brave enough to look at it from a very instinctive point of view, not so much looking for formulas but with the intention of discovery and seeking freshness.

See the full series here.