Computer Arts Gallery: November 2010

Menachem Krinsky
Location Los Angeles, USA
Job Art director
Contact www.menachemkrinsky.com

Self-taught graphic designer Krinsky first started "fooling around" with Photoshop at the age of 15. "Over much time and with practice, I slowly started developing my skills in both the understanding of design and actual program usage," he says. "I remember seeing various works online and thinking 'Wow, I really wish I could accomplish that.'"

In order to do so, he would stay up night after night experimenting with various tools - and it paid off. "Eventually, I built up a large portfolio of print design and started freelancing paid work projects in my after-school hours." Nowadays he works at visionary+flock, an entertainment design studio, and still freelances from time to time.

Live What You Love The title is Krinsky's life motto: "I repeat it to anyone who complains about what they do. I am so grateful to be able to love my job, and I urge everyone to explore their best qualities and use them to their utmost ability."

Menachem Krinsky
Location Los Angeles, USA
Job Art director
Contact www.menachemkrinsky.com

Self-taught graphic designer Krinsky first started "fooling around" with Photoshop at the age of 15. "Over much time and with practice, I slowly started developing my skills in both the understanding of design and actual program usage," he says. "I remember seeing various works online and thinking 'Wow, I really wish I could accomplish that.'"

In order to do so, he would stay up night after night experimenting with various tools - and it paid off. "Eventually, I built up a large portfolio of print design and started freelancing paid work projects in my after-school hours." Nowadays he works at visionary+flock, an entertainment design studio, and still freelances from time to time.

Love Song "I came across this line while browsing the web one night and it jumped right at me. I knew I had to do something with it and try to bring it to life somehow. The following was what I came up with, using both Photoshop and Illustrator CS3."

Ant Baena
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer, illustrator
Contact www.antbaena.co.uk

Not long after he'd graduated from Salford University back in 2008, Baena was fortunate enough to land a position as an intern for Vault 49 in New York - which was followed by a stint at ilovedust back in Britain. It's the sort of start many graduates can only dream of, and he's certainly grateful for it. "Working with two world-class, award-winning design boutiques has enabled me the ability to switch from clinical typography to eccentric illustration," he says, "applying an enthusiasm similar to that of a beady-eyed hyperactive child."

He also believes that his exposure to these studios has enlivened his work on the whole: "It's not confined to any particular genre or style. My work blends all walks of life, and it can be seen in print, online, on clothing, urban vinyl or just about anything else I can get my sticky mitts on."

Letter Press A personal experimental piece. "It was created just to push my technical abilities as much as I could," says Baena. "I ended up with a piece I was really proud of. I encountered no end of problems trying to get to the finished product, from the rendering and lighting to the detailed texturing."

Ant Baena
Location London, UK
Job Graphic designer, illustrator
Contact www.antbaena.co.uk

Not long after he'd graduated from Salford University back in 2008, Baena was fortunate enough to land a position as an intern for Vault 49 in New York - which was followed by a stint at ilovedust back in Britain. It's the sort of start many graduates can only dream of, and he's certainly grateful for it. "Working with two world-class, award-winning design boutiques has enabled me the ability to switch from clinical typography to eccentric illustration," he says, "applying an enthusiasm similar to that of a beady-eyed hyperactive child."

He also believes that his exposure to these studios has enlivened his work on the whole: "It's not confined to any particular genre or style. My work blends all walks of life, and it can be seen in print, online, on clothing, urban vinyl or just about anything else I can get my sticky mitts on."

All's Good "This piece was created for an exhibition around the concept of community. Originally it was conceived as a two-colour screen print, but eventually it just evolved into the finished version. The type is hand-rendered. After trying to achieve the effects digitally, I decided to go back to the drawing board to paint the typography and then digitally composite the image in Photoshop. It was a nice way to work and I intend to create more pieces this way."

Ghica Popa
Location Bucharest, Romania
Job Illustrator, creative director
Contact www.ghicapopa.com

"Although I love my job as a creative director, illustration remains my big passion and I dedicate a large part of my free time to it," says Popa. While working as an art director for the Bucharest branches of both McCann Erickson and Leo Burnett for eight years, he was used to dealing with clients such as Orange, Procter & Gamble, GE Money and Western Union, winning awards at various advertising festivals around the world. Recently though he has decided to take things more local, and is now art director of a Romanian agency called Punct.

His work now includes identity, fashion, product and editorial design, among other things. "My style is influenced by science fiction, movies I watched as a kid, strange buildings and different art movements," he adds.

Eircom Through ad agency Chemistry, Popa was commissioned to illustrate a campaign promoting new offers from Eircom, Ireland's main telco. "In each visual, I created a world full of characters that work hard to construct the offer. I used a crowded and chopped style in which, besides the message being visible at first sight, the viewer can discover a new detail or a little story each time they see the ad."

Ghica Popa
Location Bucharest, Romania
Job Illustrator, creative director
Contact www.ghicapopa.com

"Although I love my job as a creative director, illustration remains my big passion and I dedicate a large part of my free time to it," says Popa. While working as an art director for the Bucharest branches of both McCann Erickson and Leo Burnett for eight years, he was used to dealing with clients such as Orange, Procter & Gamble, GE Money and Western Union, winning awards at various advertising festivals around the world. Recently though he has decided to take things more local, and is now art director of a Romanian agency called Punct.

His work now includes identity, fashion, product and editorial design, among other things. "My style is influenced by science fiction, movies I watched as a kid, strange buildings and different art movements," he adds.

A Robot's Tale "The nice people at Blana, a street culture magazine in Romania, offered me eight pages in the mag to use as I liked. I chose to illustrate a story - a sort of comic strip with one frame per page, showing the journey of a robot through all sort of different places. He's not at all impressed by what he sees."

Sebastian Murra Ramirez
Location Barcelona, Spain
Job Graphic and motion designer
Contact www.mu-illustration.com

"My main influences are life, rock music and my dad's art," says this designer, who is originally from Columbia. "Of course design is the backbone of my work and it is evident in it. I believe that all the art I've seen in my life has had a major influence on me - artists like Kandinsky, Pollock, DalÍ and even Joshua Davis too."

Ramirez' current goal is either to start his own studio or become an art director for an ad agency or design studio. "Every day I see new stuff in blogs and magazines with amazing illustrators," he adds. "Those are a valuable source of inspiration and knowledge, but as a designer current affairs and history are important catalysts to my creativity."

Destroy "This is one of my favourites!" Ramirez says of this personal piece. "I wanted to reflect aggressiveness and destruction in a very subtle way, while still having plenty of motion and a wavy elegant feeling."

Sebastian Murra Ramirez
Location Barcelona, Spain
Job Graphic and motion designer
Contact www.mu-illustration.com

"My main influences are life, rock music and my dad's art," says this designer, who is originally from Columbia. "Of course design is the backbone of my work and it is evident in it. I believe that all the art I've seen in my life has had a major influence on me - artists like Kandinsky, Pollock, DalÍ and even Joshua Davis too."

Ramirez' current goal is either to start his own studio or become an art director for an ad agency or design studio. "Every day I see new stuff in blogs and magazines with amazing illustrators," he adds. "Those are a valuable source of inspiration and knowledge, but as a designer current affairs and history are important catalysts to my creativity."

The Carnival of Sins The principal goal here was to represent nothing less than an orgy, using simple colours and intertwined objects: "an orgy that is a carnival. Here everyone participates, everyone is happy and passionate about the hedonistic side of life we often forget in our routines."

Like the other illo, this uses only vectors and blend modes: "I wanted to keep them as basic as possible and the closest to human finger painting."

Rudi de Wet
Location Melbourne, Australia
Job Illustrator
Contact www.rudidewet.com

South African by birth but now living and working in a very different part of the world, de Wet studied fine arts and graduated in illustration and graphic design at the University of Stellenbosch. "With my first job, I helped start what is now a highly respected illustration studio called Am I Collective, based in Cape Town," he says. "I worked there for a few years, and it helped me build the foundation for the way I approach all the work that I do today." It also inspired him to go freelance, after a stint with Junior, an ad agency in Australia.

Inspirations include old hand-made lettering and typographic signs, he adds, as well as "ornamentation, all sorts of decorative elements, and patterns found on African fabrics."

Skoda Octavia 90TSI Ad design for the car in question. "The techniques I used to create this piece were pretty much the same approach I apply to all my work," says de Wet. "Everything always starts with a pencil rough, either in blue lead or regular pencil. For this particular job it was important to get the rough looking pretty good to put the client at ease. Other times my roughs won't be as concise - it depends on the job. I then scan the rough in and begin the laborious task of redrawing it in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet. I like to work this way because it gives me the opportunity to craft each letter and word separately. Once this is done, then I can start with colouring, shading and texturing."

Luca Molnar
Location Hertfordshire, UK
Job Graphic designer, illustrator
Contact www.lucamolnar.com

Originally from Hungary, Molnar is currently studying at the Interactive Design Institute at the University of Hertfordshire, and has been illustrating freelance since 2006, when she was just 16. Clients to date include MTV, Cedar Grove Books and Urban Melodic Entertainment, as well as a range of editorial publications for which she has produced tutorials.

"My illustrations are very futuristic," she says. "I try to use symbolic elements to tell a story through my artwork. I also love using geometric shapes and mythical people from different cultures - particularly Egyptian, Mayan and Celtic figures."

We Were Born To Be Kings This image was inspired by a Queen song, Princes of the Universe - hence the very similar title. "I wanted it to be very simple, but very powerful," says Molnar, "which is why I chose to keep to a monochrome colour scheme and decided to include a lot of dust and stars. I drew the typography on paper and then finished off the illustration in Photoshop CS5."