Computer Arts Gallery: Summer 2010

Ceri Jones
Location London, UK
Job Graphic Designer
Contact www.colourandshape.wordpress.com

Self-taught Cari Jones's design teeth were cut designing posters for his band Muscle Club. This led to plenty of commissions for gig posters around Cardiff and the chance to produce screen-printed artwork for the first Kids In Glass Houses EP. "Gig posters in this country are a little bit of an odd avenue," Jones says. "Some venues take it super serious, whilst some are happy to put out whatever and not really invest in it." Jones loves the simplicity and restrictions of screen printing, and tries to limit his colours even if his poster never sees a screen.

Cursive gig poster A dream commission for Jones, Cursive being a favourite band of his. He went for a graphically interesting design over illustration and chose Plantagenet Cherokee as the font for its letterpress feel.

Ceri Jones
Location London, UK
Job Graphic Designer
Contact www.colourandshape.wordpress.com

Self-taught Cari Jones's design teeth were cut designing posters for his band Muscle Club. This led to plenty of commissions for gig posters around Cardiff and the chance to produce screen-printed artwork for the first Kids In Glass Houses EP. "Gig posters in this country are a little bit of an odd avenue," Jones says. "Some venues take it super serious, whilst some are happy to put out whatever and not really invest in it." Jones loves the simplicity and restrictions of screen printing, and tries to limit his colours even if his poster never sees a screen.

Samoans publicity poster "I pestered these guys, Samoans, to let me do something for them, as I'd already started a pattern after listening to their music," says Jones. The band wanted something inspired by their name, so Jones looked to Polynesian art. Being limited to only one colour because of the band's tight finances was something he actually enjoyed. When it came to the type, "I'm enthralled by Helvetica, hence I went for the original Haas Grotesk when it came to the typography," he says.

Maxime Quoilin
Location Belgium
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.remainsteadfast.net

"I would rate my style as 'minimalistic'," says 22-year-old Maxime Quoilin. "When I do art, I attach as much importance (if not more) to aesthetics than to the message behind the piece, because I think strong aesthetics can send the message by itself."

Having graduated last year with a successful project to rebrand an energy drink, Quoilin has found himself becoming more drawn to digital art, and is now trying to raise the profile of his work. "I consider myself as relatively new in the game, and I've just joined the art collective Slashthree, which I hope will give me a great push to reach the level I want," he adds.

Thank Me Later A personal project that Quoilin hopes to eventually sell as a poster: "I played around with face shapes and this is how it turned out. It's one of the pieces I'm most proud of because it's exactly the kind of style I want to produce."

Maxime Quoilin
Location Belgium
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.remainsteadfast.net

"I would rate my style as 'minimalistic'," says 22-year-old Maxime Quoilin. "When I do art, I attach as much importance (if not more) to aesthetics than to the message behind the piece, because I think strong aesthetics can send the message by itself."

Having graduated last year with a successful project to rebrand an energy drink, Quoilin has found himself becoming more drawn to digital art, and is now trying to raise the profile of his work. "I consider myself as relatively new in the game, and I've just joined the art collective Slashthree, which I hope will give me a great push to reach the level I want," he adds.

Talk magazine cover A cover produced for a Belgian magazine which also featured an interview with Quoilin. "I had free rein with the illustration," he recalls. "They just wanted something clean, referring to the spring/ summer. Since I had Japanese cherry trees in my street that looked stunning, I took some pictures and started from there."

Mariah Hourihan
Location New York
Job Illustrator/graphic designer
Contact www.cargocollective.com/sixlemonpies

With a mother who is an art professor as well as an abstract-expressionist painter, it would have been surprising if Mariah Hourihan - AKA Six Lemon Pies - hadn't ended up in the industry. However, she only quit her consultancy management job for a full-time freelance career four years ago, and counts herself as mostly self-taught (mother notwithstanding). "I'm very inspired by bold, bright colours and textures," she says. "Even in my digital art, I like the rough-hewn feel of handmade arts and crafts - so it's a piece of art that is beautiful but not so perfect that you can't see traces of the hand that made it."

Having spent four years exploring Europe while living in France and Holland for a while, Hourihan has just relocated to Brooklyn. "I'm looking forward to exhibiting somewhere, doing an album cover, finding an agent, working with a variety of clients on a variety of exciting projects," she tells us. "Basically I want to keep doing what I love."

Stag Points "I like the idea of juxtaposing nature's complexity and changeability with these colourful, strong dots and solid, substantial lines," says Hourihan of this personal piece. "I also enjoy building out a simple silhouette with intricate patterns. It feels almost meditative when I'm doing it, and I'd like to think it makes the viewer feel that way too - as if they could be absorbed in it for a long time."

Mariah Hourihan
Location New York
Job Illustrator/graphic designer
Contact www.cargocollective.com/sixlemonpies

With a mother who is an art professor as well as an abstract-expressionist painter, it would have been surprising if Mariah Hourihan - AKA Six Lemon Pies - hadn't ended up in the industry. However, she only quit her consultancy management job for a full-time freelance career four years ago, and counts herself as mostly self-taught (mother notwithstanding). "I'm very inspired by bold, bright colours and textures," she says. "Even in my digital art, I like the rough-hewn feel of handmade arts and crafts - so it's a piece of art that is beautiful but not so perfect that you can't see traces of the hand that made it."

Having spent four years exploring Europe while living in France and Holland for a while, Hourihan has just relocated to Brooklyn. "I'm looking forward to exhibiting somewhere, doing an album cover, finding an agent, working with a variety of clients on a variety of exciting projects," she tells us. "Basically I want to keep doing what I love."

Puma Concolor Bold colours weren't only used in this piece because they look appealing. "I wanted to capture all the power of this beautiful animal and this fleeting moment in time - to make it permanent," says Hourihan. "I drew a lot of inspiration from folk art and woodcuts when creating the shapes."

Shane Horn
Location London
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.shanehorn.co.uk

"I strive to create thought-provoking visuals, by combining informed aesthetics with contemporary and functional design methods," says Horn, who has just had a year out following his graduation. "I thrive on experimenting and exploring new ideas and have an extremely tactile approach to my work." He particularly enjoys using a mix of high- and low-tech materials, but generally specialises in print design: "Nothing gets me going more than luxury finishes, interesting stock, and screen printing."

Billy Boyce "I've been lucky enough to work alongside the people at Billy Boyce, " says Horn of the fashion label founded by Shaun Akanbi. "We are working with other designers and fashion graduates to encourage the brand to grow from strength to strength. They let me have full creative freedom with creating the visuals for the look book and website" - an example of which is pictured here. "I strived to create something with a punch, yet which didn't distract from the clothing."

Gareth Hughes
Location Manchester
Job Graphic designer
Contact www.hellohughes.co.uk

"I'm 22 years old and I still don't know what kind of designer I am," says Gareth Hughes - originally from Wales, raised in Yorkshire and now living in Manchester after graduating from Salford University. That might partly be because he believes in taking on as many skills as possible when it comes to visual communication; although graphic design is his bedrock, he also explores illustration and web development.

Currently Hughes is working at Shape, a new Manchester agency, and hopes to go on to even bigger projects - such as rebranding an airport, for example. The thought of such large tasks doesn't faze him. "I think it helps when working on full-bodied projects to explore every angle possible, soak up new techniques along the way and somehow bring them all together in the end," he says.

Hughes adds that he likes to try for the not-so-obvious approach to design with each project: "It's got me into plenty of arguments with tutors. It depends on the audience and client, but I like to create challenging, sometimes cryptic, work where possible… work that offers more than can be seen at a glance."

Smart City Futures A prospectus of events held over the year with more than 30 illustrations for each event, created for Smart City Futures. "A thousand prospectuses were printed by TEAM to a shiny high standard and were shipped worldwide. If you fancy a copy, I have plenty available to send out…"

Mariano Garc&iacutea Cruz
Location Barcelona, Spain
Job Graphic designer/illustrator
Contact www.marianogarciacruz.com

Born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Mariano Garc&iacutea Cruz now lives and works in Barcelona at Tiempo BBDO, where he has been an art director for the last two and a half years. "I enjoy trying to step into different styles, although every time I look at my body of work I can see some kind of unity," he says of his recent experiments. "I can't really talk about my influences because they are too diverse, too many - although, as for many people, where I come from and what I loved as a child has had the greatest impact in my work." In Cruz's case, this is truer than ever, as he admits: "If I had to choose a figure that influenced me most, it would be my brother Diego, who showed me the path to start enjoying this craft."

LPSEXPRESA LPSEXPRESA is a magazine that celebrates the cultural life of the Canary Islands, and includes features on art, music, sport, poetry and more. "I was invited to design the cover of the magazine," says Cruz, "so I asked my photographer friend Maria Laura Benavente Sovieri - AKA Millitros - to take a shot for me, and I worked from that shot to create the image."

Muriel Frega
Location Argentina
Job Illustrator
Contact www.murielfrega.com.ar

Graduating in 1994 from the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts, Muriel Frega spent much of her earlier career participating in many national and international engraving competitions. "Then I discovered the computer as a working tool," she says. "Little by little the wood matrix became Photoshop layers and the chisels became the Pen tool." So, since 1999, she has been illustrating books for children and newspapers for adults, further discovering the joys of vector illustration in 2005: "Now I am a big fan, and almost all my graphic work is made in vectors. Of course the inspiration roughs and most of the creative work starts with pencil and paper."

Having come this far, Frega's not about to stop learning now: "To widen my horizons and keep myself challenged, I am now investigating how to express my ideas in the shape of comics."

Untitled A commission for a cover based on an article about small companies and their need to expand in franchising. "I thought first of a juggler to show the concept, but the idea of a gardener taking care of his plants was more suitable and implied less risk in the handling of money," says Frega. "This was made with vector shapes, as most of my works are, with some textures added in Photoshop. I scan the textures myself. It has a restricted colour palette… my love for xilography has a lot to do with that. I just can't help it."