Computer Arts Gallery: May 2012

Matt Keers
Location: Manchester, UK
Job: Graphic designer

Manchester-born Matt Keers knew from an early age he wanted a career in design, having spent his youth immersed in skate culture and the inspiring art world surrounding it. He took a National Diploma in design at nearby Stockport College, followed by a BA in graphic arts at Liverpool John Moores University. During this time, he started to build his studio experience, taking on placements in London and the north west, which led to freelance work and a portfolio of his own clients. He’s contributed to a number of exciting, high-profile exhibitions, and most recently worked with design store Howkapow to produce a set of vibrant, geometrical graphics for a mug, taking his work in a whole new direction...

Ran
Keers worked on the branding for shoe and clothing shop Ran. “I wanted to create a bespoke new font with a geometric style. I’m pleased with the way the typography looks with the photography.”

Matt Keers
Location: Manchester, UK
Job: Graphic designer

Manchester-born Matt Keers knew from an early age he wanted a career in design, having spent his youth immersed in skate culture and the inspiring art world surrounding it. He took a National Diploma in design at nearby Stockport College, followed by a BA in graphic arts at Liverpool John Moores University. During this time, he started to build his studio experience, taking on placements in London and the north west, which led to freelance work and a portfolio of his own clients. He’s contributed to a number of exciting, high-profile exhibitions, and most recently worked with design store Howkapow to produce a set of vibrant, geometrical graphics for a mug, taking his work in a whole new direction...

Tutti Frutti
‘Tutti Frutti’ mug features a graphic pattern that was created by Keers in Illustrator. “The inspiration basically came from designing geometric patterns just for the fun of it.”

Matt Keers
Location: Manchester, UK
Job: Graphic designer

Manchester-born Matt Keers knew from an early age he wanted a career in design, having spent his youth immersed in skate culture and the inspiring art world surrounding it. He took a National Diploma in design at nearby Stockport College, followed by a BA in graphic arts at Liverpool John Moores University. During this time, he started to build his studio experience, taking on placements in London and the north west, which led to freelance work and a portfolio of his own clients. He’s contributed to a number of exciting, high-profile exhibitions, and most recently worked with design store Howkapow to produce a set of vibrant, geometrical graphics for a mug, taking his work in a whole new direction...

Le Morte d’Arthur
Keers created this cover as a re-design for classic work, Le Morte d’Arthur, in Illustrator and Indesign. “I wanted to bring a fresh look to this classic story.”

Matt Keers
Location: Manchester, UK
Job: Graphic designer

Manchester-born Matt Keers knew from an early age he wanted a career in design, having spent his youth immersed in skate culture and the inspiring art world surrounding it. He took a National Diploma in design at nearby Stockport College, followed by a BA in graphic arts at Liverpool John Moores University. During this time, he started to build his studio experience, taking on placements in London and the north west, which led to freelance work and a portfolio of his own clients. He’s contributed to a number of exciting, high-profile exhibitions, and most recently worked with design store Howkapow to produce a set of vibrant, geometrical graphics for a mug, taking his work in a whole new direction...

Raw
Briefed to create a canvas for Salford-based studio Raw’s fifth birthday exhibition, Keers went for a “fun, birthday-theme”

LIS, Christian Hogue
Location: Worldwide
Job: Creative director

Lost In Space (LIS) is a virtual studio of designers, animators and VFX experts, including Christian Hogue, Murat Pak, Kultnation, Furyco, Rob Rae and friends. Since 2005, when the studio appeared in Computer Arts issue 110, it has created a number of headline projects, including the cover illustration for Coldplay’s Rush of Blood to the Head, as well as work for Nokia’s 3 Steps to Recycling Your Phone campaign, gig visuals for bands including the likes of Metallica and even Russia’s 2018 FIFA bid.

The studio has developed a distinctive style over the last seven years. “Collectively, we’re all learning,” explains Hogue. “We have moved more into Realtime tools and projects, using Modul8 for event and VJ use, and TouchDesigner for installations.”

One of the team’s biggest challenges has been adapting its methodologies to the emerging digital, online and mobile installation markets: “The most important lesson that we’ve learned is that you have to be flexible in this industry,” says Hogue.

“We’re so fortunate that we no longer have to do ‘bread and butter work’,” he adds. “As a result, we try to look out for unique opportunities – so we feel every project is a real highlight.”

IdN
IdN magazine’s 100th issue project is a celebration of design and animation as an art form. For the project, Lost in Space director Kultnation worked on the design, direction and animation of a surreal digital film, while Echolab provided the sound design.

LIS, Christian Hogue
Location: Worldwide
Job: Creative director

Lost In Space (LIS) is a virtual studio of designers, animators and VFX experts, including Christian Hogue, Murat Pak, Kultnation, Furyco, Rob Rae and friends. Since 2005, when the studio appeared in Computer Arts issue 110, it has created a number of headline projects, including the cover illustration for Coldplay’s Rush of Blood to the Head, as well as work for Nokia’s 3 Steps to Recycling Your Phone campaign, gig visuals for bands including the likes of Metallica and even Russia’s 2018 FIFA bid.

The studio has developed a distinctive style over the last seven years. “Collectively, we’re all learning,” explains Hogue. “We have moved more into Realtime tools and projects, using Modul8 for event and VJ use, and TouchDesigner for installations.”

One of the team’s biggest challenges has been adapting its methodologies to the emerging digital, online and mobile installation markets: “The most important lesson that we’ve learned is that you have to be flexible in this industry,” says Hogue.

“We’re so fortunate that we no longer have to do ‘bread and butter work’,” he adds. “As a result, we try to look out for unique opportunities – so we feel every project is a real highlight.”

Constructing Dreams for the Future
Kultnation created these partner titles for last year’s annual OFFF festival in Barcelona. Great examples of communication design, they convey the essence of the festival’s philosophy – ‘Let’s feed the future’.

Adhemas Batista
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Job: Art and design director, and illustrator

Six years on from featuring in Exposure in issue 120 of Computer Arts, Adhemas Batista is busier than ever. In that time he’s relocated from Brazil to the USA, learned a new language and still found time to work with a string of big brands, including Coca-Cola, Absolut Vodka and Microsoft – notching up numerous accolades (including a Gold Lion at Cannes) along the way.

Although still an advocate for strong colours and contrasts, Batista’s style has evolved: “My style hasn’t completely changed direction, but it has gained more detail and precision. I’ve learned it’s necessary to have balance – sometimes less is more,” he says.

Experience has seen Batista develop his technique: “I’m a lot faster because I know now what works and what doesn’t,” he admits. “I’m still a heavy user of Illustrator and Photoshop, with a bit of Cinema 4D. But now I have more skills to create the visuals I want.”

Color Your Game
Designed for the launch of the new Accelerate V handball shoes from Puma, Batista aimed to evoke the impact of colour on performance: “I wanted it to show that colour makes your game better – the whole scene comes alive with each splash and swoosh of paint.”

Adhemas Batista
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Job: Art and design director, and illustrator

Six years on from featuring in Exposure in issue 120 of Computer Arts, Adhemas Batista is busier than ever. In that time he’s relocated from Brazil to the USA, learned a new language and still found time to work with a string of big brands, including Coca-Cola, Absolut Vodka and Microsoft – notching up numerous accolades (including a Gold Lion at Cannes) along the way.

Although still an advocate for strong colours and contrasts, Batista’s style has evolved: “My style hasn’t completely changed direction, but it has gained more detail and precision. I’ve learned it’s necessary to have balance – sometimes less is more,” he says.

Experience has seen Batista develop his technique: “I’m a lot faster because I know now what works and what doesn’t,” he admits. “I’m still a heavy user of Illustrator and Photoshop, with a bit of Cinema 4D. But now I have more skills to create the visuals I want.”

Treat Yourself
Commissioned by Saatchi & Saatchi X for Cadbury, this point-of-sale piece was created using the motif and title ‘Treat Yourself’. “My idea was to create the headline using all kinds of chocolates and candies, but within an ornate and tasteful composition,” Batista explains.

Jon Pink
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Job: Graphic designer, consultant and director

Jon Pink featured in Computer Arts back in June 2003 and, despite a global economic downturn setting in since then, he’s very positive about how his career has developed: “Business through the recession was really good for me, as it was for a lot of designers and agencies, because it forced organisations to re-evaluate their branding and to try to give themselves a fresh outlook,” he says.

Although the self-employed creative consultant and designer isn’t short of clients, he’s currently resisting the temptation to expand in favour of retaining the personal approach in his work. “I’m happy to remain the size I am – personal interaction is integral to the success of a project,” he explains.

Working almost exclusively digitally, Pink uses the latest Adobe Suite of tools and is particularly excited about Adobe’s Creative Cloud service. These days, he says his style is cleaner and simpler: “Good design is all about simplicity,” he reasons. “It’s about making things easier to understand and engage with. There is a clear distinction between design that looks pretty and design that really works.”

Although not one for bowing to fads or trends, he’s enthusiastic about social networking. “It’s a great way to get involved in the design community and make contact with clients you might otherwise have not been exposed to.”

Farretti Biscuits
“This was a great job to be involved in,” reflects Pink, who was tasked with redesigning the visual identity for the product, which was suffering rejection from supermarkets due to its branding. “We wanted to bring the brand more credibility and evoke a sense of the owner’s home-country, Italy.”

Jon Pink
Location: Oxfordshire, UK
Job: Graphic designer, consultant and director

Jon Pink featured in Computer Arts back in June 2003 and, despite a global economic downturn setting in since then, he’s very positive about how his career has developed: “Business through the recession was really good for me, as it was for a lot of designers and agencies, because it forced organisations to re-evaluate their branding and to try to give themselves a fresh outlook,” he says.

Although the self-employed creative consultant and designer isn’t short of clients, he’s currently resisting the temptation to expand in favour of retaining the personal approach in his work. “I’m happy to remain the size I am – personal interaction is integral to the success of a project,” he explains.

Working almost exclusively digitally, Pink uses the latest Adobe Suite of tools and is particularly excited about Adobe’s Creative Cloud service. These days, he says his style is cleaner and simpler: “Good design is all about simplicity,” he reasons. “It’s about making things easier to understand and engage with. There is a clear distinction between design that looks pretty and design that really works.”

Although not one for bowing to fads or trends, he’s enthusiastic about social networking. “It’s a great way to get involved in the design community and make contact with clients you might otherwise have not been exposed to.”

Ice Planet Vodka
Pink was commissioned to design a logo and packaging for new luxury vodka label, Ice Planet Vodka. After much deliberation, he plumped for a snowflake logo. “A snowflake is pure and this is an association we liked,” he says. “It also hints at the clean, sharp taste of iced vodka and translates really well to a frosted bottle.”