Computer Arts Gallery: July 2009

Andy Stewart
Location London
Job Graphic designer
Contact andystewart-design.com
Software Photoshop, Illustrator

This Fife-born designer has come a long way since creating his own versions of McCain Oven Chips packaging as a child. Following a route that took him through a graphic design degree at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and a first design job at Edinburgh's Hookson, Stewart made the move south after being spotted by Native Design, where he now holds the post of visual and interaction designer. Personal projects including the creation of his own 'Phlooph' typeface, coupled with an astounding portfolio of work, certainly put Stewart in line to be one of Britain's future design big fries.

7 Sins Stewart produced this origami-inspired, hand-bound publication as part of his final year personal project. An array of techniques, from simple typographic experiments to Photoshop mash-ups involving photography, ink and spray paint, were brought into play for the project.

Andy Stewart
Location London
Job Graphic designer
Contact andystewart-design.com
Software Photoshop, Illustrator

This Fife-born designer has come a long way since creating his own versions of McCain Oven Chips packaging as a child. Following a route that took him through a graphic design degree at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and a first design job at Edinburgh's Hookson, Stewart made the move south after being spotted by Native Design, where he now holds the post of visual and interaction designer. Personal projects including the creation of his own 'Phlooph' typeface, coupled with an astounding portfolio of work, certainly put Stewart in line to be one of Britain's future design big fries.

TapeDekRok - Vol 1 album sleeve Stewart called on a trashy, flashy 1980s vibe for this compilation album cover to reflect record label TapeDekRock's fresh electronic beats.

Mathew Hodson
Location Leeds
Job Illustrator
Contact matthewthehorse.co.uk
Software Photoshop, Illustrator

Coupling regular editorial illustration gigs for the likes of The Guardian and Plan B magazine with passing on invaluable nuggets of illustration know-how to students at Leeds College of Art, Matthew Hodson is busy exploring not only his creative talents but the different methods of unleashing them on the world.

"I like strong lines and shapes that are a bit out of control," Hodson says of his illustration style. " I also like big, friendly colours… ideas and feelings and silly jokes." This embracing of the absurd is one quality of Hodson's illustrations that sets them apart and makes them perfect for the comic format he often employs - and for accompanying his poetry. Check out both words and works on his website.

University of the Arts festival "I do work for Dollop club nights, and this one was at the University of the Arts London," Hodson explains. "I was thinking about all the smashing approaches to fashion and style that you get in art schools, so I decided to draw a bunch of crazy art students. That's me - bottom right."

Mathew Hodson
Location Leeds
Job Illustrator
Contact matthewthehorse.co.uk
Software Photoshop, Illustrator

Coupling regular editorial illustration gigs for the likes of The Guardian and Plan B magazine with passing on invaluable nuggets of illustration know-how to students at Leeds College of Art, Matthew Hodson is busy exploring not only his creative talents but the different methods of unleashing them on the world.

"I like strong lines and shapes that are a bit out of control," Hodson says of his illustration style. " I also like big, friendly colours… ideas and feelings and silly jokes." This embracing of the absurd is one quality of Hodson's illustrations that sets them apart and makes them perfect for the comic format he often employs - and for accompanying his poetry. Check out both words and works on his website.

Do you do For a recent Brussels exhibition, Hodson was asked to design a comic character that visitors to the exhibition could incorporate into their own comic strips. "I then drew my own strip as well," he says, before explaining of the surreal strip that "some of my ideas exist in an invented psychedelic world, which references my own, sensible life."

Pedro Mari
Location London
Job Illustrator
Contact www.behance.net/defetto
Software Max MSP, vvvv

If you're after a slick antidote to cutesy character work, look to the generative images produced by Milan virtual design graduate Pedro Mari. "My approach gives very organic and complex results that are often impossible to achieve in a traditional/manual way," says Mari.

Beyond the computer screens and the code, Mari's mind-boggling creations speak of the wonders of the world around us: "Nature acts in the same way, through processes and rules, and its results are beautiful and often complex shapes, colours, structures, movements." And his finest work to date? "My diploma project wiiwiiwiiwii was a milestone in my research about the relationship between audio and video. The research I started at that time will continue for the rest of my life."

Lines "This image is extracted from a real-time application I created in August 2008," Mari explains. "Poetically, I would describe it is as a gust of wind; in practice it's a group of lines flowing in an empty space. They're actually defining a space. I particularly like the strength and dynamism in this composition."

Pedro Mari
Location London
Job Illustrator
Contact www.behance.net/defetto
Software Max MSP, vvvv

If you're after a slick antidote to cutesy character work, look to the generative images produced by Milan virtual design graduate Pedro Mari. "My approach gives very organic and complex results that are often impossible to achieve in a traditional/manual way," says Mari.

Beyond the computer screens and the code, Mari's mind-boggling creations speak of the wonders of the world around us: "Nature acts in the same way, through processes and rules, and its results are beautiful and often complex shapes, colours, structures, movements." And his finest work to date? "My diploma project wiiwiiwiiwii was a milestone in my research about the relationship between audio and video. The research I started at that time will continue for the rest of my life."

Superformula This trio act as further examples of images extracted by Mari from one of his own real-time applications. "I like how a multitude of elements comes together in a harmonious superstructure," he says of the series. "Complexity and simplicity at the same time, which is also the essence of the shape of the circle."

Hassan Haider
Location Bielefeld, Germany
Job Graphic designer/Illustrator
Contact www.canthaid.com
Software Photoshop

Working under the pseudonym Canthaid, 28-year-old graphic design student Hassan Haider has been studying graphic design at Germany's Bielefeld University since 2004. Especially interested in methods giving digital work an analog feel, he throws retro graffiti and street art, 1990s hardcore and punk scene aesthetics, Dadaism, Hannah Höch and Gerhard Richter into his melting pot of influences, brewing up a portfolio that spans editorial design and illustration, as well as photography.

While his concert photography has gained him much acclaim, he's currently focussing on his illustrations and finishing an internship at TwoPoints.Net. "Lately, I've become more interested in editorial design and corporate identity, two directions in which I'm improving," says Haider. "I'm trying to combine illustrative aspects with corporate elements to make an invisible cut between design and art." And Haider's design motto? "Analog love, in digital times."

Drei magazine While working on the editorial staff at Drei, the magazine from the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences' fashion faculty, Haider came up with numerous illustration concepts. Here's one of them.

Hassan Haider
Location Bielefeld, Germany
Job Graphic designer/Illustrator
Contact www.canthaid.com
Software Photoshop

Working under the pseudonym Canthaid, 28-year-old graphic design student Hassan Haider has been studying graphic design at Germany's Bielefeld University since 2004. Especially interested in methods giving digital work an analog feel, he throws retro graffiti and street art, 1990s hardcore and punk scene aesthetics, Dadaism, Hannah Höch and Gerhard Richter into his melting pot of influences, brewing up a portfolio that spans editorial design and illustration, as well as photography.

While his concert photography has gained him much acclaim, he's currently focussing on his illustrations and finishing an internship at TwoPoints.Net. "Lately, I've become more interested in editorial design and corporate identity, two directions in which I'm improving," says Haider. "I'm trying to combine illustrative aspects with corporate elements to make an invisible cut between design and art." And Haider's design motto? "Analog love, in digital times."

Drosophila Besides producing illustrations, taking photos and working on layouts, Haider has turned his hand to type. He created this stick-like face for poetry publication Drosophila.

Anneli Olander
Location Stockholm
Job Illustrator
Contact www.anneliolander.com
Software Photoshop

Swedish illustrator Anneli Olander describes herself as "an artist with a sunshine mood" who likes to work with a range of media, primarily Adobe Creative Suite, her Wacom tablet and inks. Freelance commissions have already been clocked up for Element Skateboards and Swedish confectionary company Ã…re Chokladfabrik, with Olander providing illustrations across editorial, books and packaging. "I've also been involved with several international exhibitions," says the illustrator, "one of them Sydney's Curvy exhibition which, according to Yen magazine, shows the top 100 female artists in the world."

Cyborg "I used just Photoshop CS3 and my Wacom tablet," Olander says of this self-proclaimed 'speed-paint' project. "It was a very quick painting - it maybe took three hours."

Anneli Olander
Location Stockholm
Job Illustrator
Contact www.anneliolander.com
Software Photoshop

Swedish illustrator Anneli Olander describes herself as "an artist with a sunshine mood" who likes to work with a range of media, primarily Adobe Creative Suite, her Wacom tablet and inks. Freelance commissions have already been clocked up for Element Skateboards and Swedish confectionary company Ã…re Chokladfabrik, with Olander providing illustrations across editorial, books and packaging. "I've also been involved with several international exhibitions," says the illustrator, "one of them Sydney's Curvy exhibition which, according to Yen magazine, shows the top 100 female artists in the world."

Vampire Princess Moon Olander created this piece for an art book, entitled Rainbow Book, by Italian author Enrica Mannari. The book is due out in the autumn. "I did the line art traditionally, scanned it and then used Photoshop CS3 to add colour, along with my Wacom drawing tablet," Olander says. "In the end I put a mask around the artwork and slapped on the old yellow texture for that little extra 'oomph'!"