Computer Arts Gallery: February 2007

SILJA GOETZ
LOCATION: Madrid, Spain
AGE: 32
SPECIALISM: Illustration
WORKS WITH: Pen, brush, ink, cut paper, a scanner and Photoshop

German illustrator Silja Goetz caught our eye with her inventive style, which combines traditional media, photographs and scanned elements with digital manipulation to create rich, organic-looking work. Goetz lives in Madrid, where she works as a freelance editorial illustrator. She has worked on commissions for Nylon, NEON, Marie-Claire and newspaper El Pais, for Barçelona-based fashion house Custo, and even for Eleni's - the famous bakery in New York.

Goetz's most ambitious work to date was a mural commissioned for Vienna airport, which stood more than 40 metres wide.

She draws inspiration from the rich visual environment of the Spanish capital, movies, books and what she calls "found objects, such as matchboxes and strange wrapping paper". She also cites the work of classic book illustrators Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) and Miroslav Sasek, as well as more contemporary artists, such as Sara Fanelli and Jeff Fisher, as influences.

You can find out more about Goetz's exciting illustration work at www.siljagoetz.com

ERIC LERNER
LOCATION: Tel Aviv, Israel
AGE: 23
SPECIALISM: Design, illustration and animation
WORKS WITH: Photoshop, After Effects and Maya

Lerner came to our attention with Mr CityMen, a series of short films that combine live action and simple but well-animated 3D-rendered characters. Inspired by Roger Hargreaves' Mr Men series, each of the characters, from Mr Fortune to Mr Scared of Anything But Heights, is imbued with a distinct personality.

Mr CityMen was created as Lerner's graduation project for his degree course at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, and was created using Photoshop, After Effects and Maya. "I'm currently trying to pick up as many different approaches and techniques as possible," he admits.

As well as animation work, Lerner's portfolio features a wide range of illustration and design work, but on the whole a strong focus on character work both in 2D and 3D. His talent has not gone unnoticed and he's set to start working at Partizan Lab, a leading international animation production studio, which has produced a range of groundbreaking commercials and music videos.

To view more of Lerner's work, check out his extensive portfolio at www.ericlerner.com

JUSTIN HETHCOAT
LOCATION: San Diego, USA
AGE: 26
SPECIALISM: Graphic design and illustration
WORKS WITH: Photoshop, Illustrator, pen and ink

It's ironic really that we should choose someone who works under the moniker of Faceless Art for this year's New Faces, but work this good cries out to be seen. Justin Hethcoat is a recent addition to the ever-expanding ranks of the Keystone Design Union (KDU), the international collective that counts Computer Arts' favourites Chuck Anderson and Nigel Dennis among its talented members.

Hethcoat recently had the honour of working alongside the collective on spreads for its design journal, The Royal Magazine, illustrating a fashion feature on WESC clothing and creating an illustration for the magazine's opening spread.

Boasting a broad portfolio, from intricate, slightly psychedelic artwork in mixed media to more pop-styled vector collages - all of it intriguing - Hethcoat currently works at Who's Your Daddy, a licensing company based in San Diego, as lead designer/art director, but has been busy working on clothing lines. He recently launched Here Today, Here Tomorrow, an online store/blog that showcases and sells his and his friends' work.

To view more of Hethcoat's vibrant work, visit his website at www.facelessart.com

AZUSA MANO
LOCATION: Tokyo, Japan
AGE: 19
SPECIALISM: Illustration and web design
WORKS WITH: Hand-drawn illustrations and photographs, collaged in Photoshop. Lots of mixed vectors and pixels

Looking through huge numbers of often very samey design and illustration portfolios, it's easy to become jaded, but when we first saw Mano's site, we knew we'd found something unique. This startling 19-year-old student from Japan creates a kind of magic realism on her site, which she says is inspired by "the little things that I find awkward or out of place in everyday life - video games, large paintings and reflections." Her work certainly has an enthralling otherworldly quality, quite unlike anything else we've seen.

Although still studying, Mano also works part-time as a web designer, and her combination of web expertise and illustration are evident in her stunning portfolio site - itself a work of some distinction. Reminiscent of the explorative nature of web agency Hi-ReS's work, it takes some digging to find Mano's contribution, but it's rewarding to unearth such stunning Photoshop collage work.

To view more of Mano's work, visit www.prismgirl.org and www.prismgirl.org/blog

MARCEL LUIZ
LOCATION: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
AGE: 26
SPECIALISM: Motion design
WORKS WITH: Adobe software, including After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as 3ds Max and Maya

It's no secret that the team here at Computer Arts are big fans of Brazilian art and design; we devoted a good portion of the magazine to the subject back in July last year. There's something about this rapidly developing country's tropical environment and multi-ethnic mix that has created a unique visual style, but in some areas it has yet to catch up. "I think Brazil is a wonderful country," says Marcel Luiz, "but outstanding projects in motion design are still not part of our culture."

Luiz is a motion graphics artist at Conspiração Filmes, a major film and television production company based in Rio de Janeiro. In the relatively new field of motion graphics, he can draw on a broad palette of influences, and his stunning showreel combines animation with live action in a very considered way. "I search for inspiration in art in general, from urban art to Russian cubism," he says. "I believe that everything is valid when used as reference, but not as reproduction."

To view more of Luiz's motion work, check out his outstanding showreel at www.marcel.art.br

STÉPHANE TARTELIN
LOCATION: Paris, France
AGE: 30
SPECIALISM: Graphic design, illustration and motion graphics
WORKS WITH: Illustrator, Photoshop, 3ds Max, Maya, After Effects and traditional media

Looking at Stéphane Tartelin's hugely diverse portfolio, it's hard to know where to start, but we were drawn to his illustration and character work. Part street-art and fashion sketch, part children's book illustration, Tartelin's simple line drawings are wholly unique. He counts anime director Hayao Miyazaki and expressionist artist Egon Schiele among his heroes, and his fluid style reflects these influences.

Tartelin was recently asked to illustrate the theme of happiness "with complete freedom of creation" for an art book called Bliss Express: Illustrating Happiness, and created a number of illustrations (one of which is shown here). The work was exhibited at Nucleus, a gallery in California, and was well received.

Tartelin once worked as a designer in the games industry. He went freelance in 2000 and co-founded a studio, Le Soupe, where he has worked on a range of designs for broadcast. His fluid illustration style has transferred well to the moving image.

You can check out Tartelin's evocative portfolio site by visiting www.graphiste3d.com

LEX MESTROVIC
LOCATION: New York, USA
AGE: 26
SPECIALISM: Typographic design
WORKS WITH: Illustrator, Fontographer and Photoshop

Argentinian-born Lex Mestrovic moved to the US when he was young and has lived and worked in Tokyo. He is the creative director of the Keystone Design Union's The Royal Magazine, but he is less well-known in his own right as an incredible typographer.

As The Royal is a freely distributed magazine, Mestrovic has felt unconstrained in his creativity. It's been a rewarding experience. "I've been able to push the editorial design in whichever direction best fits the content," he says. This has been particularly evident in the inventive use of type throughout the publication.

"I've been creating custom typefaces for each new issue and trying to create a definitive aesthetic to the book," says the Brooklyn-based designer, who was recently asked to create a logotype for William Safire's "On Language" column in The New York Times Magazine.

"I gain a huge amount of inspiration from language," he says. "I see design as a means of communication, and typography often seems the most direct path to expression."

To discover more about Mestrovic and his work, visit www.nontype.com

SEBASTIAN RAMN
LOCATION: Karlskrona, Sweden
AGE: 21
SPECIALISM: Illustration and graphic/web design
WORKS WITH: Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, After Effects, Painter and, occasionally, Top Style

There is such a wealth of talent coming out of Sweden's Hyper Island media school that it's hard to know where to begin. Ramn of Crew 12 (the school's 12th graduating class) caught our eye with his bold portfolio site, which includes print design, motion work and digital illustration. We particularly loved his piece called Grown from Concrete, which combines digital painting with photography to create a really fresh style.

It's interesting to see an individual who combines a more painterly style with design. "I sketch and draw a lot with pen and paper," he says, "using a range of techniques, from plain pencil and ink to water-based paint and my precious Wacom Intuos A4."

Ramn is on the school's Digital Media programme and at the time of writing is looking for a placement for Autumn 2007. He draws inspiration from "Scandinavian landscapes and Norse mythology", and cites Swedish illustrator Peter Bergting as a major influence.

Check out more of Ramn's powerful work via his excellent website at www.ramn.nu

PETER JAWOROWSKI
LOCATION: Warsaw, Poland
AGE: 20
SPECIALISM: Graphic design
WORKS WITH: Photoshop and other applications

As with one of last year's new faces, Nik Ainley, Jaworowski (aka the Hejz) is part of the bleeding-edge Photoshop community, depthCORE, which was established by designers Justin Maller and Kevin Stacey back in 2002. A mere 20 years old, Jaworowski is currently studying Information Technology at the Higher Institute of Information Technology in Warsaw, but still finds the time for a little freelance for the likes of Nike and Sony.

Jaworowski claims his genius artwork is created using a mix of "Ninety per cent Photoshop and ten per cent experiments on other applications that might help achieve an original effect or original detail." It's not all down to the software he uses, though. Jaworowski clearly has his own signature style, and being critical of his own output helps him hone that.

"I'm rather sceptical when it comes to my own work," he says, matter-of-factly, "but I think that's the factor that pushes me further all the time." At such a young age, and yet to graduate, Jaworowski has the world at his feet.

You can see much more of Jaworowski's work, and contact the man himself, at www.hejz.com

ADAM TICKLE
LOCATION: Bath, UK
AGE: 21
SPECIALISM: Graphic design and photography
WORKS WITH: Photoshop and Illustrator, letterpress printing and marker pens

If graphic design is all about communicating ideas, then Tickle is an adept linguist. As well as the usual Photoshop and Illustrator, he also throws in traditional skills of screen printing, letterpress printing and marker work into the mix. At the tender age of 21, Bath Spa University student Tickle has already tackled an astonishingly varied collection of print work, including magazine layouts, T-shirts and CD packaging for a variety of independent musicians and bands, including Baysix, Dan Church, Nick Parkinson, Failsafe and Days in December. He's even partial to fashioning his own stylish badges.

Tickle is also leading the way with socially responsible design. Along with three friends from Bath Spa University, he started a sticker and poster campaign to reduce paper usage, called UseTwice.

Such solid understanding of the principles of layout and type and an eye for innovation suggests that, given time, Adam Tickle could become another Michael C Place or Neville Brody. The breadth and sheer professionalism of his work is astonishing for one so young.

To find out more about Adam Tickle, visit his website at www.culturaldomain.com