DESCRIPTION:
A decade ago, when Robert Lowe earned his design degree in London and set out for the world, he kept Supermundane on the side while he worked full-time. Eventually, the world caught up with him, and his hand-drawn, doodle-heavy style came into prominence. He left Amp Associates, London, and for the four issues of Sleaze magazine’s lifespan, Lowe was given free reign to create the kind of work he believed in. After that taste of professional freedom, however short-lived, Lowe vowed never to do work he didn’t love. His sidelined firm became a full-time job. The etymological origins of Supermundane? It is a real word that means “beyond earthly things.” “I really liked the idea of a word whose meaning is the opposite of what people would think,” says Lowe.

VOICE:
Lowe’s training in design came before the rise of the Mac. Typesetting and the physical layout of art equipped him with an appreciation of details that can get lost on the computer. All his work, from font design to art direction, begins with drawing.

DISTINCTIVE MARKINGS:
The designer suffers from an unmitigated obsession with birds and beards. He expresses these by way of scratches or tight coils that often turn into one of his fonts, which he tries to use exclusively in his work. Unafraid of mistakes, crossed-out words are often part of his final product.

HABITAT:
Supermundane resides in Lowe’s two-bedroom, upstairs London flat at an oversized kitchen table. Nearby is a large Welsh dressing table filled with books. The place is “often quite disorganized.”

SPOTTED BY:
Ethan Trask: “Robert is anything but mundane. I love his doodles that work their way into these beautiful strong drawings. I love his ideas. I love that he doesn’t take it all so seriously but yet has a very eloquent way of creating work.”

CONTACT:
+44.778.777.8302 | www.supermundane.com

Written by Tiffany Meyers