It was probably their common interests that brought these two French artists, Lucie Thomas, and Thibault Zimmerman, together to establish Zim&Zou, a French studio based in Nancy, France. Lucie, born in the Vosges in 1987 and Thibault in Paris in 1986, met each other while undergoing a three-year graphic design course that included design, publishing, and advertising.
Though graphic designers work on computers to compose images, both Lucie and Thibault chose a different creative route. They started creating real objects made out of paper and photographing them. Today, Zim&Zou is not only famed for its graphic designs but more so for its paper sculptures, 3D installations, and illustrations.
For Zim&Zou, quality of the material is important, especially for sculpting. And the duo takes pains to delve into different kinds of materials to create their incredible works. They use the paper, wood, thread and other materials to make different objects that may range from houses, trees, automobiles and many more. These objects are then used to create their amazing 3D installations.
It is certainly a back-breaking job to draw, cut and assemble the objects by hands to compose 3D installations. But the duo does it with such ease and in such pleasing colors that one is simply awestruck looking at it. Their eye for detail is certainly amazing. The versatility of paper is their inspiration since it can be folded every which way and is available in whatever color, texture, firmness one seeks.
Zim&Zou have a number of clients under its belts, such as IBM, Microsoft, Time, Washington Post, Hermés, Der Spiegel and many more. The duo has put up their works in many exhibitions like Design Museum of Chicago, V&A (London), Daelim Museum (Seoul), Salon de Montrouge (Paris), etc.
Their exceptional work has been honored with ADC Young Guns award in New York and Illustrative Award in Berlin. They also enjoy a sizeable fan following on the social media platforms.
Zim & Zou
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