Steve Harries

Rick Guest

Kevin Griffin

Paul Wakefield

Igor Panitz

Garrigosa Studio

TAXI Thanks for doing this interview with us. What have you been busy with lately?

Garrigosa Studio It is a pleasure. We have done a campaign made of water effects for 7Up India, a polar bear cub for Ecobility in Dubai and a campaign for Enel in Italy.

TAXI Could you share with us a bit more on The Book? What's the idea behind this project?

Garrigosa Studio Well, it was a good way to show our work in a personal way with a well curated edition.

TAXI What is your ultimate aim when you start working on a piece?

Garrigosa Studio Achieving the best results and feeling satisfied for obtaining them! We are happy when the client is happy.

TAXI Who or what inspires you in life?

Garrigosa Studio Everything. My family, friends, a movie, a book…. For me, it is important to be balanced to be inspired.

TAXI The Honda campaign features where did you get the idea from?

Garrigosa Studio This idea came from the advertising agency.

TAXI Which artists or clients would you be keen to collaborate with and why?

Garrigosa Studio Anyone who can share my own standards, expectations and results.

TAXI Having won several prestigious awards, what is the studio's aim for the upcoming years?

Garrigosa Studio To keep working at the same level and hopefully continue enjoying ourselves.

TAXI Your works quirky, edgy but essentially fun. What messages do you hope to communicate with your work?

Garrigosa Studio The message is provided by the ad agency/client. We try to give the best as professionals to enhance the idea with photo-realistic results. We always want to retain the essence of the idea within the picture. 

TAXI Any tips for newbies trying to get into the business?

Garrigosa Studio You have to love the profession. It is necessary to have a lot of dedication. It is always good to be critical with your own work in order to evolve. There are always new things to learn so you need to be humble.

The interview can be found here

 

Andy Glass

Noma Bar Interview

Noma Bar is a man of few strokes. But don’t let the simplicity fool you. His talent lies in his efficiency in depicting characters and social issues. With bold colors, shapes and one or two icons he captures the spirit of a person. Other times he communicates a message on a social issue with amazing clarity while adding a bit of humor to everything. Whether the message is about violence or equality, his straight-forward visual approach is refreshing.


How does your background influence your work?
I was born in the north of Israel in 1973. Israel was a young country with lots of influence from the Bauhaus school. The architecture had a lot of squares and straight lines. But there is also something else about Israel. There was the spirit of improvisation, in terms of how people create things, recycling and using ready-made.
Nevertheless it was quite sleepy and I didn’t want to stay there. Around my house there were original paintings. My mother was quite illustrative and playful. For example she made the handle of the toilet into a [silhouette of a] duck.  We also had Hello Kitty things around the house.
Before I came to London I studied Hebrew typography. I was trained as a typographer, not as a illustrator. And of course there was no great demand in London for a  Hebrew typographer. In my [current] work, I have typography influence. It’s like working with the elements of a letter. It’s coming to this idea, no nonsense, monumental shape.

How do you describe your work?
Sometimes I would say visual communication. It is not exactly graphic design and not exactly illustration. I make brief illuminations. Putting light on the subjects and developing subjects is classic illustration. But it looks like graphic design. What I’m doing exactly, is part characterture and part politics. It is about the subjects. I’m a visual comedian, a graphic comedian. It is in a sense, less and less graphic design and more illustration. It needs to be funny. It needs to bring a smile. This kind of emotion is very important.

How did you come to develop this style?
I’m attracted to actors that don’t use words. Maybe it is because I come from a foreign country and I have to do a lot of non-verbal communication. Comedy really influences me. I admire silent films because they have the ability to make people laugh without saying any words, basically doing visual things without talking. My work is like a comedy dialogue, short jokes, short stories. It quite similar to comedy in that it ends with a punch line.

How long does it take you?
It can take a couple of weeks or a day. It is different with different projects. Portraits are challenging. It is a struggle to find the right ideas. For me the idea has to comes first.

What is the most challenging portrait?
They are all challenging. Britney Spears was pretty hard. People with beautiful faces are hard to capture with a few strokes. Her face is so balanced so it is hard to find something to grab onto. I prefer ugly faces, they are much easier. Nick Hornby took me ages. He has a large music collection. I was thinking about using a record, the outline of it.  I didn’t want to put two records. My challenge is to use one element and nothing extra.

What is your working process?
I do a lot of drawings. I have more than 60 sketch books. The sketch book is part of me, a on-going diary. When I go to the computer I already know what I’m doing.  Almost all the conceptualizing is done.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I like doing drawings in the Underground Tube. Sitting on the Tube is like a gallery of people of different  faces. Everyone capitulated in one line and they change all the time.  I also look where many people don’t look. For example things on the floor. A lot of things happen on the floor. I look at negative spaces. I would look at the space between two cars, instead of the cars. In a sense I’m always looking and getting all the wrong information.
I really like Highgate woods, this is actually part of my routine. In the morning I’m in the woods for a couple of hours a day. I try not to sit on the same bench. I need to find new benches so I can surprise myself.

Are there any guidelines you live by as a illustrator or can give to other artists?
Find your own thing and find your inner voice. If it suites you, really give shape to it. It a journey.  Don’t be fascinated by what everyone else is doing. When people are always changing their styles they are not faithful to who they are. I can do a lot of things but I don’t.
Also think a lot. Think hard before you start to do something. I spend more time thinking than illustrating. I need to surprise myself with good ideas and not just illustrate beautiful pictures.

Name a few things that currently inspire you:
My new studio that I moved into a few months ago inspires me to make a lot of work. It is nice big place for myself. I’m in here 19 hours a day.
Rather than checking out outside things for inspiration, I’m constantly milking myself [of more work].  Where ever I am, I can find inspiration. Basic things, things that are very close to me help me work.


 Interview From Grain Edit

Benedict Redgrove

I don't feel that its essential for the photo to have a particular message behind it. Much like Redgrove's photos I don't feel that there is a message behind the photography but i feel he makes the subject more interesting than it really should be.

Dan Tobin Smith Photography

 

  I particularly like the use of layout and perspective with these photos as they both used at their best. It does show the amount of consideration i need to be taking in terms of the layout of the image and use of perspective more within my ideas.

Tomasz Kaluzny

Damien Vassart

Found this photographer whilst looking through behance. I like the contrast on these as i feel that it works well. but not sure on the long exposure of the photos becuase i like how the water has turned out really smooth and not sure the clouds have come out as well as the rest of the photos in some.

Mike Harrison

I feel I've started to get more influenced by design which seem to have a retro style to it but more with a modern perspective. Mike Harrison's style also seems to incorporate some more drawn parts to the work which is something i want to try to do with my own work and almost where i want to progress to.

Noma Bar

I like how simple these are kept without losing any of the idea. I want my work be sort of going in this direction where its less crowded and focuses just on the concept.

Jaap Vilegenthart

A recent designer i found. Much of it is image editing for adverts but quite like it because of the quality of the final images he gets and how well they actually work.

Greg White