Computer Arts Gallery: January 2011

Lee Bamforth
Location Sheffield, UK
Job Freelance illustrator and designer
Contact www.helloleebamforth.com

Having obsessively collected 1980s horror and sci-fi 'film nasties' on VHS, it's no surprise that Bamforth aims to convince viewers of his art that the macabre can be beautiful. "I have a dark heart that's reflected in my style," says the 23-year-old. "People may find this subject unsettling, but I like to show them it can be fun, playful and enjoyable."

In 2009 Bamforth won the graphic design category of the Digital Artists 2009 awards, judged by one of his typography idols, David Carson.

"Another nice moment was seeing posters I've created for club nights in Sheffield being stolen. It happens whenever they're put up," he laughs. Inspired by the art nouveau movement, Bamforth often comes back to themes of nature in his work - and lots of women.

Child's Play: Wolfie This is a piece produced for a Sheffield exhibition. Illustrators were given the title 'Child's Play' and nothing else: "It ended up being a three-piece set, with each one featuring a kid wearing and showing off a collection of old monster masks," he says.

Lee Bamforth
Location Sheffield, UK
Job Freelance illustrator and designer
Contact www.helloleebamforth.com

Having obsessively collected 1980s horror and sci-fi 'film nasties' on VHS, it's no surprise that Bamforth aims to convince viewers of his art that the macabre can be beautiful. "I have a dark heart that's reflected in my style," says the 23-year-old. "People may find this subject unsettling, but I like to show them it can be fun, playful and enjoyable."

In 2009 Bamforth won the graphic design category of the Digital Artists 2009 awards, judged by one of his typography idols, David Carson.

"Another nice moment was seeing posters I've created for club nights in Sheffield being stolen. It happens whenever they're put up," he laughs. Inspired by the art nouveau movement, Bamforth often comes back to themes of nature in his work - and lots of women.

Object Illustrations: Keyboard "This was simply a project piece for my portfolio. I'm a fan of electronic music so that influenced me to draw a keyboard," explains Bamforth. "I really like precise details, so I enjoyed all the parts on this. Again, I'm happy with the outcome - as soon as people saw it they wanted it on T-shirts." The original image was hand-drawn, with the colour background and faint textures added in Photoshop.

Jack Maxwell
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.jackmaxwell.co.uk

Hailing from a little village in Devon, Maxwell graduated in 2010 from the Bath School of Art and Design with a first in Graphic Communication, and now lives in London. "I work at a premium product and user experience studio," he says. "I freelance and produce personal projects as well."

He works with InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. "I think I share a similar view with many designers, in that the software depends on the project," he says. "I like to explore, widen my options and find the most relevant, distinct way possible to communicate the message. I also usually try to be a bit witty, to the disgust of my peers."

This protean approach to work has developed, says Maxwell, through a rejection of current styles and trends, and an ambition to try and pin down great ideas. "One of my proudest moments was being invited to be part of D&AD Talent," he recalls. "I used to regularly check it when I was younger, and now I'm in it." and assets," he adds.

MXW Inspired by music producer MXW, who uses samples of other artists' songs to construct his own, Maxwell's concept for this piece was literal: "I took the record as an iconic object of DJing and cut and slotted them together to create a visual metaphor of the music," he recalls.

Jack Maxwell
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.jackmaxwell.co.uk

Hailing from a little village in Devon, Maxwell graduated in 2010 from the Bath School of Art and Design with a first in Graphic Communication, and now lives in London. "I work at a premium product and user experience studio," he says. "I freelance and produce personal projects as well."

He works with InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. "I think I share a similar view with many designers, in that the software depends on the project," he says. "I like to explore, widen my options and find the most relevant, distinct way possible to communicate the message. I also usually try to be a bit witty, to the disgust of my peers."

This protean approach to work has developed, says Maxwell, through a rejection of current styles and trends, and an ambition to try and pin down great ideas. "One of my proudest moments was being invited to be part of D&AD Talent," he recalls. "I used to regularly check it when I was younger, and now I'm in it." and assets," he adds.

Éclat Éclat is a typeface based upon the RAF Red Arrows aerial flight display team. "The term is the team's motto and translates as 'excellence' in French," explains Maxwell. "Loosely based on the Johnston typeface because of its British connotations and limited stroke variation, the decorative type reflects the team's attributes and assets," he adds.

Ramiro Amorena
Location Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Job Graphic designer and illustrator
Contact www.iamram.com.ar

Although Amoreno has worked on several commercial commissions, he's happiest working on self-initiated projects where the main focus is design itself. "It's important for me to mix up techniques and play around with the materials to generate new meanings," he says. The results? "Neat and clean. I like purpose in the elements on any composition - not just decoration with no meaning," he explains. "Good design is honest."

Using a combination of Illustrator, Photoshop, Rhinoceros and 3D Studio, Amoreno finds a lot of inspiration in infographics, "and anything else that might involve organising information to a specific purpose."

The creative is currently working on a Christmas animation, which he will illustrate and animate, about Santa's helpers. The project pulls influence equally from comics, and industrial and architecture design.

4 Seasons This piece was created for children's magazine CHD-012, designed for Argentine airline Aerolineas Argentinas. "The aim was to show the different seasons as part of the cycle that the world goes through," Amoreno explains. "I thought a mandala would be a great way to convey the elements."

Ramiro Amorena
Location Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Job Graphic designer and illustrator
Contact www.iamram.com.ar

Although Amoreno has worked on several commercial commissions, he's happiest working on self-initiated projects where the main focus is design itself. "It's important for me to mix up techniques and play around with the materials to generate new meanings," he says. The results? "Neat and clean. I like purpose in the elements on any composition - not just decoration with no meaning," he explains. "Good design is honest."

Using a combination of Illustrator, Photoshop, Rhinoceros and 3D Studio, Amoreno finds a lot of inspiration in infographics, "and anything else that might involve organising information to a specific purpose."

The creative is currently working on a Christmas animation, which he will illustrate and animate, about Santa's helpers. The project pulls influence equally from comics, and industrial and architecture design.

Agua Also created for the same magazine, and designed to explain the water cycle, this was an enjoyable piece for Amoreno to work on. "Making it 3D helped show what was going on underneath the surface of the land," he explains.

Alex Berry
Location Leeds, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.aldb.co.uk

"My art is a whimsical mix of boisterousness and seriousness - but never the same two on a single page," reflects Berry. Working for a digital agency by day and specialising in corporate design for the web, at night Berry mostly draws robots. "I don't know why," he smiles. "I just love creating worlds and places from that space inside my head."

The development of his style has been guided by two key factors: Illustrator and tea. "It started to develop the minute I learnt Illustrator, while tracing logos for a production house before I graduated from college," he recalls. "It gave me a freedom to experiment that I had never had before." As for the tea: "It fuels my love of design. I think there's a direct correlation: the more tea I consume, the better my work."

In an ideal world, Berry would like to run a company called Robots vs Cows. "I'd like to work from a shed somewhere with a tea lady who calls in every twenty minutes or so."

How It Works This was a purely "self-indulgent" personal piece for Berry. "There's something new to find every time you look at it. It did take me an absolute age though - my eyes were bigger than my mouse. I'm happy with it though. I still see things I forgot I had put in there," he explains.

Adam Chwesiuk
Location Poznan, Poland
Job Illustrator and designer
Contact www.adamquest.eu

Ex-graffiti artist Adam Chwesiuk - aka Adam Quest - turned to freelance illustration six years ago. His graffiti roots have left him with a love of mixing new and old-school techniques and different attitudes. "I like to make vintage old-looking pictures, but I also make full-colour vectors with a lot of light effects."

Inspired by the proverb, 'Choose a job you love, and you'll never work a day in your life,' Chwesiuk's motto of 'play it simple' is prevalent in his work. "I make simple-looking shapes, and play with colours for hours to pick the perfect shade."

After a couple of solo exhibitions in Poland, Chwesiuk is now represented by London's Lemonade Illustration Agency.

Nonsense Me "I made this poster for one of my solo exhibitions," says Chwesiuk. "There was a time when among my friends we called everyone 'nonsense' just for fun. When I prepared for the exhibition, I thought it might be cool to make my character as 'nonsense' as I could. This is what I came up with."

Peter Mason
Location Manchester, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.irpete.com

For Mason, art reflects his approach to life. "I'm very logically minded and straightforward in my thinking," he says. "This has an impact on the way I work, and I like to communicate a point in the most efficient, clear and logical way available."

Having been inspired by the work of the legendary Stefan Sagmeister, Mason swapped Fine Art for Design at university, and today is a designer with a strong focus on design for print. "The highlight of my career so far has to be working on the LJMU Graphic Arts 2010 degree show catalogue and identity," he recalls. "Seeing the reaction from fellow pupils, along with the overall success of it all, was brilliant."

As well as direct inspiration from architecture and music-related design, everything is potentially up for the inspiration label. "I think that everything you learn, take in, see or hear isn't wasted. It will eventually spark something off creatively or influence what you do."

Energy Flash Produced as a personal project at university, the concept behind these covers was to take books by music critic Simon Reynolds, which look at different areas of music, and bring them together as a set through the cover image. "The design pays homage to Manchester's Hacienda nightclub, the centre for rave culture at the time of the book's narrative," says Mason. "It also reflects my love for the story of Factory Records, which has always interested me."

Melanie Olivia
Location Jakarta, Indonesia
Job Illustrator, graphic designer and hand-crafter
Contact www.melaniolivia.blogspot.com

More than anything else, Olivia's creative process is born from a very positive frame of mind. "I live in a gift everyday," she says, "and I try to relate that in my work with love in my heart, and a few spoonfuls of joy and excitement."

A graduate of visual communication at Petra Christian University, Indonesia, Olivia is happy for viewers to bring their own interpretation to her art, but if pushed she'd describe it as "dark, whimsical, innocent and colourful." However, the idea of being limited to one style is anathema to her approach, and the limitless possibilities of art.

"My biggest influences are found in my daily life," says Olivia. "Everything around me. I admire illustrators who are able to communicate passion and commitment in their work - the way they talk through their work."

Fashion 02 This is a self-initiated project that was inspired by "fashion, fashion, and a little bit more fashion. It's always great fun to draw something that you love," Olivia explains.