Tag: colectivo futurist

the pressure is a colectivo futurist!

now that 2012 is going into full gear, we’re bringing back our colectivo futurist section with overall bad-ass Adam R. Garcia aka The Pressure. a freelance creative director, designer, and illustrator in equal measures, he recently completed a residence at Nike’s Global Brand Design department doing all sorts of engaging projects. now based in Portland, Adam is looking to go at it alone with his design studio, alias the pressure, bringing together his many influences and experiences to provide clients with a unique take on their projects and brands. read our interview with the man behind the pressure after the jump.

ADAM R. GARCIA aka THE PRESSURE (Creative Director/Designer, Portland, USA)

website | blog | twitter: @adamrgarcia

* tell us a bit about yourself, how did you become a graphic designer/creative director? how would you define your influences?

My entire creative life kind of came from growing up playing roleplaying games with friends, and later immersing myself in the Minneapolis hip-hop scene. From roleplaying came an ability to tell stories, drawing, and a sense of playfulness. From rapping, dancing and throwing shows in Minneapolis I learned about engaging in a community, presenting and collecting ideas to make things happen. Design kind of just happened for me by helping my friends in the scene create visual identities for themselves. Later on, I went back to school at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, which focused on concept and process. I learned to experiment there. I worked at a CD manufacturing company for a few years while in school which was really interesting and a fantastic time. I designed hundreds of incredibly different (and many horrible-looking) album packages back then, but I cut my teeth on jewelcases and digipaks. After that, I started The Pressure as a freelance business but always had a day job – until a few months ago. I worked at Rhymesayers Entertainment for a while as an art director, but I really wasn’t ready yet. I decided I needed to learn more so moved to Philly from Minneapolis to work at the Branding / Ad agency 160over90. That place was amazing; I met a lot of great humans that were very influential on me and my process. Also, learning how to see a huge project through from concept to execution was a great experience. I learned to love presenting ideas to clients at 160, which was invaluable. After that, Nike snatched me up and I hightailed it across the states to Portland, Oregon, where I worked in footwear design for Nike Sportswear for a while, and then headed over to Nike Global Brand Design. Nike is phenomenal in many ways: working with some of the best talent in the world, actually having a budget and having a really design-based culture is a blessing. I decided to strike out on my own in November of 2011, and I’m currently in the process of getting my shit together, getting a studio and really making it “official” as a design business. It’s all a process. Life is a process, and my constant enthusiasm and lust for creating comes from that process. Whew!

* how important and how much of a learning experience was it to work at Nike’s Global Brand Design department? Which sort of projects were you involved with there?

I was only in Nike Global Brand Design for about 6 months. My team was focused on working on Nike’s presence in the London 2012 Olympics, Nike Digital Sport, and a lot of random stuff, like internal events. My biggest takeaway, besides meeting incredibly talented people that I had the honor of working with, was learning to set a higher bar for quality. I also got some great art direction experience, managed projects and worked with a global team.

* you’re obviously a multifaceted designer and you’ve worked on a host of very different projects. if you had to pick a favorite one, which would it be and why?

Honestly, I don’t think that I’ve created my favorite project yet. I really had fun doing the TRUST ME! exhibit, but I should have pushed it a lot further. Also, designing shoes was very rewarding. I think that my favorite work is work that resonates with others, work with value, and I’m not sure if that’s for us to judge.

* if you could soundtrack your work, what would you choose?

Oh jeez. That is the most difficult question ever.

* what is your favorite thing about living in Portland?

Portland is awesome! I feel as though this place is like a petri dish for creativity. Like anything is possible. It’s got a strong sense of community, and a huge bookstore that I would live in if I had the chance. Also, the food here is just delicious. You can tell by the pounds I’ve put on since moving.

* what are you currently working on? what can you tell us about your future plans?

I’m currently working on some album packaging that’s inspired by Ballantine Book covers which will be fun. Also, working on the identity for a music festival, some other branding work, book design, editorial illustration and some random lettering projects. Doing more gallery shows and looking to curate some gallery shows this summer. I’ve got a site called Illustrated Etymology (http://illustratedetymology.com) that I put together, bringing together my love words, collaboration and history. Doing some design talks and lectures that I’m looking forward to, also. Should be a fun year! Thanks so much for the interview!

No Comments by miguel on February 8, 2012

filed in colectivo futurists

tagged adam r. garcia, colectivo futurist, graphic design, illustration, nike, portland, the pressure

hell’o monsters are colectivo futurists!

we turn our attention of the colectivo futurist series to our first illustration collective feature. based in Brussels, the Hell’O Monsters are a three-piece group formed by graphic artists Jérôme Meynen, François Dieltiens and Antoine Detaille. the three have been working together for the past ten years and have amassed a stunning collection of drawings featuring curious creatures and monsters that are inspired by the astute words of argentine writer Borges in The Book Of Imaginary Beings and “the creative wonder of childhood”. for the most part their creations can feel a bit naive from a distance, but taking a closer look there’s a lot of symbolism and serious subjects to be found in their ultimately sophisticated drawings. check out some of our favorite pieces and read a short interview about their past, present, and future below.

HELL’O MONSTERS (illustration collective, Brussels)

website | facebook

* how did the three of you come together to form Hell’o Monsters?

Ten years ago we all met for the first time in front of a wall for a painting, we became friends by affinity of ideas and a strange sense of humor. We then started to work more together with really good osmosis. Three years later we decided to create a more coherent structure for our work and hell’o monsters was born. Initially our style was very similar and it became more inseparable to the point where people couldn’t recognize who was doing what. In this way we created a type of unique form for our idea, three people united as one.

* what is your work process like? do you come up with a concept and then start drawing together? or do you separate tasks to achieve the final piece?

We don’t always follow the same process, but usually one of us comes up with a general concept for a drawing or a whole series. Afterwards, everyone brings their own personal ideas and tries to confront and create dialogs with the others. Usually our drawings are composed by a lot of little things (and creatures) which together create one big theme. We don’t necessarily tend to separate tasks, instead each one of us does whatever is necessary in order to complete a piece.

* so far you have put your assortment of monsters on posters, books, shirts, and walls. which of these mediums is your favorite? which new surface would you like to explore in the future?

For sure drawing on paper in black and white with Indian ink is our favorite medium, it’s like the base for all the other things we do. At the moment, we are a little bit scared about colors because we have used them too much in the past, now we try to use it more carefully with a lot of attention to detail; but we love to explore a lot of different techniques and mediums, such as collages, painting on wood, etc. We are really interested in doing more three-dimensional things like sculptures and installations without necessarily ignoring the drawing side. Instead we are trying to find the best way to associate the two naturally.

* if you could soundtrack your work, what would you choose?

* what is your favorite thing about living in Brussels?

Brussels is a quiet city to live in, but with lots of cultural things to do. It is very stimulating to do our work here. We also enjoy our friends of course.

* which projects are you currently working on? what do you expect to be working on in the future?

Currently we are busy preparing two exhibitions, which will be opening soon. The first one opened this past weekend at the MOHS exhibit in Copenhagen. This is naturally consuming a lot of our time because we’ve been preparing a lot of new artworks: paintings to be exact. In the short future we want to realize a series of different sculptures; while looking further ahead, we expect to continue to work together in the same way or even better because so far our method has worked well.

No Comments by miguel on October 31, 2011

filed in colectivo futurists

tagged brussels, colectivo futurist, hell'o monsters, illustration

bryce wilner is a colectivo futurist!

we’ve been recently captivated by the illustration work of chicago based Bryce Wilner, hence why he’s our next colectivo futurist featured artist. Bryce’s work can be found at the crossroads between stunning illustration and smart graphic design, in fact it’s the way he mixes both that makes his works so enticing. combining the influences of his upbringing in the 80s/90s and modern day digital culture, Bryce is able to bring simple concepts to life with the use of stunning colors and rough edges to convey a sense of constant movement. read our interview with Bryce below and as usual we hope you enjoy his work as much as we do!

BRYCE WILNER (illustrator / graphic designer, Chicago)

website | behance | twitter: @BryceWilner

* when did you first start illustrating? how do you feel your work has evolved during the years?

My first memories of “illustrating” are ones wherein I’m at age four or five and copying X-Men cards (I still remember my two favorite illustrators from those days: Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell). I’ve been drawing pretty regularly throughout my entire life, but I never really considered myself an illustrator until I started attending design school at the University of South Carolina. It took me a little while to distinguish between graphic design and illustration, and, while the two can certainly complement one another, I think it’s important to note that they exist as very separate entities.
During the last three or four years, my work has gradually moved from paper to screen. I still keep sketchbooks and draw by hand all the time, but I have much greater interest in what can be done on a computer screen. I have great respect for images that are unabashedly digital.

* your work has a very distinct approach to bright colors and the use of light, where do you normally draw your influence from?

I think a fondness for bright colors can be traced back to the clothes I wore, the cartoons I watched, and the tapes I heard throughout my youth in the late 80s and early 90s. I felt a strong connection to the radio R&B and pop of the era, and the images that accompanied those sounds were often rendered in these really wonderful pinks, greens, and turquoises.
Like everyone else, I now spend my days meandering through the blogosphere and return with ideas of varying quality. I don’t quite have a fixed source from which I regularly pull inspiration, but the guys at But Does It Float have done a great deal to refine my digital tastes in the past couple of years. Clicking through that blog, I’m met with the same feeling I get when I walk through the stacks at the public library. That said, I consider libraries (the content they carry as well as their general concept) to be a huge presence in my life.

* cubism elements are ever-present in your works, how do you achieve a balance between the influence of cubism from the past and your own personal signature?

I get loads of comments likening my work to cubism and Italian futurism, but it’s not an association I initially set out to trigger. Figures in my drawings have their features cut into planes and defined ridges, which was initially a product of my interest in modulating the human body. I can see the similarities and I understand why that connection gets made, but I hope the impression is not one that is totally derivative.

* if you could soundtrack your work, what would you choose?

My brother works for this amazing, Chicago-based electronic music journal called Little White Earbuds. He keeps me up to my ears in techno, house, and bass music. I like to think my tastes are relatively broad, but I am really interested in what a lot of those people are doing right now. More and more often, my aesthetic tastes are leaning toward the ethereal and the sensual. I hear a lot of that when I hear dance music.

I’m not one to rattle off lists of artists whose works I’ve absorbed in hopes of validating myself, but I will say that I’ll work for John Roberts, Floatings Points, and Gas for absolutely free.

* what is your favorite thing about living in Chicago?

Chicago has a rich design and art history in which its citizens take a lot of pride. The design community is enthusiastic, supportive, and ambitious. I’ve only lived here for about a year, and I’ve had some really kind people reach out to me. I take comfort in the fact that I already recognize a good amount of the faces I see when I’m out at cultural events. I feel like I still have a great deal to gain from the area.

* which projects are you currently working on? what can we expect from yourself in the future?

In the future, I’d like to take on more editorial illustration jobs. Most of my images are self-initiated. I’m interested in seeing what others might brief me to do.
I’m doing a couple of record sleeves for some friends, but those projects aren’t very far along at the moment. I’ve about reached the halfway point with a new book that I’m writing and illustrating. It’s currently untitled; I should have it finished by this winter. Books are always really engaging because by the time I’ve finished them I feel like the idea with which I began has completely changed. I don’t know for sure where this one’s going, but you might place it in the neighborhood of science-fiction.