Computer Arts Gallery: April 2013

Peter Tarka
Location: Wroclaw, Poland
Job: Graphic designer and illustrator

Still just 21 years old, Peter Tarka’s star has been steadily rising since he took up design in 2008. Entirely self-taught – he’s studying economics – Tarka has honed his craft through trial and error: “I learned alone, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction when, after many tries, I get a project right,” he says.

Simple, timeless design – that’s what Tarka strives for in his work. And the graphic designer and illustrator from Wroclaw, Poland has already attracted a clutch of high-profile clients, including Nike, MTV and Cadbury, with his fusion of polished typography and 3D designs.

Digital Word
Part of Peter Tarka’s 2013 portfolio update. As well as showing off his design abilities, the piece also promotes Grate Studio – a creative name under which he often works

Peter Tarka
Location: Wroclaw, Poland
Job: Graphic designer and illustrator

Still just 21 years old, Peter Tarka’s star has been steadily rising since he took up design in 2008. Entirely self-taught – he’s studying economics – Tarka has honed his craft through trial and error: “I learned alone, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction when, after many tries, I get a project right,” he says.

Simple, timeless design – that’s what Tarka strives for in his work. And the graphic designer and illustrator from Wroclaw, Poland has already attracted a clutch of high-profile clients, including Nike, MTV and Cadbury, with his fusion of polished typography and 3D designs.

Grate Studio
Another striking promotional piece, showing Tarka’s characteristic deft 3D lighting skills

Peter Tarka
Location: Wroclaw, Poland
Job: Graphic designer and illustrator

Still just 21 years old, Peter Tarka’s star has been steadily rising since he took up design in 2008. Entirely self-taught – he’s studying economics – Tarka has honed his craft through trial and error: “I learned alone, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction when, after many tries, I get a project right,” he says.

Simple, timeless design – that’s what Tarka strives for in his work. And the graphic designer and illustrator from Wroclaw, Poland has already attracted a clutch of high-profile clients, including Nike, MTV and Cadbury, with his fusion of polished typography and 3D designs.

Oh Deer
A bold print design by Tarka

Peter Tarka
Location: Wroclaw, Poland
Job: Graphic designer and illustrator

Still just 21 years old, Peter Tarka’s star has been steadily rising since he took up design in 2008. Entirely self-taught – he’s studying economics – Tarka has honed his craft through trial and error: “I learned alone, and it gives me a lot of satisfaction when, after many tries, I get a project right,” he says.

Simple, timeless design – that’s what Tarka strives for in his work. And the graphic designer and illustrator from Wroclaw, Poland has already attracted a clutch of high-profile clients, including Nike, MTV and Cadbury, with his fusion of polished typography and 3D designs.

Grate Studio
A range of branded merchandise, including business cards, pins and pens, all in distinctive pastel

Si Maclennan
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Job: Illustrator, art director

Si Maclennan is an independent graphic designer and illustrator based in Cape Town, South Africa – a role he arrived at after stints in both the film and advertising industries. He has a diverse portfolio, which includes illustrations for the interior of a boardroom and the exterior of a limited-edition range of tents, artwork for a record sleeve and interface design for an iPhone app.

As a designer willing to take on such a disparate range of commissions, his aesthetic can be difficult to pin down, being markedly different from one project to the next. “It’s not an easy way to work,” Maclennan admits. “People laud designers who choose one style and stick with it. But that’s not for me. I get bored and claustrophobic working in one genre for too long.”

Maclennan’s work usually begins life as a simple sentence or sketch. “I can draw reasonably well,” he says, “but I find the results of digital experimentation much more satisfying and exciting. I love the technical aspects of working with software and often use grids, geometry, mathematics and program-specific processes to achieve creative results.”

Lost In The Fall
Maclennan worked with Hello Computer to design the album artwork for South African rock band, The Dirty Skirts.

Si Maclennan
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Job: Illustrator, art director

Si Maclennan is an independent graphic designer and illustrator based in Cape Town, South Africa – a role he arrived at after stints in both the film and advertising industries. He has a diverse portfolio, which includes illustrations for the interior of a boardroom and the exterior of a limited-edition range of tents, artwork for a record sleeve and interface design for an iPhone app.

As a designer willing to take on such a disparate range of commissions, his aesthetic can be difficult to pin down, being markedly different from one project to the next. “It’s not an easy way to work,” Maclennan admits. “People laud designers who choose one style and stick with it. But that’s not for me. I get bored and claustrophobic working in one genre for too long.”

Maclennan’s work usually begins life as a simple sentence or sketch. “I can draw reasonably well,” he says, “but I find the results of digital experimentation much more satisfying and exciting. I love the technical aspects of working with software and often use grids, geometry, mathematics and program-specific processes to achieve creative results.”

KO Kid
This illustration was created as a T-shirt graphic for up-and-coming North Carolina-based rapper KO Kid.

Tom Veiga
Location: Curitiba, Brazil
Job: Artist and designer

Tom Veiga was living in the city, away from the sea, when he was hit with a wave of inspiration: if he couldn’t go surfing, he’d channel his passion for the sport in another direction. “I was looking for a way to be more connected to surf culture,” Veiga says, “when I discovered that there are artists who produce work focusing on waves. I really identified with this and began drawing waves as a hobby.”

The result is Waves Series – vivid, cubist-inspired works imbued with a sense of sun, sea and surf. When Veiga began the project, he was working as an art director at a digital agency in his native Brazil, designing websites and creating online campaigns. Every spare moment he had – evenings, weekends, his lunch hour – he would spend drawing, gradually developing his vibrant, dynamic style.

Veiga’s work always begins life on paper, before it’s scanned into Illustrator and later worked on in Photoshop. “I try to use the minimum amount of strokes possible, while always working with lots of colour and movement,” he explains.

His minimalist style has attracted the attention of surfing brand Billabong, which asked him to design his own range of clothing, and a series of exhibitions in South America and Europe followed. The project was such a success that Veiga left his job at the agency to focus entirely on his art.

Torre Eiffel
Inspired by a recent trip to Paris, Veiga created this piece showing the Effiel Tower awash with colour.

Tom Veiga
Location: Curitiba, Brazil
Job: Artist and designer

Tom Veiga was living in the city, away from the sea, when he was hit with a wave of inspiration: if he couldn’t go surfing, he’d channel his passion for the sport in another direction. “I was looking for a way to be more connected to surf culture,” Veiga says, “when I discovered that there are artists who produce work focusing on waves. I really identified with this and began drawing waves as a hobby.”

The result is Waves Series – vivid, cubist-inspired works imbued with a sense of sun, sea and surf. When Veiga began the project, he was working as an art director at a digital agency in his native Brazil, designing websites and creating online campaigns. Every spare moment he had – evenings, weekends, his lunch hour – he would spend drawing, gradually developing his vibrant, dynamic style.

Veiga’s work always begins life on paper, before it’s scanned into Illustrator and later worked on in Photoshop. “I try to use the minimum amount of strokes possible, while always working with lots of colour and movement,” he explains.

His minimalist style has attracted the attention of surfing brand Billabong, which asked him to design his own range of clothing, and a series of exhibitions in South America and Europe followed. The project was such a success that Veiga left his job at the agency to focus entirely on his art.

Good Day
‘Good Day’ is an example of Tom Veiga’s striking use of colour, a theme present throughout his portfolio.

Tobias van Schneider
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Job: Illustrator

Tobias van Schneider is a multidisciplinary designer who was born in Germany, raised in Austria and currently plies his trade in New York. His work leans towards dark palettes, clean typography and structured layouts. “I’m definitely influenced in general by German design,” he says.

Van Schneider specialises in branding and interactive design – counting BMW, Sony PlayStation, Ralph Lauren and Red Bull as clients – but is also an experimental artist and illustrator. He draws a distinct line between the two disciplines.

“As a designer, where it’s all about solving problems, I’m a very analytical person. As an artist, I’m very experimental and emotional. I get inspired by dreaming about something, or trying to communicate a simple message in a very abstract way. I like to leave my artwork open to interpretation – people can form their own story around it.”

His subject matter ranges from the end of the world, to the successes of the Spanish national football team, to fox-inspired fashion – all delivered in Van Schneider’s abstract, brooding and contemplative tones. “My workflow is very intuitive,” he concludes. “Sometimes it’s structured; sometimes, more messy.”

A New World
“‘A New World’ was based on the doomsday theory,” he says. “I imagined what might happen – a new world born in 2013 coming out of the darkness, clean and white without any character; no scratches, no personality, nothing.”

Tobias van Schneider
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Job: Illustrator

Tobias van Schneider is a multidisciplinary designer who was born in Germany, raised in Austria and currently plies his trade in New York. His work leans towards dark palettes, clean typography and structured layouts. “I’m definitely influenced in general by German design,” he says.

Van Schneider specialises in branding and interactive design – counting BMW, Sony PlayStation, Ralph Lauren and Red Bull as clients – but is also an experimental artist and illustrator. He draws a distinct line between the two disciplines.

“As a designer, where it’s all about solving problems, I’m a very analytical person. As an artist, I’m very experimental and emotional. I get inspired by dreaming about something, or trying to communicate a simple message in a very abstract way. I like to leave my artwork open to interpretation – people can form their own story around it.”

His subject matter ranges from the end of the world, to the successes of the Spanish national football team, to fox-inspired fashion – all delivered in Van Schneider’s abstract, brooding and contemplative tones. “My workflow is very intuitive,” he concludes. “Sometimes it’s structured; sometimes, more messy.”

The Red Fury
Van Schneider created this piece in collaboration with Les Avignons, a communication and design studio that he founded. It was produced as a limited edition silkscreen poster celebrating the Spanish national football team winning the European Championship in 2012 – Red Fury being the team’s nickname.

Paul Watmough
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Job: Designer

As a child, Paul Watmough would create comic books with friends. This, he says, was his first experience of building a brand; of exploring the relationship between a product and its audience. “From then on,” Watmough adds, “I was hooked – I just had to create stuff.”

The multidisciplinary designer has worked with numerous high-profile agencies – including JWT, AKQA, Attik, Grey and Landor – and has even taught branding to schoolchildren. He now works as a freelancer under the Notfrombrooklyn moniker. Splitting his time between London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Hamburg, Watmough has been a part of campaigns for clients including Volkswagen, Jägermeister, Dickies and more.

Though he describes himself as a creative digital director, Watmough has an old-school approach. Being “able to communicate ideas without the aid of a computer” is important, he says. As is the ability to “scamp ideas, understand composition, know the rules of design and then be able to break them.”

Watmough believes that being a designer in the digital age, however, offers myriad opportunities: “We tell stories over many different platforms and devices. The possibility of interacting with a brand in ways that have only just begun to be explored is really exciting.”

Trap Ads
An example of a clothing graphic created by Watmough for skateboard label Trap.

Paul Watmough
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Job: Designer

As a child, Paul Watmough would create comic books with friends. This, he says, was his first experience of building a brand; of exploring the relationship between a product and its audience. “From then on,” Watmough adds, “I was hooked – I just had to create stuff.”

The multidisciplinary designer has worked with numerous high-profile agencies – including JWT, AKQA, Attik, Grey and Landor – and has even taught branding to schoolchildren. He now works as a freelancer under the Notfrombrooklyn moniker. Splitting his time between London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Hamburg, Watmough has been a part of campaigns for clients including Volkswagen, Jägermeister, Dickies and more.

Though he describes himself as a creative digital director, Watmough has an old-school approach. Being “able to communicate ideas without the aid of a computer” is important, he says. As is the ability to “scamp ideas, understand composition, know the rules of design and then be able to break them.”

Watmough believes that being a designer in the digital age, however, offers myriad opportunities: “We tell stories over many different platforms and devices. The possibility of interacting with a brand in ways that have only just begun to be explored is really exciting.”

Burning for Business
He worked on this direct mail campaign aimed at industry leaders to promote international advertising agency JWT.