Computer Arts Gallery: June 2010

Jenny Theolin
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.graphicdrip.com

Swedish artist Jenny Theolin moved to London in 2000 and immediately clicked with the place. She got herself a BA in graphic design and is now a senior designer and art director at Clinic London, dealing with clients such as Microsoft and Orange.

"Whatever the discipline, I love those exhilarating moments when the ideas take shape," she says. "I believe that the epiphanies, insanities and creative absurdities at the beginning of the project, and the finalised thinking at the very end, are to be cherished and celebrated. Everything in the middle is sheer hard work and long hours, but we always get there."

Sage and Onions The DBA Inclusive Design Challenge winner for 2010, this is "an experience exchange, designed to help bring different generations together to trade skills, time and knowledge". Theolin developed the identity and graphic language, with concept and copy by Tim Dobbs and animation by Kat Wojcik.

Jenny Theolin
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.graphicdrip.com

Swedish artist Jenny Theolin moved to London in 2000 and immediately clicked with the place. She got herself a BA in graphic design and is now a senior designer and art director at Clinic London, dealing with clients such as Microsoft and Orange.

"Whatever the discipline, I love those exhilarating moments when the ideas take shape," she says. "I believe that the epiphanies, insanities and creative absurdities at the beginning of the project, and the finalised thinking at the very end, are to be cherished and celebrated. Everything in the middle is sheer hard work and long hours, but we always get there."

UNIT identity UNIT is a new Swedish ad agency. "I designed the logo to reflect various definitions of the word - something that is an elementary constituent of a whole, and a group regarded as a distinct entity within a larger group," explains Theolin.

Iain Macarthur
Location Swindon, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.iainmacarthur.carbonmade.com

A recent graduate of Swindon college, Iain Macarthur enjoys combining realistic portraits with geometric patterns. "They introduce an exciting and surreal take on portrait drawing," he explains. "I like to experiment with my portraits and make them more captivating, for example by using different methods of pen work within them." The aim, he says, is not to produce a simple drawing of a face - "I want to make it look like something you have never seen before. I also carry a sketchbook around all the time on my travels, drawing on the bus or in a coffee shop," he adds.

In addition to his portraiture work, Macarthur "dabbles" with cartoon illustrations for the likes of Nike, Concrete Hermit and MTV Playground. "The cartoon style is influenced by taking ordinary objects or animals and transforming them into wild creations made up of just organic patterns," he explains.

Rah! A T-shirt commission for Dynamic Style clothing. "I wanted to do a design that was fierce but that also had an element of textile patterns incorporated within the animal, so that it showed beauty and rage at the same time," says Macarthur.

Iain Macarthur
Location Swindon, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.iainmacarthur.carbonmade.com

A recent graduate of Swindon college, Iain Macarthur enjoys combining realistic portraits with geometric patterns. "They introduce an exciting and surreal take on portrait drawing," he explains. "I like to experiment with my portraits and make them more captivating, for example by using different methods of pen work within them." The aim, he says, is not to produce a simple drawing of a face - "I want to make it look like something you have never seen before. I also carry a sketchbook around all the time on my travels, drawing on the bus or in a coffee shop," he adds.

In addition to his portraiture work, Macarthur "dabbles" with cartoon illustrations for the likes of Nike, Concrete Hermit and MTV Playground. "The cartoon style is influenced by taking ordinary objects or animals and transforming them into wild creations made up of just organic patterns," he explains.

Seduce This personal portrait was born of Macarthur's desire to create a portrait that was both elegant to look at and presented a unique image. "The patterns give a feeling of an organic form that flows out of the face, like a floral element which spreads," he says.

Arran Gregory
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.arrangregory.com

"Often exploring and expressing the visual beauty found within Mother Nature and the animal kingdom, my work is inspired by inspiration," says Arran Gregory somewhat cryptically. "I acquire my creative energies from all corners of life including city life, skateboarding, and street and music culture."

The 22-year-old graduated last year from the Chelsea College of Art and Design with a degree in Graphic Design for Communication, and is now working as a freelancer for a small studio in London. "My work covers a broad spectrum of techniques and processes," he says. "For instance, last year I created a life-sized mirrored sculpture of a grizzly bear, and I think the future for me as a designer involves much more graphic sculpture and 3D realisation of my designs and illustrations."

In the meantime, Gregory is hoping to exhibit alongside Marcus Oakley, French and Matt Fowler in a joint show at auction house Christie's later this year.

Deer Penfield One of a personal series of T-shirt graphics created for US clothing company Penfield. "It was inspired by traditional techniques of wooden inlay and marquetry, and my intention was to fabricate a similar aesthetic from a simple illustration," says Gregory. "The series consists of three animals composed by overlaying contrasting wooden textures using Photoshop."

Arran Gregory
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.arrangregory.com

"Often exploring and expressing the visual beauty found within Mother Nature and the animal kingdom, my work is inspired by inspiration," says Arran Gregory somewhat cryptically. "I acquire my creative energies from all corners of life including city life, skateboarding, and street and music culture."

The 22-year-old graduated last year from the Chelsea College of Art and Design with a degree in Graphic Design for Communication, and is now working as a freelancer for a small studio in London. "My work covers a broad spectrum of techniques and processes," he says. "For instance, last year I created a life-sized mirrored sculpture of a grizzly bear, and I think the future for me as a designer involves much more graphic sculpture and 3D realisation of my designs and illustrations."

In the meantime, Gregory is hoping to exhibit alongside Marcus Oakley, French and Matt Fowler in a joint show at auction house Christie's later this year.

Cardwood An extension of the T-shirt series created for Penfield. "Here I am attempting to create a 3D narrative using a combination of the animals from the T-shirts," says Gregory. "The animals were then clothed in various Penfield apparel using Photoshop, and the final graphic was used for the company's 2009 Christmas e-card."

Benjamin Cox
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.bencoxdesign.com

"I started working as a freelance artworker back in 2006, but I've always considered myself a designer," says Benjamin Cox. "Although if I'd known how mutually exclusive artworking and design was, I wouldn't have started down that path." Since graduating from Middlesex University with a degree in Visual Communication, Cox says he's gradually tried to move away from artworking altogether as, "I find the lack of creative control a frustrating experience and I'm concentrating on finding a design position at an agency."

To that end Cox is currently widening his portfolio with a number of personal pieces, finding inspiration from blogs and attempting to get to grips with 3D in the form of Cinema 4D.

1978: A Space Odyssey "The original photograph that this piece is based on is of a woman with a huge afro, and I thought it would be fun to make it a planet-sized disco ball," explains Cox. "I'm quite pleased with the illustrative look of the piece, considering it's made up of photos and layer effects."

Benjamin Cox
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.bencoxdesign.com

"I started working as a freelance artworker back in 2006, but I've always considered myself a designer," says Benjamin Cox. "Although if I'd known how mutually exclusive artworking and design was, I wouldn't have started down that path." Since graduating from Middlesex University with a degree in Visual Communication, Cox says he's gradually tried to move away from artworking altogether as, "I find the lack of creative control a frustrating experience and I'm concentrating on finding a design position at an agency."

To that end Cox is currently widening his portfolio with a number of personal pieces, finding inspiration from blogs and attempting to get to grips with 3D in the form of Cinema 4D.

The Destroyer of Worlds A personal piece created as a departure from Cox's other work - "that is, something without a half-naked woman in it" - and based on a stock image of a baboon. "Baboons are one of the most fearsome creatures in the animal kingdom... I wanted to produce an equally violent image that made it look more like a force of nature than an animal," says Cox.

Simon Watkins
Location Stroud, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.vietnamthemovie.co.uk

Vietnamthemovie - or to give him his slightly less dramatic real name, Simon Watkins - describes himself as "self-taught and keen as mustard, but not as hot." He's certainly dedicated, intending to develop his artistic passion enough to become a full-time illustrator. "Having spent two years defining my style and networking, the real work starts now," he says. "You can only spend so much time social networking, and I'm now looking to work with bigger clients and expand my business. Fashion and editorial are two areas I love, and this is where I'm going hunting."

While much of his work has been vector-based until now, this year he has begun experimenting with painting - of both the traditional and digital type - and he has plans for his first indoor exhibition in September.

Jade A personal piece. "I was sat over at my relation's house and I saw a photo of their granddaughter sitting proudly on their mantelpiece," says Macarthur. "So I took a picture of it and then illustrated it in this style. It still splits the family down the middle… some like it, some don't!"

Rodrigo Carvalho
Location Barcelona, Spain
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.visiophone-lab.com

Although he now lives in Barcelona, Rodrigo Carvalho - aka Visiophone - is originally from Portugal, where he graduated in 2005 from the University of Aveiro. Until 2008 he was based at a design and audio-visual studio called Multi Arte Produciones in Madrid, working largely with corporate clients such as BMW, L'Oreal and Matrix. "I had to deal with marketing departments, and explore creativity while being very strict with the corporate image," Carvalho says.

Moving to Barcelona, Carvalho embarked on a master's degree in digital arts, "where I got in touch with a new world of physical interfaces, algorithmic videos, interaction, random graphics, reactive installations… Nowadays I'm very interested in the crossover between arts and technology and the relations between sound and graphics," he explains.

Carvalho is particularly inspired by sci-fiand post-apocalyptic scenarios, as well as people such as Rob Chiu, Chris Cunningham, The Designers Republic, Alva Noto, John Maeda, Non-Format, "and many more… and, of course, lots of music."

OFFF 2008 A graphic Carvalho created for the OFFF festival catalogue in 2008. "The theme of the festival was 'A Wi-Fi, a Wi-Fi, my kingdom for a Wi-Fi,' and this graphic piece is about a post-apocalyptic scenario, overlapped by many layers of networks and data," he says.