Nick Finney – NB Studio

I’m inspired by the pinboard – a chaotic collection of notes, notices and ephemera. We have one in our studio, a giant flashy magnetic version. It is usually full of sketches, production drawings of logos, postcards, silly drawings of each other and junk mail that somehow merits safe keeping, but nobody wants it on their desks. From fine art to factory floor, the pinboard is ubiquitous. Even in today’s hi-tech paperless office, you need somewhere to put your dull memos and poor caricatures.

My favourite ‘pinboard’ features on the cover of Ken Garland and Associates: Designers – 20 years work and play 1962-82, a great body of work neatly pinned to the wall. The designers are sitting in front of it, wearing masks, to surreal effect. The desk and other design studio detritus are just visible in the shot.

We just completed, for Phaidon, Magnum: Stories. For the cover we used this visual metaphor of productivity. It’s a perfect way of featuring the portraits of 60-odd world famous photographers without needing to worry too much about who goes where and what quality of image has been supplied. The writer/ researcher/ editor’s desk is just visible in the foreground. Of course, it’s all just a clever ruse – that’s really our giant, flashy magnetic board.