Computer Arts Gallery: June 2011

Simon Foster
Location London, UK
Job Graphic and web designer
Contact www.simonfosterdesign.com

Simon Foster got into design later than most people, having previously been an art student, creative director, hair stylist and DJ - all of which seem to have been good training. "I think this varied creative background gives me an eclectic cultural experience that I bring to my design work," he explains. "I'm primarily a web designer but I do dabble in graphic design and illustration, and I'm mostly self-taught." Foster's main inspirations are classic posters, packaging and album covers, which influence his web designs.

2011 Calendar Foster's calendar for 2011 started out as a playful project, but soon became more serious and time-consuming as he warmed to the idea. "It's an experiment in mixing basic shapes and colours with plenty of texture and some nice typography. I wanted to keep it very minimal and striking, but also make a warm textural feel," he explains. "I did so by laying several textured photographs over the shapes in Photoshop, and experimenting with various blending options and filters."

Ed Price
Location Bristol, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.collectivestudio.co.uk

Ed Price is an art director at Collective Studio in the south west of England, whose work spans a wide range of disciplines - including corporate identities, psychedelic club flyers, promo videos and magazine design. "Whether I'm designing bleeding-edge graphics for a DJ so niche you've probably never heard of them, or art-directing the relaunch of a 300-year-old magazine," he says, "I try to approach every project with the same playful attitude and borderline obsessive attention to detail." Photography is another passion of his, and he cheerfully admits to spending far more money on the hobby than might be necessary.

Morph x 12 (front) Price has been designing flyers for Morph, a techno event, since it began in 2009. "For this, I contrasted simple geometric renders and a muted palette with vivid splashes of colour seeping through the focal point in the centre. I used layer masks to create the '2', then applied subtle shading layers to give a 3D effect."

Ed Price
Location Bristol, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.collectivestudio.co.uk

Ed Price is an art director at Collective Studio in the south west of England, whose work spans a wide range of disciplines - including corporate identities, psychedelic club flyers, promo videos and magazine design. "Whether I'm designing bleeding-edge graphics for a DJ so niche you've probably never heard of them, or art-directing the relaunch of a 300-year-old magazine," he says, "I try to approach every project with the same playful attitude and borderline obsessive attention to detail." Photography is another passion of his, and he cheerfully admits to spending far more money on the hobby than might be necessary.

Morph x 7 (front) Price says he designs just about everything for Morph, including flyers, banners, posters and stickers. "For their first birthday they wanted something a little special," he says. "I achieved this look by combining striking 3D letterforms in Cinema 4D with vector elements and a healthy scoop of glow-porn."

Chris Ross
Location London, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.verbalspicks.com

Having graduated in film production from London's University for the Creative Arts in 2009, and then worked freelance around London doing running and editing, it's only in recent months that Chris Ross has really focused on getting a start in the design industry. His images, he says, usually arrive organically without much of a plan: "I never think about what I want my illustrations to say or mean. I want to create interest for someone looking and have them think about what it means themselves."

Hairy Robots "Further experimenting with a recent totem drawing I made, this started as a hand drawing, which I later remade in Photoshop. My aim was to create a fun collage of toys that grew oily hair through their openings. It's a combination of my love of black ink drawing and retro designs."

Karlie McCulloch
Location Manchester, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.karliemc.blogspot.com

A graduate of Salford University, Karlie McCulloch says she "accidentally fell into illustration" while working on a university project, and, since it seemed like a good fit, she has continued doing it. "My style is quite dark, but somehow I manage to keep it feminine," she believes. "I have an obsession with drawing hands." Appropriate, really, since all her work is hand-drawn and inked, and then finished off in Illustrator or Photoshop to add colour and texture. "My colour palette is quite subdued," she adds. "Bright colours scare me."

1920s Woman A self-directed illustration inspired by McCulloch's fascination with 1920s style. "The textures of the clothes and the glamour of the women were my main inspiration for this piece," she says.

Karlie McCulloch
Location Manchester, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.karliemc.blogspot.com

A graduate of Salford University, Karlie McCulloch says she "accidentally fell into illustration" while working on a university project, and, since it seemed like a good fit, she has continued doing it. "My style is quite dark, but somehow I manage to keep it feminine," she believes. "I have an obsession with drawing hands." Appropriate, really, since all her work is hand-drawn and inked, and then finished off in Illustrator or Photoshop to add colour and texture. "My colour palette is quite subdued," she adds. "Bright colours scare me."

Sucker Love A commissioned illustration of the lyrics from the Placebo song Every Me, Every You. She recounts: "I added in weird little illustrations complimenting the lyrics. It helped the flow of the piece."

Lucy Joy
Location Bath, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.lucyjoyoldfield.com

Lucy Joy works in Bath, freelancing for half the week on projects ranging from hand-drawn type to repeat patterns and illustration. "My work is largely driven by my love of eye-catching objects and surface decoration," she says.

"I enjoy working in fine detail, and try to approach drawing with an uninhibited and non-mechanical technique. I like wobbly lines. I love colour and have recently been experimenting with watercolour, texture and geometry."

Dream Series Part of a series that initially began as experiments with colour and composition, the central Native American figure was drawn with a Rotring pen, with colour and texture added in Photoshop. "Using triangles, circles and celestial imagery I populated the negative space. I like the contrast of clean shapes with line drawing," she says.

Lucy Joy
Location Bath, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.lucyjoyoldfield.com

Lucy Joy works in Bath, freelancing for half the week on projects ranging from hand-drawn type to repeat patterns and illustration. "My work is largely driven by my love of eye-catching objects and surface decoration," she says.

"I enjoy working in fine detail, and try to approach drawing with an uninhibited and non-mechanical technique. I like wobbly lines. I love colour and have recently been experimenting with watercolour, texture and geometry."

Art In Everyday Life "I'm in love with the look and feel of hand-drawn type, so I was happy when teelocker commissioned me to create a slogan T-shirt for them," Joy recalls. "I initially sketched out the composition and design for the type, then constructed it in Illustrator. Next, I worked in some freeform and more structured geometric outlines, then for colour and texture I took the image into Photoshop and embellished the background with watercolour textures."

Ewa Mos
Location Wolverhampton, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.ewamos.com

Originally from Poland - where she studied Fine Art in Kraków for six years - Ewa Mos relocated to the UK to study graphics and illustration at the University of Wolverhampton. "I love strange things," says the artist, known as Moscva to her friends. "I'm inspired by everything unusual and weird. My hero is Jacek Malczewski, a Polish painter from the Young Poland movement."

One of Mos' current quests is to get involved with illustration battles and other live events. She'd also like to become "a magic Afro- American pirate-mermaid-skateboarder-ninja."

Girl With Fox "The things I love most in my life, besides beaches and palm trees swaying in the wind, are illustration and photography - so I'm happiest when I can join the two," explains Mos. "For this piece I was inspired by classic Baroque and Renaissance portraits."

Samantha Eynon
Location Midlands, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.samanthaeynon.com

Rejoicing in the alternative moniker of littlegamgee, Samantha Eynon graduated from Staffordshire University in 2008 with a first class degree in Fine Art. "While studying I worked using a broad range of techniques, from painting to installation," she says. "In my final year I specialised in installation. When I graduated I found it difficult not having a studio to work in and test out my ideas, but I had a desire to keep being creative."

Since then she has discovered Illustrator as well as the joys of making paper toys, an aspect she has developed with her online range of characters.

Bicycles "I wanted to come up with a fresh, simple image based on retro and cruiser bikes, as I think many bikes have a real sense of beauty. I wanted it to be a picture that would fit into many households, and it has since proved to be one of the most popular images I have created."