Besides being a fulltime commercial typographer and type designer, Oded Ezer is also a lecturer and a typographic experimentalist. He graduated in 1998 with a degree in visual communication design from the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, in Jerusalem and shortly afterward set up Oded Ezer Typography, in Givatayim.

In 2002, he initiated the foundation of Ha’Gilda, the first cooperative of Israeli font designers and was an active member until 2006. Ezer’s posters and graphic works are showcased and published worldwide and his designs have won local, national and international accolades. A member of the ICD (Israel Community of Designers), he teaches typography and graphic design at the Shenkar College of Design and Engineering, Ramat Gan, and at the Wizo College of Design, Haifa.

04.09.08

Don't Work. Play.

If you have a degree in what field is it? B.Des in visual communication design and typography from the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, Jerusalem.

Which designer (or design studio), other than yours, do you most admire? Henry Friedlander (1904–1996), designer of the classic Hadassah Hebreish typeface, which I consider the best Hebrew font of the 20th century.

What’s the strangest request you've received from a client? Most of my clients ask for regular designs—the strangest concepts are created in my own mind.

If you weren’t working as a designer what would you be doing? I trained as a classical guitarist when I was younger, but didn’t like practicing very much. I guess I could be a quite good journalist or psychologist.

What well-known identity is most desperately in need of a redesign? Google.

From where do your best ideas originate? My inspiration comes from a variety of fields: archeology, technology, architecture, music, science and philosophy of our time. And of course one can get a lot of inspiration from watching movies. Although I have books about fashion, industrial and interior design and of course a lot of art books, I don’t tend to be influenced directly by graphic design.

How do you overcome a creative block? I go to sleep.

What’s your dream project (not client, but project)? My dream project would be experimental, unpredictable, surprising, foolish or funny.

Do you have creative outlets other than graphic design? Playing with my son.

What’s your approach to balancing work and life? I’m still working on that.

What product/gadget can you not live without? My iPod.

What’s your favorite quote? “I am my brain's publisher.” —Philipe Starck

Do you have any advice for people just entering the profession? Play, don’t work.

What’s one thing you wish you knew when you started your career? That you mustn’t work for people you don’t like.