I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

H: As far as I can remember, it was either my first photography film I shot when I was in my adolescences, or maybe when i made a melody on the piano that I have never heard before.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

H: If I’m not doing photography or films, I would have been doing music.
It was my dream when I was a kid.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

H: Who :

Patrick Demarchelier
Baldovino Barani
Harry Borden
Rankin
Peter Beard
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Tarsem Singh
Darren Aronofsky
Stanley Kubrick
Tony Kaye
Michel Gondry
Mark Romaneck
Spike Jonze
Fernando Meirelles

What: Well I get mostly inspired by music, designs, stories, people and places i go to except the space and deep sea
and also movies like the fountain,the fall,space odyssey.

Where: I get inspired mainly under the shower lol and before I go to sleep mainly when I’m focused with a clear head.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

H: The photo is from a long term project called the project island. This was shot during the trial phase. The project revolves around an island with 20  + characters inspired by, art, paintings, movies,stories, dreams, nightmares and imagination. It’s also a project That I’d want to exhibit one day. So far, I have done 10 characters and there are still 10 to go.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

Behance.
YouTube.
FuBiz.
Vimeo.
dazeddigital

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

M: Not going to lie, drawing on my bedroom wall. I had a decorative rug that acted as a headboard and I drew underneath it so my parents couldn’t see it. Another early creative experience was creating a logo. I was twelve and my dad let me design it for his company, an incredible gesture that I didn’t fully appreciate at that age. Looking back it’s nothing to brag about, but I do admire it for its originality and that it was hand drawn.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

M: I can’t think of anything else I would rather do. I love it. People have told me that the passion will fade over time, but I refuse to believe this, in fact it’s only getting stronger. There’s a lot to learn.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

M: Getting out of the house and going for a walk. Inspiration is easy to find on the web but it’s not tangible. It’s a different visceral experience – a more rewarding one – when physically finding something you least expect.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

M: 5 months ago I was asked to art direct The Fourth Period – a hockey lifestyle magazine. I knew nothing of hockey and had never designed a magazine. It’s been something I’ve always wanted to do and wasn’t going to let fear get in the way. I detached myself from the worst possible outcome and dove right in. It’s been a humbling experience and a constant work in progress.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

M: When I get ready in the morning I try to listen to a talk from Ted Talks. It starts the day of right and motivates me to make the day count.

When I need a good kick in the ass to get some work done I check out UnderConsideration.

When I need to stay on top of web design trends I visit Siteinspire.

DesignTaxi is good for afternoon lulls.

And Google Analytics is a lot of fun to track activity (or lack of activity) on my website. Especially the ‘Real-Time’ tool. It’s insane what google is up to these days.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

R: I wish I could say that I was one of those kids who had always been drawing since I was little but that is not the case. Growing up, my first passion were my Lego sets. I would spend hours and hours building buildings and towns and cities with my legos and because of that my mom always kind of thought I would end up as an architect. Later in elementary school my friend and I would create adventure story books where we took turns drawing and writing pages of our stories. We amassed quite a collection of those little books. They were all pretty much just stick figures and the sort but I remember it being really fun so I thought I might be an illustrator or comic book artist. After that art kind of took a back seat though for a long time until near the end of high school where I discovered graphic design and fell in love with it.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

R: Probably something in social sciences. Before I discovered graphic design I was convinced I would go into either anthropology or history. In high school I honestly enjoyed reading history textbooks and atlases and trying to memorize where all the different countries were. I also have a great fascination with nature and wildlife. As a kid my favorite shows would always be the nature documentaries and I just sat there amazed at the world and the worlds beyond us.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

R: Last summer I took an Introduction to Modernism course and was incredibly lucky to have a great instructor teaching it. She really opened my mind to the incredibly rich history of early to mid-century graphic design. Given my general interest in history and graphic design, I fell absolutely in love with all of it. I was blown away by how those designs, crafted over fifty years prior without the aid of any computers, were able to stand the test of time and look as contemporary as they do today. Suprematism, Constructivism, Minimalism, De Stijl, Bauhaus, etc. All these schools of thought have incredible influence on my style of work. The work of Alvin Lustig, McKnight Kauffer, and El Lissitsky, to name just a few, are also incredible inspirations.

Before I took that course I had been emulating those styles into my work simply because I liked the way it looked, having seen some random bits of work online from Ffffound and such, not knowing who had done it or why. But now I understand why I like it and what it means to create such work, and it pushes me to follow in their footsteps.

Then there are of course all the contemporary designers who are creating great work today whom I like to call my design heroes: Frank Chimero, Mikey Burton, Richard Perez, Evan Stremke, Mark Weaver, Ty Wilkins, Tim Boelaars, Brent Couchman, Scott Hill, Mike Lemanski, the pair at Always with Honor and Eight Hour Day, the list is endless. As students we are in no short supply of heroes to choose from.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

R: The Been Everywhere project is a collaboration project started by Adrian Walsh that invites 92 different designers to commemorate a location that appears in the song “I’ve Been Everywhere” One of the locations mentioned in the song was Pasadena, California where I go to school right now so it was only natural that I represented the city. I completed this one a little less than a month ago. I have a great love and hate relationship with Pasadena. On the one hand it is a great place to live and work but on the other it is also a constant reminder of all the hard work and sacrifices I’ve had to make since coming here.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

Dribbble
Tumblr
Designspiration
designworklife
Ffffound

Halfway through April and time to meet a really inspiring soul, Japanese artist Junichi Tsuneoka. I came across Junichi’s work through a casual email he sent my way sharing some of his latest works of art. I was instantly captured by his unique technique and style that I immediately went to devour the content on his website for more inspiration, I knew at that point and time, that I had to have a conversation with him and peer into his mind! In speaking with him, I found a kind, polite and extremely talented individual.

I: 記憶に残る中で、あなたの一番最初の創作活動はなんですか？
What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

J:  実際に覚えている訳ではないのですが２歳ぐらいのときに、レゴブロックで、何かを組み立てる代わりに床にブロックを並べて絵を作っていた写真が残っています。

I actually barely remember this but there is a photo of me when I was about 2, I was playing with LEGO blocks. I wasn’t building anything, but instead I was using those blocks as if they were paint. I was laying out those blocks on the floor to create a picture. I probably didn’t know what I was supposed to with the blocks but seems like I already knew how to make an image.

I: もし、今とは違うことをしているとしたら、何をしていますか？
If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

J: それでもやはり何か創造性のある仕事をしていると思います。
例えば物語を書く作家さんのような仕事をしてるとおもいます。

I would be a writer of some sort. Probably writing some stories. Still something creative.

I: あなたのインスピレーションは誰から、何から、どこから？
Inspiration, who? what? where?

J:  一番影響を受けているのは浮世絵だと思います。いろんな作家さんを好きになるのですが、ずっと昔から一貫して好きなのは浮世絵の国芳です。個人的には国芳の作品が一番ダイナミックな感じがするので特に好きです。

My biggest inspiration of all time is old Japanese wood block print (uki yo-e). My favorite is Kuniyoshi. Personally his work shows dynamics and bold compositions the most out of all the other
uki yo-e artists.

I: 最近でも昔でも少しでいいので、あなたの作品をについて何か話をしてもらえませんか？
Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

J: ちょうど今年は辰年だということで、この作品を紹介したいと思います。今回は新しい手法を取り入れてみました。普通であれば作品は全てコンピューターで処理するのですが、このデザインは最初にレーザーで竹の板に彫ってもらい、それを木版として、和紙に印刷しました。結果、デジタルと伝統的な手法の面白い組み合わせの作品になったと思います。手彫りでは不可能な細かい線や、模様も、ベクターとレーザーのテクノロジーにより可能になりました。さらにそれを和紙に木版することにより、掠れ具合等デジタルでは不可能な表現ができました。元々竹を材料に非常に繊細な製品を作るクライエントがあったのですが、彼らのプロダクトからインスピレーションを受けました。竹というのは環境にも優しいのも利点だと思います。

Since 2012 is year of the dragon, I would like to show you this piece. I tried something new here. I usually create everything in digital, but I have a laser engraving company (GROVE) engrave this design onto a bamboo plate. Then I took the plate to make wood block print onto rice paper. As a result, it’s a great collaboration between traditional art and digital art. It is really hard to engrave by hand with this much detail, but vector and laser technology made it possible. At the same time, by printing on rice paper and using bamboo block as a printing medium, it created random but beautiful texture on the positive areas which would be very flat if it’s done solely in digital. Grove has been my client for a while and they make fine bamboo products and that really inspired me to do this piece.

I: あなたが、よくチェックするウェッブサイトの名前を5つあげてください。
Name 5 websites that you check often.

ffffound
Behance
Juxtapoz
HypeBeast
eBay

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

R: At the age of 7 I regularly went to school dressing myself up as a clown. After my teacher start complaining that the other kids in class had problems concentrating on their work my mom hide her makeup.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

R: I guess a salesman. I am very good in selling stuff you really don’t need. Or a teacher. Witch is almost the same. (PS. I really wanted to be a pig because they can have a 30 minute long orgasm, but in your question you did not say ‘anything you like’ and I guess wanting to be an animal would be kinda silly so…)

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

R: Dogs are a big source of inspiration. As well the philosophical side of dog-anthropology as well the political side. And chess. When I play chess I make notes of the moves of my opponent. Thousands of pages filled with strategies. I use these to figure stuff out. Sometimes I read the notes of a game I’ve played years ago and I get very emotional. Like I just read a persons life story… very heavy. And sometimes I hear music too. And when I hear this music I start to draw with my eyes closed. I try to manifest the tones on paper. Strangely all the drawing I have made look like eggplants. This must mean something I haven’t figure out yet.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

R: I have a strange fascination with the swasafix. And after making this piece I wanted to destroy it. I changed my mind a thousand times, everyday. The swasafix is pure fear; it’s an image of terrible pain. It even hurts to pronounce its name. And yet the symbol has conquered my memory, it lives in my head, even if it remains taboo. The swasafix is everywhere, haunting the specter of history; and yet it’s unmentionable, irreproducible, wrapped in a blanket of silence. I’m not trying to offend anyone. I don’t want to raise a new conflict or create some publicity; I would just like that image to become a territory for negotiation or a test of our psychoses.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

Cake Farts (NSFW)
Daily Puppy
vrolijketuinier
E! online
& My Bank Account.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

T: When I was a kid I used to draw cars. I had notebooks full of car designs. The main rule was to make original brands and models. It had to be something that didn’t exist. Obviously, at that age I didn’t think about originality or such things. Just made more sense to make stuff that did not exist.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

T: I’d probably be doing film scores, racing on rally cars or drifting.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

T: Inspiration. Marketing gurus like Seth Godin, or big entrepeneurs like Steve Jobs. Filmmakers like Nolan or Spielberg. Sounds a bit obvious, but it is really inspiring to me how they started and how they are doing now. Makes everything feel so much closer. The fact that they share all their knowledge is very inspiring to me too.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

T: I left my job because I wanted to make cool stuff, but we were producing crap and the people that owned it did not seem to care. Extremely short deadlines and terrible concepts from the agency. It was a very uninspiring work environment. There was, however, the money thing. Whatever you want to do, you need that. So I got in campaign of saving money, cut all expenses, and sell all the stuff that didn’t give me money, like my tv or my ps3. The short film was all that mattered.

After a few months, I left the job. If I was to make something that ambitious with a very tiny budget, I needed a place where I could stay isolated without any distraction. Went about 500 miles to the south, because it is cheap and a lot more inspiring to work. Rented a cabin in the woods, and there I stayed for the next 6 months.

There was some cool stuff to the project too, not all related to it, but to the whole experience.

• Learned to juggle clubs.
• Learned to animate
• Learned to rig a character
• Did read about 14 books, and I’m not a reader.
• Dropped about 60 pounds, I was overweight.
• At a given moment, I slept 5 hours a day for 3 weeks straight. My break was to have lunch, which I gave exactly 7 minutes. One day, I forgot to sleep and eat for about 30 hours. I almost pass out, and then got scared. If something happend, nobody would be there to know. Eventually I realized all that was counter productive.
• 40+ Blue Screens of Death
• 15+ light cuts (a lot of storms around there)
• 38 different stories written to produce in the future.
• 269 Shots
• 19,000+ Rendered frames
• Started to render in parallel 24/7 after 3 months of production, in the very same machine I was working on. Used 5 cores for that and worked with the 1 left.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

SlashFilm
BoxOfficeMojo
inc
floobynooby
GoodBrush

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

S: I must have been about eight years old. My parents had a framed embroidered picture of a donkey carrying goods across a lake, with a traditionally dressed woman walking by, it in all sorts of bright and dull colours. I remember copying it onto the paper in front of me with crayons and markers and to be honest, I think I did a good job because I had gifted it to my number one supporter at the time: my grandfather, and bless him, he had saved it – along with all the other sketches – in their very own folder among his work until he passed away.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

S: The five year old me would have liked to be a mermaid. But seeing as that dream crashed and burned quite quickly, I think I would have gone into film. Not sure which aspect of it, but I think that would have been the next option.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

S: It’s really a bit hard to pin down one source of inspiration for me and the list I would like to give you would be too long to put down in a few lines. However what I can say is that (one of many ways) I tend to find whatever it is I’m looking for from the different conversations I have with the different types of people I meet along the way. I often find that the moment strikes when [good] conversation happens, it would trigger something that kicks my imagination into full gear and suddenly I find myself trying to be that much more creative with my style, my work and even my attitude. Sometimes I do end up face-planting but most times I’m happy with the end result.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

S: I have a lot of love and respect for comics in general but one I keep coming back to is batman; and because he’s got such a distinct physical appearance, I really enjoy changing everything else save a few of his main characteristics. This particular illustration was mainly about exploring the relationship between Batman (who later became a woman) and Robin.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

The Dieline
27bslash6
foundshit
pinterest
kamenstudio

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

S: I am not sure how old I was but I have all these memories of playing with Lego when I was young. I used to make all kinds of things. It stopped playing with Lego all together one day when I realized I didn’t have enough yellow blocks to make a lion head and I really wanted to make a Lego lion head. Just like that, Lego days were behind me.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

S: I think I would have been a cook. I love cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. Also, it gives you a full control over what you are making. You can create something different. You get to boss people around, also. LOL.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

S: My inspiration comes from imagination and things that happens in life mostly. I will see something or experience something and sometimes I want to transfer that feeling or mood to the pictures. They also comes from other photographers like Kenji Toma, Kenji Aoki, Craig Cutler and more. Sometimes me just surfing the web or reading magazines or books is enough to give you so many ideas to shoot.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

S: This is my recent shot I did for Coors Light. I started to work with splash and liquid. I love capturing the unexpected moments. It’s like all shots are accidents but happy accidents. This shot particular was bit tough because the product didn’t exist at the time so the can is basically built in photoshop. Getting the right splash pieces was real time consuming but really fun and rewarding.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

ffffound
New York Times Magazine
A photo editor
The F stop Mag
Ads of the world

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

C: Coloring and doodling inside those Golden Activity Books. I had them all as a kid from GoBots to Thundercats to Silverhawks.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

C: When I was growing up I wanted to be a Marine biologist. Back then I thought that meant I would get to go the aquarium all the time…professionally. I don’t know know if that’s what Marine biologists do these days, but if they do, I might have to rethink my current career.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

C: I’m a huge action figure/toy geek. When I find down time in between jobs or if I’m waiting for feedback from a client I always end up wanting to draw my favorite pop culture heroes. Other things that inspire my everyday are mid-century modern design, amazing animation artists like Steve Lambe and Chris Battle, my awesome girlfriend and her never-ending wit, nostalgia, and all the ultra talented people I have had a chance to work with during my career in motion graphics.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

C: I love the movie Aliens. It’s probably my third most watched movie of all time outside of the Star Wars original trilogy. I read all of the Dark Horse comics, collected all the figures from the 90’s Kenner toy line, and even played a version of Aliens during recess at school with my friends. I first saw the movie when I was in 5th grade but looking back, it was probably too intense for my 11 year old self.
I remember how sweaty my palms got the first time I saw all the colonists cocooned on the walls of
the atmosphere processor haha.

To commemorate my fandom, I just finished this 12”x12” piece about a week ago to pay tribute to
the “ultimate badasses” of the universe, the USCM, or United States Colonial Marines. Personally, they made the movie for me. Growing up I was a typical boy who enjoyed pretty much anything that was armed to the teeth. Drake and Vasquez with their huge steady arm mounted Smart Guns kind of sealed the deal for me. The print will be limited to 95 pieces (95 was the amount of ammo a full magazine carried on the iconic Pulse rifle).

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

ffffound
dribbble
dorkly
kotaku
toysrevil

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

A: I started to draw when I was a little kid, but believe it or not one of the really first  creative actives I started with was sewing. I grew up in a family of fashion designers, and my house was always full of rolls of fabric, patterns, buttons, threads, sewing machines and overlocks. I knew how to put together a simple leather pirate vest when I was 10 using all the proper tools :) I did tons of clothes that looked funky using all the things I could find around.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

A: I think I would become an architect. After graduating school I went to university on a faculty of architecture. It’s an extremely challenging and hard job, but at the same time the results can be really rewarding. I inherited a lot from architecture that I use in my design thinking. The way things should be structured and make perfect sense.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

A: At my everyday job as a Creative Director at interactive agency Fi, I have to say the main inspiration would be “stress”. In a good way. When deadlines are tight, and you have to deliver, your brain goes into a “power mode” and tries to find shortcuts and solutions in order to make it on time. Lots of interesting solutions came out of this in my opinion, something I would not have think of. It’s like that “legend” when an old person lifted a car because a cat or a baby, don’t remember exactly, ended up under it. It’s like your body have those powers reserved and releases when necessary.

When it comes to my personal projects, I don’t think there’s any design source here. Most of the ideas came into my head while I was walking back home from work, using certain every-day objects, such as watch, bags, shoes etc. Just looking at things.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

A: I have sort of obsession with watches. That’s why you can find lots of them on my personal portfolio. OZO Watch was the first ones I designed. It’s is a concept for the wristwatch with a very minimal and simple design. Two dials, one with hours at the top and the other with minutes at the bottom, rotate to present the time inside the classic icon of hourglass in the middle. The main idea was to present time right in the middle of the watch in a new way. OZO Watch recieved a “Best of the Best” at Red Dot award in 2010.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

A: I love ffffound, you can also see great images I bookmarked here My ffffound page.

Also, one of my new addictions is www.where-is-this.com I love traveling and photography, and the concept of this site is just amazing.

My friends feed on LiveJournal, yes that service is still alive :) It’s quite big among Russian audience and it’s very interesting for me to stay up to date with certain topics as well as keep in touch with friends. My Live Journal

I like design updates on FastCoDesign

The rest of the updates I get from RSS feeds to random blogs I subscribed to and Twitter, Flipboard app too.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

S: I enjoyed doodling and drawing as early as I can remember. But If I had to pick a certain event, I remember having this project for my primary school class for which we were divided into groups and competed in quizzes. Our scores were written on a poster that was hanged on the classroom wall. I had to draw an icon for our group -which was called The Vampires- and I remember drawing Count Dracula strangling a victim, which my mother objected to and said was too violent, so I had to change it into the Count standing there surrounded by little bats. So you can say that’s my earliest memory of censorship as well.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

S: Well, I’m currently doing two things that I’m equally passionate about; being a dentist and a cartoonist. I guess if I wouldn’t be doing that, I’d focus on either one exclusively. If I had to choose something else entirely, I’d be a veterinarian.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

S: I’ve always been inspired by comic books and video-games. Both, I have always been and still am obsessed with. With the big-break of the internet in the late Nineties, my inspiration source widened to include other artists from all over, through websites like Deviantart and such. My current internet muse is Tumblr.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

S: This is a recent comic I did about the Egyptian revolution. I remember reading this tweet that said “I just want to know if there’s another boss after Tantawy (head of military board) or will it be game over.” and it made me think of Super Mario Bros. for NES -one of the very first games that I played- and the bit when you defeat the boss in each castle and instead of ending the game, you’re told “Thank you Mario, but our princess is in another castle”. And It made me think of how much that resembles when ex-president Mubarak was toppled, and everybody celebrated and went home thinking that it’s over, only to find out in a couple of months that it’s far from that. I think they call that an anticlimax in literature. On a side note, I enjoyed drawing Mubarak as Bowser so much.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

S: Actually I can’t remember!! i used to draw a lot when i was a little kid specially at school i used to make fun of my friends and teachers by drawing them on the class board…but the first real thing i ever made was a logo for my mum’s company, I remember using windows painter back then:)

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

S: Maybe a fighter pilot.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

S: My father, he was just a great talent I still remember when i was a kid I used to stay up all the night watching him paint and I remember him telling me if u want to stay here with me don’t open ur mouth:)) I can imagine now how annoying to paint while someone staring at u all night:)

My Favorite creative era was the 60′s and 70′s very inspiring specially on the west part of the world when “go west” was everybody’s dream…actually i can stay hours and hours watching all kind of retro stuff from magazine covers, posters, fashion even furniture and never get bored.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

S: A cover design for a special “Auf Deutsch” issue dedicated to the Egyptian revolution a subject that is very close to my heart.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

D: When I was 7 I remember myself designing album covers and logotypes for imaginary bands. Of course, I wasn’t aware of graphic design and it’s applications but  I did it just for fun.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

D: I’d be a farmer.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

D: Everything could be an inspiration. From a sign in the streets to a song I might hear and from a project online to a pattern on my girlfriend’s dress. When my mind is blocked I love to do or look at irrelevant stuff with the project I’m working on. When my mind gets empty, inspiration comes.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

D: That’s one of my latest personal illustrations I did and named it hope. I’m so influenced by the incidents that’s been going on in my country lately cause of the economical crisis and I want to believe that even when things look harsh, there’s hope.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

This week, it’s my pleasure to introduce everyone to a really talented buddy of mine Dave Kang, a extremely motivated illustrator. I first met Dave in 2003 at the Ontario College of Art and Design, we worked on a couple projects together before going into separate streams. I went into a Design Major and Dave into illustration. Ever since then, Dave’s career has taken such inspiring paths. Working in the VideoGame industry, doing conceptual work for Lego and more.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

D: I was about three years old. I remember drawing dinosaurs for hours. My mom wanted me to go to bed before 10 and I had to play a little game of secret drawing every night. I thought I was fooling my parents for the longest time but years later I found out they knew all along. My dad always made sure there were tons of papers in my room. I was very fortunate.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

D: Chef all the way!!

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

D: Renaissance is my favourite period. I appreciate the master craft and disciplinary of that period. I believe in creative concept and constructive skill sets. I can gather creative concepts anywhere. Constructive skill sets however need hours of practice and self battle. And for that reason, I choose artists of Renaissance period. Also I must mention Brom as my personal hero of all time.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

D: Here is a key visual art I did for an online game back in 2009. The biggest challenge for a concept artists to capture the accurate look of the game while keeping things interesting and artistically pleasing. You don’t fight for your philosophy of art nor that you can say I only draw realistic faces. You must deliver the exact version of art that’s needed for the project. If you aren’t ready for doing twenty revisions for single painting, being a concept artist probably won’t be your dish.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

It’s always a treat to be able to peek into the brain of those that I truly admire. Yuko Shimizu, a one of a kind Japanese illustrator that is based in New York. Yuko has quite an epic style, that’s the only way I can really describe it. I came across her work 4 years ago and have been following her progress ever since. Not only is she extremely inspiring, but she is constantly pumping out new work, while maintaining impeccable standards in quality. Her evolution as an illustrator is quite an interesting one, as she been drawing ever since she was young, however it took her roughly 10 years in an office job to realize that she needed pursue her passion. Newsweek Japan chose her as one of “100 Japanese People The World Respects” in 2009.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

Y: This is actually not a memory, but something I was told later. It is the record of my first creative activity. When I was around 2 years old, I took a crayon and drew a circle and a line sticking out of the circle. And apparently told my mother that I drew a balloon.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

Y: I got a marketing/advertising degree from a university in Japan and worked in corporate PR in Tokyo for eleven years and three months before quitting the position to move to NY to attend art school. I have been working as an illustrator for 9 years and six months now. It is hard to believe I still have worked longer in corporate than in art. So, the long story short, it is pretty obvious what I would have been doing if I didn’t choose art.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

Y: Inspiration is everywhere. Any every day experience, conversation with friends or strangers, trips I take and streets I walk around. I have had so much visual influences accumulated over long enough years of living and in touch with art since 2 years old (according to my mom. See answer 1) , I am less and less influenced and inspired by visual art. And more and more inspired by life.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

Y: I just finished this piece last week. I have been working as a cover artist for this DC Comics Vertigo series for more than three years. This is the latest cover.
I love that I get to do a lot of different ideas, compositions and colors for them. Not your typical main-stream comic book cover. I had a lot of fun drawing storm clouds and waves in the ocean.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

Happy new year all! Starting off twenty twelve, I’d like to introduce everyone to a super talented lady, whom I met summer 2010, and she’s been inspiring me ever since, Rachelle Letain is a self-proclaimed “designustrator” (see: a graphic designer/illustrator hybrid). A current intern at Toronto-based studio Sovereign State, Rachelle enjoys hand drawn typography, cohesive colour palettes, nostalgia, and visual puns. This spring, she will complete her second degree (her first was accomplished after a 4-year stint completed at Sheridan College’s Illustration BAA program) via OCAD University’s Bachelor of Design program. She looks forward to greeting the “real world” with honesty and creative eagerness, and plans to continue uniting her two passions and bridging the gap between illustration and design as best she can.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

R: My earliest memory of being involved in a creative activity was probably in junior kindergarten. We had a “drawing center” that I spent a lot of time in. From what I can remember, it was kind of this sectioned off area in the middle of our classroom that had a few long tables with plastic containers of crayons grouped in the center. I recall drawing what I thought was exactly a humpback whale, and I remember it being the first time I was ever really proud of anything I’d made. I thought it looked spot-on, and in my memory of that day… it does. I’m sure if I still had that drawing I would realize it was barely reminiscent of an animal, let alone a humpback whale! Junior kindergarten was also the year that my teacher told my parents that she thought I might be a bit of an artist because I did something that none of the other kids in my class did: I apparently decoratively ‘framed’ every piece of paper I was given with an illustrated border.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

R: I’m not sure, to be honest! Probably something to do with animals. Or maybe a therapist… or a teacher? (Clearly, I’d be undecided.) Actually, those were all career paths I considered delving into during my last year of high school. However, illustration and design clearly won the race luckily! (I guess my kindergarten teacher was onto something all those years ago!)

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

R: I’d say I am inspired generally by life; just plain’ old living and being alive, and I guess too by the experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to have, and no less by the conversations that sometimes accompany those experiences. I also probably spend way too much time on the internet and while it can kind of be a bit of a time suck, I feel grateful to have stumbled across beautiful work there to admire. Although my list of favorite illustrators and designers seems to change often, I have been consistently inspired recently by the works of Jessica Hische, Jillian Tamaki and Doublenaut. Additionally, I am lucky to have many incredibly talented friends in my life who continue to be a constant source of inspiration to me on the home front.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

R: This piece was created during a printmaking course I took over the summer. The project outline  (which involved producing a screen print edition of at least 15 with multiple layers) was largely free of any type of real constraints and so I chose a favorite quote of mine to visually represent. I found the lack of limitations in the project brief to be incredibly freeing as well as the tactile nature of the creation process overall to be captivating. The outcome of the print itself – while experimental ­and exploratory – was something that I still feel resulted in more of a gain than a loss.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

A: Once I turned five, I started to re-draw everything in sight; I started with crayons, felt tip pens, then moved onto pencils, water colors and in anything in sight. My speciality at the age of seven, was to draw cassette tape covers. Remember way back when we all compiled ‘best of’ playlists on TDK tape cassettes? Yeah, well, my speciality after putting together the playlist, was then to design the cover with special emphasis on calligraphy – always had a thing for calligraphy.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

A: I know it sounds like a cliche, but, I can’t imagine doing anything else. I am one of the blessed few who is doing exactly what they always wanted to do. It never ever occurred to me to do anything else.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

A: Travel is probably the biggest inspiration – different people, places, customs and traditions are refreshing to the mind and the soul. Generally speaking though, watching people anywhere, is probably my greatest inspiration.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

A: To be honest i got a brief for launching a new service for a poetry service, I couldn’t think of anything else until I went home. It was still at the back of my mind when I went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I found that during the night, I had sketched a new campaign for it. I’m not crazy but sometimes i think and come up with some creative and art direction ideas while I’m sleeping.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

M: My earliest memory is when I went to Beirut-Lebanon this year 2011 to attend a workshop for puppet stop motion movie, with a group of talented people who were chosen from 10 countries of the Middle-East, and I was the chosen one to represent Egypt. There I learned how to make puppets and to setup a stop-motion set, then how to animate. And I also learned how to find a solution for everything to make it possible. What I got from this experience was meeting tight deadlines because the movie was supposed to be finished in 4 days, to be screened in Metropolis cinema during “Beirut animated” festival. I gained great talented friends from the Arab world.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

M: This is a really hard question, I never thought about it. I think I would have been working as a short movie director.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

M: What inspires me is: music and good artists. And I usually get inspired at my studio.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

M: This artwork was about my girlfriend & me, every single detail and item is like a code between us for some events or memories that we passed through.
It took me 10 days to finish it. This artwork is from the most beloved artworks of mine, however, I have done more upgraded pieces.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

I dont really have certain websites that I usually check, what happens is that I get attracted by random stuff in random websites.

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

J: My earliest memory was of my father teaching me to draw. I was fascinated with the illusion of depth, so I asked my dad to teach me to draw the fronts of approaching ships. It was the idea of looking at something and repeating on paper that seemed so impossible. It was also the first time I felt the frustration of envisioning something in my mind and seeing the corruption of the image as I tried to translate it to paper. I still have that challenge today.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

J: If I could indulge in something completely off the creative radar, The fantasy would be in organized crime. I love the idea of assembling a group of talent to plan and expertly (sans casualties) clean out the most technical vaults in Europe. It’d have to be clever, well-timed, replete with Ferrari’s, designer sunglasses, bespoke suits, castles, and women with long legs.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

J: Who. I draw inspiration from anyone who’s comfortably themselves. Their stories are the most interesting no matter what they do for a living. 
I’m also drawn to those who’ve risked everything for a passion, failed, and in the process of carrying on. Faith over Fear.

Where. I’m addicted to new cities. Whenever I’m in one, my mind overflows.

What. Intelligence in simplicity. Whenever it’s perfect, it’s perfect. My work tends to lean on the layered side, so I always appreciate impactful simplicity.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

J: As a parallel project to my design projects, this piece represents a series of prints (doubledoublevision.com) based on my interactions with city living, travelling, and the cultural inclinations of urban life. It’s a brain retreat for me as it only requires creativity that comes to me as part of my daily musings. Kpop Kat is an amalgamation of Korean pop fascinations >  fashion, hip hop, a steady gaze under oversized glasses, and good luck cats.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

http://highsnobiety.com

http://piccsy.com

http://www.oki-ni.com/scat/mixes

http://made-blog.com

http://trendland.net 

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

Y: First creative activity would be actually very difficult to remember cause this could be any thing I had done when i was a kid (my mom has a bunch of really surrealistic drawings I did when I was 6) but I remember the first commercial creative activity I did. I was in high school and I used to get a bunch of black t shirts and some whit paint, then I draw on the t a black n white portrait of Kurt Cobain, Bon Jovi, Yangvi Malmsteen (I believe it was the first i did) then I sell that to the kids at school. Made some good money out of that.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

Y: I shouldn’t be doing what I’m doing, I’m actually a certified architect. I love architecture but the career here in Egypt wouldn’t allow me to express my creativity the way I do in advertising. You feel that creativity is much more valued in advertising (though the advertising industry has its flaws as well). Another thing I wish I could do, carpentry. I hope one day I could set up my own workshop. Wood is just an amazing material that you could do anything out of it. The smell of wood makes feel I’m very close to nature.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

Y: The cliches answer of any thing, any where, any time is practically true. However what really matters is the ability to produce and I ve noticed that when I’m in cairo, it sucks a lot of my energy that every day I just wanna site doing nothing but watching TV but when I’m away I ve much energy to do things. So its healthy to retreat every now and then and produce some of stuff you had in mind. What’s in mind right now was actually inspired my two and a half years old daughter Alia, she was showing me this drawing she did, which is basically two corrugated circles a big one around a smaller one. Then she told me the big one is the road and the smaller one is a cat, another time she used her lego to make a cube like shap and she told me its a duck. I was amazed with the way she sees things. I decided to scan these drawings or take a photo of leog stuff then do some typography/ graphic design on top of them explaining each item, naming it “According to Alia”

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

Y: Other than the self portrait, here is another piece “where is ma money”. It came to me when I was really wondering where is my money, I’m sure it happens to every one of us when you ask yourself how the hell I spent those five hundred dollars for example. I decided to shoot every single item I bought in the periode of six months and make a poster out of that, hang it on my wall and I never ask my self “where is my money” It is going to be a series of posters ideally one each six month.

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

Y: It really differs according to what I’m interested in in that period of time, some times I could be totally into packaging, some other times I’m totally into product design. Since now I’m into photography and fashion so here are the open taps on my chrome

http://bentrovatoblog.com

http://zac-fashion.com

http://buntfahrer.tumblr.com

http://itsallmentalmasturbation.tumblr.com

http://convoy.tumblr.com

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

L: Play with my friend Ayako at the park in Tokyo.  I played as a wife, she played as my husband….something like that.  We made every part of the park and wooden outdoor play equipment(how do i call in English?) as part of our house and furnitures.  We imitated our own parents quite well. Funny memory.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

L: Fashion Designer or Psychologist, or working for film!

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

L: Tough question…..But Travelling inspires me.  And then the people I meet, story I hear and moments I go through in life.  Many places inspire me but when it comes to digital collage, I really like to be somewhere I can sit, ideally with tablet.  A lot of fashion designers inspire me too.  I believe collage/illustration has a trend as well somewhat and I can learn a lot about it from fashion industry.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

Attached image: Lady Cosmogony. There are many thoughts involved but mainly I thought it would be so cool to see a fashion show in space one day.  They would tickle my heart.  My coworker Mayuko named this piece.

5. Name 5 websites that you check often.

npr

fashionista

weather network

ffffound

style.com(if you haven’t seen Tommy Ton looks yet, check now, they tickle my heart!)

I: What’s the earliest memory of a creative activity you did?

J: Im not sure…but i remember we had a little beige apple computer for the summer when i was around 10 and my big thing was to design newspaper grids. In macpaint. So nerdy…I guess i was always into drawing and building stuff…At one point i wanted to be an inventor.

I: If you weren’t doing what you do right now, what would you be doing?

J: I always liked race cars, but recently i became obsessed with them. So i think i’d like to be a race car driver. In the 90s. In europe. Probably DTM or rallye. If not maybe i’d be a handyman.

I: Inspiration, who? what? where?

J: Im inspired by lots of things…Almost any design from the 60s-70s. I think graphic design was so cool back then. Im not so much inspired by the stuff happenning right now. Its a little too intellectual sometimes and it really gets on my nerves.

I: Share any of piece your work, recent or old and talk about it.

J: Here’s my latest personal piece of work, called 1992 Exotic Overdrive. Its an animated .gif i made for an expo in Montreal about well, animated .gifs. Since i’m obsessed with cars and racing and games to a certain extent, i decided to create this fake videogame about awesome racing cars that are on fire. For some reason i’m also obsessed with cars on fire. Here’s the link to other amazing pieces from the same expo : expogif.com

I: Name 5 websites that you check often.

Facebook.com — Obvioulsy…how would i keep track of all these people i care about (im not even being sarcastic)

10kilos.us — The music blog i started with a few of my friends. Its very good to keep up with the awesome music and other cool shit.

Hypebeast.com — Just cause theres a lot of good stuff about every subject swag related.

Thefader.com — Fader is the best music magazine ever created by mankind. Theyre always on point and get what good music is all about in any genre.

Tumblr.com — I couldnt live with that image porn…wether its cars, graphics, LOLz or any awesome stuff in general.