Interview with Christian Møller Andersen, founding partner and Creative Director of Étui Editions.
What sparked the idea of starting your own publishing house?
It has always been a dream of mine to be a part of a publishing house where there's immense room for creative experimentation, free of interference from external factors. With Étui, I’m hoping to achieve this by creating a professional environment for collaboration and creative expression. Moreover, I aim to nurture a community where pure artistic vision is of the utmost importance and create a solid foundation for crafting meaningful narratives which, in most cases, wouldn't see the light of day unless they were to fit into a commercial agenda.
Coming from a background in art direction and publishing, I've always loved seeing how artistic ideas can be elevated into more meaningful experiences when published within the printed medium. Whenever I think of creative projects I’d like to see manifested in the real world, I often envision them in book form. It is as if art takes on a new meaning when taken away from the screen and placed into the physical world. It gives it a new life and a fresh dimension. I truly believe that the printed book is an ideal medium for photography because it appeals to people on multiple levels, not just visually. Furthermore, it is a medium where one can create a very controlled visual narrative, and a medium can reach people more broadly.
What kind of creative partnerships are you hoping to attract and initiate with Étui?
Collaboration is at the heart of Étui. We value the close and genuine relationships we have cultivated with the artists that we collaborate with and publish. Every title is an evolution of our close family of contributors and a collaborative effort that combines their creative vision with Étui's in-depth know-how in creative direction, print production, and publishing. As a small and independent publisher, we don't strive for unnecessary expansion in the number of titles we publish. Instead, we seek to grow sustainably, ensuring that each title has a high production value, meets our creative expectations, and is of cultural importance. We don't want to publish existing content where we've been handed a final product without overseeing the creative direction from the project's inception. Our vision is, and will always be, to create original and meaningful books that can be considered individual works of art made to last and treasure.
In your own words, what distinguishes Étui from other publishing houses in Denmark and internationally?
There are already thousands of existing publishers working within the same artistic disciplines as Étui. Despite this, I like to think that our approach to collaboration sets us apart from the masses. It is important to me that we work with people who are passionate about the project and willing to push the concept as far as it can be stretched to achieve the best results. If we're investing time in effort into a new title, it needs to be rooted in sincere relations, genuine curiosity, and a shared joy in the creative process. Every title is a new study, narrative, and, most importantly, a new artistic relationship that should be explored with the same openness and commitment as the previous one. I believe there always will be a place for creative ideas and concepts where thorough work has been put in and created with love, openness, and a curiosity for the concept. Furthermore, it is so much more rewarding at a product’s completion if you know you've done everything you can to make it the best it can be, without compromising on quality and the original vision of the artist.
In your experience, what traits define a good publisher or creative director?
To me, a good publisher and creative director must be open to the influence and expertise of the artistic talent that they’re collaborating with, whether it’s with a single person or a team. At the same time, they must manage to maintain a clear vision, be confident in their feedback, and have a personal position on what they like and what is best for the overall concept and company as a whole. They need to put together and guide a creative team towards a shared vision that draws the best out of them without you taking too much control. The importance of knowing when to get involved and when to stay in the background is, to me, essential in both publishing and creative direction. It is something that I am always aware of.
Your love for print media and its tactile qualities is evident throughout your creative ventures as an art director. Could you describe your connection to this medium and how it has influenced your professional life?
There's something familiar and comforting about the printed book. It’s a medium that hasn't changed much since its invention around 1450. It is democratic, affordable, and accessible, and allows the broader public to access unique and original works of art. What thrills me the most in my work is creating sensory experiences. I genuinely believe in the value of having something physical and tactile in your hand — something that appeals to all the senses, simultaneously. On the printed page, a photograph will reflect light differently depending on the paper, ink, and printing technique, making the experience much more individual and unique than when viewed on a screen. In print media, the narrative slowly reveals itself at each page's turn, making the story come alive on multiple sensory levels.
Can you reveal upcoming collaborations, themes, or planned publications?
Moving forward, we're hoping to continue building on the foundation we established with our first title and continue to create new, meaningful titles within the themes we're interested in — architecture, photography, design, and fashion. We're currently exploring several book ideas in both fashion and interior design that we're very excited about and that, hopefully, will come to fruition in 2021. I ultimately hope that with each new title, the vision of Étui becomes even more evident, which is to craft indelible, haptic experiences through visual and written storytelling—immersive narratives that appeal to the eyes and the hands.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Christian Møller Andersen
INTERVIEW | CHRISTIAN M. ANDERSEN
Interview with Christian Møller Andersen, founding partner and Creative Director of Étui Editions.
What sparked the idea of starting your own publishing house?
It has always been a dream of mine to be a part of a publishing house where there's immense room for creative experimentation, free of interference from external factors. With Étui, I’m hoping to achieve this by creating a professional environment for collaboration and creative expression. Moreover, I aim to nurture a community where pure artistic vision is of the utmost importance and create a solid foundation for crafting meaningful narratives which, in most cases, wouldn't see the light of day unless they were to fit into a commercial agenda.
Coming from a background in art direction and publishing, I've always loved seeing how artistic ideas can be elevated into more meaningful experiences when published within the printed medium. Whenever I think of creative projects I’d like to see manifested in the real world, I often envision them in book form. It is as if art takes on a new meaning when taken away from the screen and placed into the physical world. It gives it a new life and a fresh dimension. I truly believe that the printed book is an ideal medium for photography because it appeals to people on multiple levels, not just visually. Furthermore, it is a medium where one can create a very controlled visual narrative, and a medium can reach people more broadly.
What kind of creative partnerships are you hoping to attract and initiate with Étui?
Collaboration is at the heart of Étui. We value the close and genuine relationships we have cultivated with the artists that we collaborate with and publish. Every title is an evolution of our close family of contributors and a collaborative effort that combines their creative vision with Étui's in-depth know-how in creative direction, print production, and publishing. As a small and independent publisher, we don't strive for unnecessary expansion in the number of titles we publish. Instead, we seek to grow sustainably, ensuring that each title has a high production value, meets our creative expectations, and is of cultural importance. We don't want to publish existing content where we've been handed a final product without overseeing the creative direction from the project's inception. Our vision is, and will always be, to create original and meaningful books that can be considered individual works of art made to last and treasure.
In your own words, what distinguishes Étui from other publishing houses in Denmark and internationally?
There are already thousands of existing publishers working within the same artistic disciplines as Étui. Despite this, I like to think that our approach to collaboration sets us apart from the masses. It is important to me that we work with people who are passionate about the project and willing to push the concept as far as it can be stretched to achieve the best results. If we're investing time in effort into a new title, it needs to be rooted in sincere relations, genuine curiosity, and a shared joy in the creative process. Every title is a new study, narrative, and, most importantly, a new artistic relationship that should be explored with the same openness and commitment as the previous one. I believe there always will be a place for creative ideas and concepts where thorough work has been put in and created with love, openness, and a curiosity for the concept. Furthermore, it is so much more rewarding at a product’s completion if you know you've done everything you can to make it the best it can be, without compromising on quality and the original vision of the artist.
In your experience, what traits define a good publisher or creative director?
To me, a good publisher and creative director must be open to the influence and expertise of the artistic talent that they’re collaborating with, whether it’s with a single person or a team. At the same time, they must manage to maintain a clear vision, be confident in their feedback, and have a personal position on what they like and what is best for the overall concept and company as a whole. They need to put together and guide a creative team towards a shared vision that draws the best out of them without you taking too much control. The importance of knowing when to get involved and when to stay in the background is, to me, essential in both publishing and creative direction. It is something that I am always aware of.
Your love for print media and its tactile qualities is evident throughout your creative ventures as an art director. Could you describe your connection to this medium and how it has influenced your professional life?
There's something familiar and comforting about the printed book. It’s a medium that hasn't changed much since its invention around 1450. It is democratic, affordable, and accessible, and allows the broader public to access unique and original works of art. What thrills me the most in my work is creating sensory experiences. I genuinely believe in the value of having something physical and tactile in your hand — something that appeals to all the senses, simultaneously. On the printed page, a photograph will reflect light differently depending on the paper, ink, and printing technique, making the experience much more individual and unique than when viewed on a screen. In print media, the narrative slowly reveals itself at each page's turn, making the story come alive on multiple sensory levels.
Can you reveal upcoming collaborations, themes, or planned publications?
Moving forward, we're hoping to continue building on the foundation we established with our first title and continue to create new, meaningful titles within the themes we're interested in — architecture, photography, design, and fashion. We're currently exploring several book ideas in both fashion and interior design that we're very excited about and that, hopefully, will come to fruition in 2021. I ultimately hope that with each new title, the vision of Étui becomes even more evident, which is to craft indelible, haptic experiences through visual and written storytelling—immersive narratives that appeal to the eyes and the hands.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Christian Møller Andersen
