Computer Arts Gallery: August 2012

Piotr Holub
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Job: Designer and illustrator

Warsaw-based graphic designer and illustrator Piotr Holub cut his teeth working in a variety of different design roles, starting out at a printing company before moving to Polish advertising agency Kolman, where he focused on television and radio projects. He’s currently busy working as a graphic designer for Warsaw-based branding studio Mamastudio – a role that has enabled him to work with companies ranging from small local firms to some of the largest brands in the world. Holub aspires to one day move abroad and work as a designer, preferably in the UK, USA or Australia.

Wild Think
A piece from Piotr’s Wild Think series. “Following on from my experience with creating Munny toys, I thought I would try designing my own toys using 3D graphics,” he explains.

Piotr Holub
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Job: Designer and illustrator

Warsaw-based graphic designer and illustrator Piotr Holub cut his teeth working in a variety of different design roles, starting out at a printing company before moving to Polish advertising agency Kolman, where he focused on television and radio projects. He’s currently busy working as a graphic designer for Warsaw-based branding studio Mamastudio – a role that has enabled him to work with companies ranging from small local firms to some of the largest brands in the world. Holub aspires to one day move abroad and work as a designer, preferably in the UK, USA or Australia.

MacUser illustration
An illustration for MacUser magazine, created as part of Holub’s ongoing collaboration with Dennis Publishing UK.

Piotr Holub
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Job: Designer and illustrator

Warsaw-based graphic designer and illustrator Piotr Holub cut his teeth working in a variety of different design roles, starting out at a printing company before moving to Polish advertising agency Kolman, where he focused on television and radio projects. He’s currently busy working as a graphic designer for Warsaw-based branding studio Mamastudio – a role that has enabled him to work with companies ranging from small local firms to some of the largest brands in the world. Holub aspires to one day move abroad and work as a designer, preferably in the UK, USA or Australia.

I Deserve More
A personal project. “It’s basically an experimentation with form, colour and light,” he explains.

Piotr Holub
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Job: Designer and illustrator

Warsaw-based graphic designer and illustrator Piotr Holub cut his teeth working in a variety of different design roles, starting out at a printing company before moving to Polish advertising agency Kolman, where he focused on television and radio projects. He’s currently busy working as a graphic designer for Warsaw-based branding studio Mamastudio – a role that has enabled him to work with companies ranging from small local firms to some of the largest brands in the world. Holub aspires to one day move abroad and work as a designer, preferably in the UK, USA or Australia.

Green Movie
Holub was one of just five designers invited by Milan-based agency Auge to create a series of illustrations as part of a promo campaign, Green Movie. “It was awarded the main prize at The Art Directors Club in Italy,” he smiles.

Michael Latimer
Location: Rotherham, UK
Job: Visual artist

South Yorkshire-based Michael Latimer is a visual artist who describes his work as “rigid structure melted into nature”. Latimer works in a number of different mediums: “At the forefront are pens and spray paint, acrylic and watercolour,” he explains. “My work is hand-painted or drawn, and then scanned and composed digitally. This way, print editions come out as clean as possible.”

Despite a life-long passion for creativity, the journey to his current career wasn’t all plain sailing. “I always enjoyed drawing, which led me to a career in graphic design,” he recalls, “but after working my way up to a few creative director positions, it started to lose its sheen for me.” From this point on he began to concentrate on fine art, building up his portfolio until it became his main output.

“I’m proud of the fact that I can now earn a living purely from my own artwork,” he says. “It was a lot of hard work to get to this point, but it was completely worth it.”

Stem 004
Made from acrylic and watercolour, and composited together digitally, this project is from Latimer’s Stem series of prints. “I wanted to make something that could be seen as being either microscopically small or unfathomably large,” he says.

Michael Latimer
Location: Rotherham, UK
Job: Visual artist

South Yorkshire-based Michael Latimer is a visual artist who describes his work as “rigid structure melted into nature”. Latimer works in a number of different mediums: “At the forefront are pens and spray paint, acrylic and watercolour,” he explains. “My work is hand-painted or drawn, and then scanned and composed digitally. This way, print editions come out as clean as possible.”

Despite a life-long passion for creativity, the journey to his current career wasn’t all plain sailing. “I always enjoyed drawing, which led me to a career in graphic design,” he recalls, “but after working my way up to a few creative director positions, it started to lose its sheen for me.” From this point on he began to concentrate on fine art, building up his portfolio until it became his main output.

“I’m proud of the fact that I can now earn a living purely from my own artwork,” he says. “It was a lot of hard work to get to this point, but it was completely worth it.”

Stem 001
Another image from the Stem series, Latimer simply describes the piece as “pretty brutal.”

Anvita Jain
Location: Michigan, USA
Job: Artist and designer

Originally from India, Anvita Jain has always had a fascination for folk art and craft traditions – which now influence her work. “Growing up, I developed an appreciation for painstakingly detailed craft, which later extended to textiles and fashion, and then broadened to the whole vocabulary of visual culture,” Jain begins. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to image-making and likes to “create meaning through illustration, drawing, typography, graphic design, installation, textiles and fashion.”

After finishing a visual communication degree in the UK, Jain worked in India as a graphic designer and started her own clothing label, before moving to the USA to undertake a degree in 2D design at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Since then, she has been pushing the boundaries of graphic design: “I wanted to explore its possibilities when removed from the field of commercial advertising,” she explains. “The reward for me lies in paying attention to the unfamiliar, and avoiding the kind of mark-making that has been ritualised.”

We Are Not Our Own
A collaborative piece with artist Michelle D’Cruz, who is also of Indian origin but grew up in the USA. “We were both raised with staunchly religious principles,” says Jain. “In this piece we have attempted to reference a struggle for identity amidst innuendo and pop cultural influences.”

Anvita Jain
Location: Michigan, USA
Job: Artist and designer

Originally from India, Anvita Jain has always had a fascination for folk art and craft traditions – which now influence her work. “Growing up, I developed an appreciation for painstakingly detailed craft, which later extended to textiles and fashion, and then broadened to the whole vocabulary of visual culture,” Jain begins. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to image-making and likes to “create meaning through illustration, drawing, typography, graphic design, installation, textiles and fashion.”

After finishing a visual communication degree in the UK, Jain worked in India as a graphic designer and started her own clothing label, before moving to the USA to undertake a degree in 2D design at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Since then, she has been pushing the boundaries of graphic design: “I wanted to explore its possibilities when removed from the field of commercial advertising,” she explains. “The reward for me lies in paying attention to the unfamiliar, and avoiding the kind of mark-making that has been ritualised.”

Horn Study
This piece is an exploration of identity; of our psychosexual and animalistic nature: “It attempts to evoke a sense of anxiety and congestion, dealing with the complexities of our times,” says Jain.

Augusto Paiva
Location: New York, USA
Job: Art director and designer

Art director and designer Augusto Paiva has already enjoyed a sparkling design career and boasts a string of huge clients in his portfolio, including Nike, Adidas, Honda, MTV and Microsoft. It’s not surprising, considering the breadth of his qualifications, which include a degree in advertising from Brazil as well as a degree in graphic design from Australia. He’s now based in New York, where he spends his time working on projects for Nike at digital advertising agency R/GA and skateboarding around his Brooklyn neighbourhood.

Paiva’s work is heavily influenced by communication: “I’m inspired by things that provide people with the opportunity to interact,” he explains. “I like to infuse my designs with a vibrancy that draws people in and makes them want to know more.”

He takes a fresh and bold approach, covering all disciplines from film-style frames to heavy digital platforms. “I like to take an ordinary subject, and develop a new and unique way to look at it,” he muses. “I guess my approach is often bold and not safe.”

The Raven
Paiva created this piece for a short film 12 inspired by American basketball player LeBron James. “I really like to work on style frames, so my task was to come up with a fresh typeface mixed with dramatic and beautiful art direction.”

Augusto Paiva
Location: New York, USA
Job: Art director and designer

Art director and designer Augusto Paiva has already enjoyed a sparkling design career and boasts a string of huge clients in his portfolio, including Nike, Adidas, Honda, MTV and Microsoft. It’s not surprising, considering the breadth of his qualifications, which include a degree in advertising from Brazil as well as a degree in graphic design from Australia. He’s now based in New York, where he spends his time working on projects for Nike at digital advertising agency R/GA and skateboarding around his Brooklyn neighbourhood.

Paiva’s work is heavily influenced by communication: “I’m inspired by things that provide people with the opportunity to interact,” he explains. “I like to infuse my designs with a vibrancy that draws people in and makes them want to know more.”

He takes a fresh and bold approach, covering all disciplines from film-style frames to heavy digital platforms. “I like to take an ordinary subject, and develop a new and unique way to look at it,” he muses. “I guess my approach is often bold and not safe.”

Take Only What You Need From Me
Paiva made this handcrafted poster with good friend and art director Koji Takaki. “I created this using different techniques and materials, such as paintbrushes, collage and glitter,” he says.

Diego L. Rodríguez
Location: Madrid, Spain.
Job: Illustrator and designer

Paranoidme is the alter ego and portfolio of Diego L. Rodríguez – a self-taught illustrator and graphic designer based in Madrid, Spain. Having learnt his trade by experimenting with design software in his previous publicity career, he admits that he still feels amazed at how he managed to make the transition to life as a full-time creative: “I always enjoyed it, but never thought I could do this as a career,” he admits. “But it all exploded about three or four years ago, when I started to collaborate with various art collectives and began to discover the possibilities behind computer graphics. It blew my mind completely.”

He’s been freelancing since 2010 and has worked in America and Mexico. Of his sources of inspiration, Rodríguez says: “Pre-Raphaelite and surrealist painters have always been a big influence, as well as American and Japanese visual culture, from psychedelia to manga.”

Johnny Juliano
Rodríguez was commissioned to create this portrait by music producer Johnny Juliano’s wife, who wanted something special for his birthday. “It was great as I had full creative freedom,” he says.

Diego L. Rodríguez
Location: Madrid, Spain.
Job: Illustrator and designer

Paranoidme is the alter ego and portfolio of Diego L. Rodríguez – a self-taught illustrator and graphic designer based in Madrid, Spain. Having learnt his trade by experimenting with design software in his previous publicity career, he admits that he still feels amazed at how he managed to make the transition to life as a full-time creative: “I always enjoyed it, but never thought I could do this as a career,” he admits. “But it all exploded about three or four years ago, when I started to collaborate with various art collectives and began to discover the possibilities behind computer graphics. It blew my mind completely.”

He’s been freelancing since 2010 and has worked in America and Mexico. Of his sources of inspiration, Rodríguez says: “Pre-Raphaelite and surrealist painters have always been a big influence, as well as American and Japanese visual culture, from psychedelia to manga.”

J*DaVeY
Rodríguez was inspired to create this album cover after hearing Los Angeles duo J*DaVeY’s track Raincheck, a move that thoroughly paid off: “The day after I released this artwork, their manager contacted me about doing future album covers,” he smiles.