Interview With The Artist (Part 1)

This is the first part in a series of interview with Eric Hatheway as conducted by the senior ranking correspondent at EricHatheway.com, the Groovy One – Dirque du Soleil.

Eric Hatheway & Dirque du Soleil

Dirque du Soleil: Ladies and gentlemen, thinkers and doodlers, welcome! Tonight’s act features a man who has spent a lifetime juggling art, design, marketing, photography, and the occasional philosophical banana peel.

Dirque du Soleil:
 Eric, before we begin, I should clarify something for the readers. Are you an artist who designs things, or a designer who occasionally wanders into art?

Eric Hatheway:
 “I’ve always thought of it as trespassing in both directions. Design gives me a structure—objectives, constraints, communication. Art gives me the freedom to wander around the structure and ask whether it needed to be there in the first place. If design is architecture, art is the act of occasionally opening a window where the blueprint insisted on a wall.”

Dirque:
 Young designers today talk a lot about branding. Some of them promise to create one in about the time it takes to toast a bagel. What are your thoughts on “instant branding”?

Eric: 
”Instant branding is a bit like instant coffee. Yes, it exists. Yes, it technically resembles the real thing. But anyone who has experienced the aroma of the genuine article can tell the difference immediately. A brand isn’t something you make in an afternoon. It’s something that accumulates through experience—products, service, communication, behavior, reputation. A logo can introduce a brand, but it cannot impersonate one for very long. If a logo alone created brands, every new shoe company would be the next Nike by Tuesday.”

Dirque:
 So branding isn’t the whole plan?

Eric:
 “Branding is a part of the plan. Somewhere along the way, branding escaped the marketing department, stole the car keys, and declared itself the entire road trip. But brands are built through marketing, product design, service, and the thousand little decisions a company makes every day. The logo and visual identity are the visible tip of that iceberg. The rest of the iceberg is what sinks ships—or floats them.”

Dirque: 
You’ve also been known to grumble about logo trends. Are trends the enemy?

Eric:
 “Not the enemy. More like a mischievous cousin. Trends are interesting to observe. They show where the visual culture is drifting at the moment. But if you design a logo because it’s trendy, you’re essentially dressing your client in someone else’s clothes. A logo should emerge from the character of the organization, not from a Pinterest board titled “Hot Logo Trends 2026.” Otherwise every brand begins to look like it attended the same costume party.”

Dirque:
 You studied marketing as well as art. Has that shaped the way you approach design?

Eric:
 “Very much so. Marketing asks, Who is this for?
 Art asks, What does it mean?
 Design tries to answer both questions at the same time without spilling the coffee. Understanding marketing reminds me that design isn’t decoration. It’s communication. It’s persuasion. It’s clarity. But art reminds me that clarity without imagination becomes sterile very quickly.”

Dirque:
 Let’s talk about your phrase “Authority of Form.” It sounds like something a judge might declare while banging a gavel.

Eric:
 “The Authority of Form is the idea that good form—good structure, proportion, composition—carries its own legitimacy. When something is well formed, people sense it almost immediately. They may not be able to articulate why, but they feel the balance, the clarity, the intention. Form speaks before explanation arrives. In other words, design doesn’t have to shout if the structure is sound.”

Dirque: 
Your work also crosses photography, graphic design, and conceptual art. Do you see them as separate disciplines?

Eric:
 “Not really. They’re just different dialects of the same language. Photography captures reality.
Design organizes information. 
Art asks questions about both. Sometimes a photograph becomes a design element. Sometimes a design becomes an artwork. Sometimes an artwork quietly behaves like a piece of communication. The boundaries are mostly bureaucratic.”

Dirque:
 You often write about words like ballyhoo, hoopla, hullabaloo, and hubbub. Should we be concerned?

Eric:
 “Only mildly. Those words describe the noisy carnival atmosphere that often surrounds advertising and marketing. I like them because they acknowledge that communication has always included a bit of showmanship. Every good announcement deserves at least a modest trumpet blast. But beneath the ballyhoo, the product and the idea still have to stand on their own legs. Preferably sturdy ones.”

Interview With The Artist (Part 2)