Computer Arts Gallery: October 2010

Louise McLennan
Location Aberdeen, UK
Job Multimedia student
Contact www.lemclennan.com

"My cover and spread for Amelia's Anthology of Illustration were featured in issue 171 of Computer Arts," says Louise McLennan of her previous appearance in these pages. But rest assured we're not retreading old ground. "Since creating the pieces, my style has changed dramatically," she explains, "and I now specialise in colourful and fantastical vector artwork."

Though currently entering her third year studying multimedia development, McLennan's graphic design is firmly based in the tradition of print. "It's driven by Illustrator's gradients and my love of imagined landscapes," she adds. "I'd say my influences include artists such as Zutto and PokedStudio, as well as games such as Grim Fandango, Machinarium and Loom."

Black magic An exhibition piece for the NonStopNerds exhibition held at the Concrete Playground in Dortmund, Germany. "As I had a very short time to complete this picture, I focused on creating an eerie atmosphere," explains McLennan.

Louise McLennan
Location Aberdeen, UK
Job Multimedia student
Contact www.lemclennan.com

"My cover and spread for Amelia's Anthology of Illustration were featured in issue 171 of Computer Arts," says Louise McLennan of her previous appearance in these pages. But rest assured we're not retreading old ground. "Since creating the pieces, my style has changed dramatically," she explains, "and I now specialise in colourful and fantastical vector artwork."

Though currently entering her third year studying multimedia development, McLennan's graphic design is firmly based in the tradition of print. "It's driven by Illustrator's gradients and my love of imagined landscapes," she adds. "I'd say my influences include artists such as Zutto and PokedStudio, as well as games such as Grim Fandango, Machinarium and Loom."

The Pink Ones A self-initiated piece, which McLennan admits was heavily influenced by children's stories such as The Gruffalo and Where the Wild Things Are: "In particular, the idea of a monster eating cake came from my favourite childhood monster story The Beast with a Thousand Teeth, which was written by Terry Jones and illustrated by Michael Foreman."

David Heaton
Location Bristol, UK
Job Graphic designer/illustrator
Contact www.buro-taktik.com

David Heaton is an artist who belatedly found that his educational career didn't actually match up to his interests. "After graduating from the University of the West of England with a degree in architecture in 2007, I realised that I wanted to follow a path in graphic design," he says. "Since then I've effectively taught myself, using the principles I studied in architecture, and applying my own visual, minimal style to each piece."

Having worked for various design companies, he considers going freelance early this year to be one of the best decisions he's ever made: "It forced me to become even more efficient, helped me gain massive confidence in my abilities as a designer and allowed me to do the work I wanted to do." All being well, he hopes to move to Stockholm by the end of 2010. "The Scandinavian design ethos, towards not only graphics but furniture and architecture, is absolutely inspirational," he explains.

Rookie of the Year Commissioned artwork for the US band of the same name, based around a theme of 'The Most Beautiful'. "The brief was simply to produce something organic, beautiful and full of colour," says Heaton. "I created my interpretation of the most beautiful of female silhouettes, then added an organic, almost tribal headdress to it, using great blobs of colour with epic brush sets in Photoshop, and subtly using texture to give the piece a sense of depth."

David Heaton
Location Bristol, UK
Job Graphic designer/illustrator
Contact www.buro-taktik.com

David Heaton is an artist who belatedly found that his educational career didn't actually match up to his interests. "After graduating from the University of the West of England with a degree in architecture in 2007, I realised that I wanted to follow a path in graphic design," he says. "Since then I've effectively taught myself, using the principles I studied in architecture, and applying my own visual, minimal style to each piece."

Having worked for various design companies, he considers going freelance early this year to be one of the best decisions he's ever made: "It forced me to become even more efficient, helped me gain massive confidence in my abilities as a designer and allowed me to do the work I wanted to do." All being well, he hopes to move to Stockholm by the end of 2010. "The Scandinavian design ethos, towards not only graphics but furniture and architecture, is absolutely inspirational," he explains.

Bianchi A self-initiated series of posters commemorating the 2010 range of Bianchi's fixed-gear bikes - biking being another of Heaton's passions. "Featuring both retro, European styling and matching colour schemes to tie in with the bikes, I really enjoyed working on these posters," he says.

Luke Elliott
Location Leeds, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.thisisluke.co.uk

"I take my influences and inspiration both from outside and within the world of graphic design," says Nottingham Trent University graduate Luke Elliott. "In particular I admire the simplicity of the work of Josef Müller-Brockmann and the logical thought of Alan Fletcher. I also have a passion for print, branding and identity."

Elliott is currently undertaking a series of internships at studios such as Golden, Brandhouse and SomeOne. "It's exciting and fascinating to be working in the real world of design after four years of academic study," he adds. "Ultimately, I have a real passion to run my own studio, with a particular focus on print." Much of that focus will be on the use of traditional media, too, as Elliott enjoys mixing digital and tangible media throughout many of his projects.

Perfume book cover design A project from the Penguin Design Award, for the book by Peter Suskind. "I decided to construct the skull myself using aluminium wire, and moulded a wire mesh around the frame. The shape was then formed from air-drying clay. The cover image is designed to draw in the viewer with simple typography, giving the image a greater impact."

Luke Elliott
Location Leeds, UK
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.thisisluke.co.uk

"I take my influences and inspiration both from outside and within the world of graphic design," says Nottingham Trent University graduate Luke Elliott. "In particular I admire the simplicity of the work of Josef Müller-Brockmann and the logical thought of Alan Fletcher. I also have a passion for print, branding and identity."

Elliott is currently undertaking a series of internships at studios such as Golden, Brandhouse and SomeOne. "It's exciting and fascinating to be working in the real world of design after four years of academic study," he adds. "Ultimately, I have a real passion to run my own studio, with a particular focus on print." Much of that focus will be on the use of traditional media, too, as Elliott enjoys mixing digital and tangible media throughout many of his projects.

Woodblock poster "The aim of this project was to use a found object and to make something beautiful out of someone else's waste. I found an old cupboard in a skip and created a hand-carved woodblock poster. It was printed in two-tone colour on Daler Rowney 160gsm paper and given away as self-promotion at my degree show."

Leeay Aikawa
Location Toronto, Canada
Job Illustrator
Contact www.leeayaikawa.com

Originally from Japan, Leeay Aikawa first moved to Canada in 2003 in order to study general arts and science. But she soon discovered she had far more interest in the creative side of the course than the scientific, so switched to the illustration course at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Around the same time she also informally changed her name from Rie. "It was my then boyfriend's idea," she says. "'Leeay' is how 'Rie' is pronounced in Japanese, and he suggested it might stop people getting my name wrong."

Aikawa's illos have since featured regularly in the likes of The Globe and Mail and The Atlantic magazine. "I've become comfortable with using both digital and traditional media," she says, "but not with the Canadian winter… Perhaps it's time to move to the UK. I recently took a trip to Europe and enjoyed the design in a way I've never experienced in Asia or the US."

Part of her design creed is the idea that everything can be recycled and combined: "Clothes, music, fusion food, essays, videos, old and new things (though maybe not old food) - when combined in just the right way, they can become another level of art."

To Be a Girl This image is meant to show a female perspective, says Aikawa. "Here I wanted to show how we enjoy shopping and checking the latest trends in fashion. All my collage work is a result of mixing elements that makes my work complete… therefore, I don't always believe in the concept that 'less is more'. I believe that, if you do it right, elements as a whole can say more."

Angus Greig
Location Suffolk, UK
Job Illustrator
Contact www.angusgreig.com

"I didn't get on well with art at school, and it was a subject I was happier to pursue out of the classroom," says Angus Greig. "Having not taken it as an A-level, starting a foundation course in art felt more like a year out to decide between a degree in industrial design or history than the first step in my career."

It was on this course, however, that things began to click for Greig, particularly when it came to illustration: "I discovered that it could be a great application for my approach to image-making and that it was something I would love to follow at degree level." Which he duly did, at the Cambridge School of Art. He's now a freelance illustrator, specialising in editorial illustration and, following a somewhat rocky start in terms of commissions, he's beginning to settle into the role. "I love the variety involved in being an editorial illustrator," he explains. "Reading through an article for the first time is pretty unbeatable."

British Vintage "This was for Design Week," says Greig. "The article looked at how British fashion quickly dropped Americana for a more home-grown, vintage look, linking this to increasing economic austerity. I wanted Americana to look like our dark and embarrassing, all-too-recent past."

Kevin Roodhorst
Location Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.kevinroodhorst.com

Although he's only 19, Kevin Roodhorst describes himself as "a self-taught graphic designer from the Netherlands with six years of experience". The real experience, of course, is yet to come: he's currently studying graphic design and hopes to go on to work for an advertising agency, or possibly become a freelancer.

Roodhorst's distinctive style results from the combination of various programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Cinema 4D. "I cut out every object and play with the light, shadow and contrast - I like to experiment with gradients, patterns and light effects. Finally, I tweak the colour balance." Occasionally, he also uses Cinema 4D to create 3D objects, as well as lighting effects and even full renders.

Ancient Rituals "This is a composition of 'Zen'-type objects, such as the buddha, bamboo and birds," says Roodhorst. "I created it mainly in Photoshop, with Illustrator for the shapes. Lighting and shadows were also tweaked in Photoshop."

Ahn Na Lim
Location Ontario, Canada
Job Illustrator
Contact www.ahnnalim.com

Originally from Seoul in South Korea, Lim moved to the rather less clement Canada in order to study illustration at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and with a view to developing a career within the children's book and fashion illustration fields. She has recently finished illustrating two children's books and a book of poems, while her fashion illustrations regularly appear on the Toronto Styles blog.

"I was one of those who insisted hand-drawn illustrations were superior, but now I admit that computer programs are [useful] tools - just like brushes, colours, and papers," she says. "However, the computer tools have a uniformity that can decrease a person's creativity. So my challenge is to find the perfect balance of combining both mediums."

My Sweet Mr Nightmare A personal piece produced after Lim had a bout of insomnia and bad dreams. "The nightmare is trying to invite the girl to his world, but it's not easy. I used ink, watercolour and pencil for the image, and Photoshop to combine the layers and for shading. I think the girl should have orange hair, but I didn't like the white ribbon - which [represents] the death of a family member, where I come from - so I changed it to red, with pink hair."