Computer Arts Gallery: October 2009

Chris Thornley
Location Blackburn
Job Illustrator/graphic designer
Contact www.sourcecreative.co.uk
Software Illustrator

"I spent many of my younger days in the local woods, setting up camps and creating dams in streams, always arriving home covered head to toe in mud," says Chris Thornley. "The moors and woodlands where I grew up inspire my work."

After studying art and typography at college, Chris began designing under the pseudonym Raid71 - "I developed this identity to allow me to experiment and play around with different styles" - and, in 2007, won an Adobe Creative Award for character design. Together with an AOI Images 33 award, this led to interest from major clients such as Levi's, LEGO, Gola and the NME, and eventually inspired Thornley to set up his own studio, Source Creative, in collaboration with college friend Stephen Caton.

Say Anything "This is my twist on the classic John Cusack film of the same name from way back in the '80s," Thornley explains. "Plus, I just love deer. It always makes me smile when one visits our garden."

Chris Thornley
Location Blackburn
Job Illustrator/graphic designer
Contact www.sourcecreative.co.uk
Software Illustrator

"I spent many of my younger days in the local woods, setting up camps and creating dams in streams, always arriving home covered head to toe in mud," says Chris Thornley. "The moors and woodlands where I grew up inspire my work."

After studying art and typography at college, Chris began designing under the pseudonym Raid71 - "I developed this identity to allow me to experiment and play around with different styles" - and, in 2007, won an Adobe Creative Award for character design. Together with an AOI Images 33 award, this led to interest from major clients such as Levi's, LEGO, Gola and the NME, and eventually inspired Thornley to set up his own studio, Source Creative, in collaboration with college friend Stephen Caton.

Bear Market Another woodland-themed image, but this time, says Thornley, with a more serious slant: "It was created as part of a series of images to show the impact our daily lives have on the environment. I added the bubbles at the last minute to give it that dizzy, disorientating effect felt by the bear which no longer has to hunt for its food."

Joe Porter
Location Devon
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.joecoleporter.co.uk
Software Photoshop

"My work is concerned with concept, detail, production and a multidisciplinary approach to design," says Joe Porter, a recent graduate from the University of Brighton who grew up on the south coast of Devon. With his degree and a recent award from the Nagoya University of the Arts, Porter has now set up as a freelance graphic designer.

"I enjoy experimenting with new media and working with new people on collaborative projects," Porter continues. "I've produced a range of work such as specialist handmade books, films, record sleeves, posters, catalogues, magazines, 3D designs and music."

!KE E: /XARRA //KE An image celebrating the 14 years since the end of apartheid in South Africa. Porter explains: "When the government abolished the four former provinces of South Africa, it replaced them with nine fully integrated provinces. This piece focuses on the distinct coat of arms representing each province." The title means 'Unity in diversity' in the almost extinct Khoisan language of \Xam.

Joe Porter
Location Devon
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.joecoleporter.co.uk
Software Photoshop

"My work is concerned with concept, detail, production and a multidisciplinary approach to design," says Joe Porter, a recent graduate from the University of Brighton who grew up on the south coast of Devon. With his degree and a recent award from the Nagoya University of the Arts, Porter has now set up as a freelance graphic designer.

"I enjoy experimenting with new media and working with new people on collaborative projects," Porter continues. "I've produced a range of work such as specialist handmade books, films, record sleeves, posters, catalogues, magazines, 3D designs and music."

Brighton Undergraduate Degree Shows 09 Promo material for the show, for which Porter also worked on art direction and branding in collaboration with Connie Dickson and Aneel Kalsi. "We asked each student to brand themselves in the format of a rubber stamp," he recalls, "and this idea followed through on all the media we created."

Melanie Armstrong
Location Nottingham
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.mousetricks.co.uk
Software Photoshop, Illustrator

"I don't think you can escape the creative gene if you have it," says Melanie Armstrong while discussing her penchant for drawing from the earliest age she can remember - a familiar tale for many artists. "It will always show itself in some form, so later, when deciding what to study, graphic design seemed like the obvious choice."

While Melanie is a self-confessed Adobe addict, she also enjoys working with traditional media - pens, pencil, charcoal - and the spontaneity that can arise from combining the two disciplines. "I've always loved details in things," she elaborates, "taking a closer look and finding something you hadn't noticed at first. My style reflects that; it's like buying a painting and finding another smaller one inside it."

Melanie is currently working on a number of projects, including a CD cover, and is actively seeking an agent.

Urban Empire A piece commissioned by clothing company Zoo York. "I used a Mayan temple overrun with vines for inspiration," says Armstrong, "and chose the colour palette from next season's fashion forecast. I used traditional methods for the buildings, then scanned and combined these with elements drawn on the Wacom."

Melanie Armstrong
Location Nottingham
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.mousetricks.co.uk
Software Photoshop, Illustrator

"I don't think you can escape the creative gene if you have it," says Melanie Armstrong while discussing her penchant for drawing from the earliest age she can remember - a familiar tale for many artists. "It will always show itself in some form, so later, when deciding what to study, graphic design seemed like the obvious choice."

While Melanie is a self-confessed Adobe addict, she also enjoys working with traditional media - pens, pencil, charcoal - and the spontaneity that can arise from combining the two disciplines. "I've always loved details in things," she elaborates, "taking a closer look and finding something you hadn't noticed at first. My style reflects that; it's like buying a painting and finding another smaller one inside it."

Melanie is currently working on a number of projects, including a CD cover, and is actively seeking an agent.

Dragonfly A personal project, "inspired by the view of the 25ft brick wall from my window, as well as life in a city. I used fineliners for the monochrome work, then scanned [the pieces] as usual and worked on them in Illustrator and Photoshop."

Jeroen Krielaars
Location Amsterdam
Job Graphic/motion designer
Contact www.calango.nl
Software Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects

A self-employed and self-taught designer, Jeroen Krielaars says he's never had a traditional design education. "During my studies in visual marketing I came across a lot of branding, which started my fascination with graphic design and made me explore the possibilities of design software on my own," he explains. A few years of honing his skills and some not very lucrative jobs later, he has now set up his own small design studio in the heart of Amsterdam. "And by small, I mean me, an intern, and an occasional freelancer. My mission is to expand a bit in the near future. By expanding, I hope to be able to put even more love into projects and deliver a higher quality."

Recently Krielaars' focus has shifted from print to motion design, although he still enjoys working on both. In either case, he adds, he takes a lot of inspiration from chaos: "I like the contrast between vivid and pale colours, 2D and 3D, chaos and structure, image and typography, culture and nature, and so on. I love the fact that two elements can enhance each other or direct one's focus in a symbiosis-like way."

Zuco 103 Retouched "When Zuco 103 - a Brazilian/Dutch/German live band - decided to remix their latest album, they asked me to remix the cover art I did for that album," says Krielaars. "So I swapped all the colours and added some fresh typography to give it a new look without losing connection to the original album."

Val&iacutestika
Location Madrid
Job Graphic designers
Contact www.valistika.com
Software Adobe CS

Design studio Val&iacutestika consists of the creative pairing of Guadalupe Cos-Gayón Al&iacutea and Miguel Abio Ruiz. They were both former practitioners of design and illustration at the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre - Real Casa de la Moneda in Madrid - which, intriguingly enough, is the Royal Spanish Mint. Later, they studied advertising graphics at the No 10 Art School, also in Madrid, and in 2006 set up their own studio in the same city.

"The thing that makes us most proud is to express ourselves and our feelings in the creative process of all our projects - to be in a constant search for our own style," Al&iacutea says. Such projects include creative direction and design for culture, fashion and advertising clients, as well as illustration and custom typography. All Val&iacutestika's work begins as traditional media: drawings, collages, paintings or whatever suits, and is only then adapted for digital media, if necessary -"That way, we believe the work is more human and more personal," Ruiz explains.

Squeezer A wallpaper image designed for Gaia 09 (www.gaia09.us), a community project to raise awareness of climate change. The site features similar contributions from many upcoming studios and artists; Val&iacutestika's image was created with ink, gouache, pencil and Photoshop.

Erica Yujin Choi
Location New York
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.yujinchoi.com
Software Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

Almost immediately after Erica Yujin Choi graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design from the Rhode Island School of Digital Design earlier this year, she was hired by web agency Huge Inc. "I enjoy the fast-paced environment of a digital agency," she says, "as well as the opportunity to work with a great number of inspirational designers."

However, to fulfil her love for print work Choi also freelances for private clients in her spare time, "particularly on the weekends in a quiet neighbourhood Starbucks, where I can indulge my love of frozen yoghurt." She enjoys working with brands of all kinds, but has a particular interest in the fashion industry and 'luxury' brands. "One day I'd like to pursue a career with those as a focus," she adds.

2x2x2 This magazine cover mock-up was created as part of a conceptual exhibition on artist and fashion designer collaborations. "The identity of 2x2x2 emphasised the dialogue between the three artist and design duos," says Choi. A generation ago, the mating dance between culture and commerce was considered heresy, but today such alliances are just one of the avenues available to an artist."

Paul the Illustrator
Location Dublin
Job Illustrator/graphic designer
Contact www.paultheillustrator.com
Software Photoshop, Illustrator, Maya

"You could say I've been designing for the last six years, working in a wide range of media for an even wider range of clients," says Paul Woods. After studying fine art at the Irish National College of Art and Design, he decided painting wasn't his thing and landed a job designing flyers for a music company. This also entailed learning web design, as well as working freelance for a range of music and fashion clients. In 2006, he decided it was finally time to get a degree, and is now in his last year at Dublin Institute of Technology.

Type Factory An International Society of Typographic Designers brief to create a visual identity for a fictitious museum of typography led to this project. "My idea was to pick three typefaces - not necessarily the most elegant ones - used by the man in the street on a regular basis," says Woods. "I set the letters in a 3D space to create the feel that they were on display. Each poster featured a different typeface coupled with a phrase that summed up its most common usage and attributes."