Issue Eight Vol. Two | August 2012
Welcome
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The TEAM Editorial Editorial Director: Gbenga Mogaji Creative Director: Roodney Cox Online Content Editor: Roodney Cox Contributing Editors: Nifemi Mogaji, Taiwo Sanyaolu, Kehinde Sanyaolu Feature Editor: Kemi Obadina Executives Feature Executives: Temitope Farinloye, Flora Brawn Research Executive: Tolu Bamiloshin Customer Satisfaction Executive: Derrick Ince Distribution Executive: John Clifford Cover Image by : Kelvin Shani Artflow is an online Magazine published monthly by OctoberLead Limited to create a platform for creative individuals. The images are the copyrighted properties of the Artists and not those of Artflow Magazine. Opinions expressed here are those of the Artists and Authors and not the entire Artflow Magazine. While every care has been taken, we accept liability for any error We’d love to hear from you! If you would like to be featured in the Magazine, have any idea or suggestion, please send emails to: info@artflowmagazine.com
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ave you ever thought if a Chinese person will understand an English illustration? Art is universal; it breaks barriers, communicating with creative works. I am well pleased to usher you in; Welcome to another issue of Artflow Magazine, featuring artists from different part of the world using various skills to communicate.................................................................. ...........
Meet Buchi Michael who likes to look at himself as creative, not a designer or an artist; always throwing around concepts in his head and thinking how to express ideas better. Jonathan Hasson is a graphic designer by trade; He has amassed an impressive list of clients as a designer. He now seeks employment designing for the music and entertainment industries......................................... ........... Kelvin Shani has been practicing art from as early as he can remember. Most skills were self-taught. He has evolved his style over the years to a distinct and creative one. Meet Lavanya Naidoo, you will love her fine quilling skills, A South African Visual Communicator. She works as a below-the-line designer at an advertising agency in Cape Town............................................................. More Tang has an answer to my question. He suggests using translator and Google. It is a way to understand cross culture. Designing Chinese typographic poster is more like a hobby to him. More is a designer based in China. He works at Frogdesign. Take time to read my article on the Relativity of Art, discussing the appreciation of art based on an individual’s exposure..................... ........................ ........... Whether you want to give us some feedback or have an idea you want to share with us, we’d love to hear from you! Your ideas and suggestions stimulate our thinking and help us to improve our publication. We want YOUR input! Tell us what you love, tell us what you hate ... just don’t keep it to yourself! Please send emails to: info@artflowmagazine.com. Like us on Facebook and follow us on twitter @ArtflowMagazine..........
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content content content ... Issue Eight Vol. Two | August 2012
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Jonathan Hasson
A graphic designer by trade, He has amassed an impressive list of clients as a designer. He now seeks employment designing for the music and entertainment industries.
Buchi Michael
Likes to look at himself as creative, not a designer or an artist, Always throwing around concepts in his head and thinking how to express ideas better.
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The Relativity of Art Gbenga Mogaji
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Kelvin Shani
Practicing art from as early as he can remember. Most skills were self taught. He has evolved his style over the years to a distinct and creative one.
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Lavanya Naidoo
South African Visual Communicator. She works as a below-the-line designer at an advertising agency in Cape Town.
More Tang
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Designing typographic poster is more like a hobby to him. More is a designer based in China. He works at Frogdesign.
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Buchi Micheal
I like to look at myself as creative. Not a designer or an artist. I’m the kind of guy who is always throwing around concepts in my head and thinking how I express this concept or ideology better. I have a rich background in classical art (oil painting, pencils, charcoal etc) so for me the computer is just another medium for expressing all the crazy things I have constantly been brewing in my head.
Mark Farhat
Why did you choose to do digital art? For me digital art was just the next most reasonable step. I’ve studied art history and I see the way art has always conformed to the needs of the society within which it finds itself. The truth is traditional art isn’t as relevant in our society as it was in let’s say the 16th century, yet the artistic minds still need a medium to express themselves. Digital art is the medium of the 21st century just as oil was the medium of the 16th. For me not moving with the times is like a painter in the 16th century looking at cave paintings and saying that because that’s where art began, then oil painting isn’t a true art form. Oil came as a result of technological advancement, likewise computers. So why not be wise and relevant to your generation? Hence my choice to move to digital art. How was your educational background? I went to so many different schools in so many different states in the country that I can’t even start to list. But after secondary school, I spent a lot of time grooming myself as an artist painting, going to exhibitions and meeting new people. Then I got into The University of Nigeria Nsukka to study Mass Communication and graduated in 2010. How would you describe your style of design? I really don’t have a specific style, but I really do love doing illustrations. I’m also a sucker for cartoons; so my work
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tends to reflect that playfulness that’s concurrent with cartoons. Let’s talk more about your works; can you please share the thought process about the funk it up collections? Funk it up is something that started as a joke. I just saw a brief and I imagined how I would have executed it if I was the designer and then next thing you know I am sketching and vectorizing in illustrator. Then I put the incomplete work up on my face book page and many people liked it. So I decide to add more polish using photoshop and Kazzaam!! It’s currently my personal marketing theme as seen on my business concept card and other publicity material. How about the Suranu/Bushbaby Endorsement Project? I have been working for timeless music for quite a number of years so when they wanted to start a premium limited edition clothing line I was the guy to go to. They came up with the Bushbaby concept and asked me what I thought about it. I thought it was fresh so we went ahead I did the illustrations for the clothing line and the tees were a mini hit. The Suranu/ Bushbaby endorsement is an offshoot of the main bushbaby project. They wanted a promo concept for the launch of suranus new album so we came up with having Bushbaby endorse Suranu and put that on t-shirts and stickers.
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Buchi Micheal What was the idea behind the Green republic design? Like most personal projects, Green republic is a concept I have toyed with for quite a while. I did the sketch illustration about three years before I finally inked and colored it in photoshop. Green republic is just a series of illustrative posters I am hoping to finish one day that talk about my country - Nigeria. Tell us more about your illustration styles. My illustration style is influenced by a lot of things, and I am still a young artist, so it is not yet something I can say is set in stone. But I get a lot of inspiration from other artist I follow on www.behance.com and some of the old masters from www.artrenewal.org.
Of course there is my childhood love for cartoons. I love realism though, so I try as much as is possible to combine the two extreme (cartoon exaggeration & Realism) and find a meeting point. Do you use Mac or PC? I use a PC mainly because I’m yet to buy a Mac (it’s a crazy sum of cash to part with)
and by Italian Artisans because I wanted the brand to reflect our dedication to quality, luxury and the arts, which includes the art of craftsmanship. Tell us more about your first collection of designs. How was the response and how has it kept you going? “Bring Back Time” was the launch collection for MARK/GIUSTI. Its name introduced my vision for bringing the beautiful Byzantine Mosaics into everyday life via our products. Just as the Basilica’s have beautiful Mosaics for their floors and entryways, MARK/GIUSTI products display this art via the interior of our bags and leather accessories. I launched the collection at Shoreditch House in London on the 9th of June 2010. I was very pleased with the response to the show which resulted in acquiring several stockists and features in Drapes Magazine and ES Evening standard to name a few. What other collections do you have now? The “Palatina” Collection for AW2011 - 2012, was a continuation in time and history from the Byzantine to
Mark Farhat
THE LIMITATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE AND MEDIA OF EXECUTION THAT ARTISTS SUFFERED FROM IN THE PAST ARE HISTORY. WE HAVE ALL IT TAKES TO PRODUCE STUNNING WORKS
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the “Cosmati” Mosaic artwork. It was inspired by the Capella Palatina in Palermo Sicily, which is adorned with extraordinary Norman-byzantine mosaics and houses the finest examples of Arab-Norman art in Sicily. “La Dolce Vita” followed for SS2012, which was designed to transport our clientele to the glamorous life and elegance of 1950’s and 1960’s Italy. Here the colours take us away and they are more classic and tonal. Then came “ROMA-NZA” for AW2012 – 2013, which was a continuation in time with the concept carried over from “La Dolce Vita”. As the name suggests, it is inspired by the romance of Rome during the 1950’s. Inspiration for the collection came just after I saw William Wyler’s Vacanze Romane on my last trip to Rome. For me, Rome is the perfect city for a Romance. There is something that makes you fall in love with it. I guess it all goes back to that glamorous Italian lifestyle and the Italian appreciation for the good things in life, whether it’s beautifully crafted bags or simply the food!
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Is there anything we should be keeping an eye on for the future? I am working on two main projects right now my website www.buchanora.com and a series of illustrations I refer to as the Bumaki Project, which I intend to make into limited edition posters stickers and t-shirts. It is something I have toyed with since 2006 but never had the chance to perfect. With the recent turn of events and my increased love for vector illustrations, I have finished them and started fine-tuning them again. So that’s something to watch out for. Do you have any hobbies? What do you do in your spare time? Uhm I sketch, I study a lot, but I really don’t have much spare time these days. Oh yes I spend a lot of time building my relationship with my sweetheart. Anything else you want to share? I believe that the 21st century is a wonderful time to be born a creative. The limitations of knowledge and media of execution that artists suffered from in the past are history. We have all it takes to produce stunning works beyond the imagination of man if only we take out time to improve ourselves and our work.
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SOMETHING THAT STARTED AS A JOKE. I JUST SAW A BRIEF AND I IMAGINED HOW I WOULD HAVE EXECUTED IT IF I WAS THE DESIGNER AND THEN NEXT THING YOU KNOW I AM SKETCHING AND VECTORIZING IN ILLUSTRATOR.
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Buchi Michael buchanora@gmail.com Twitter: @buchanora http://www.behance.net/buckwilde August 2012
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Jonathan Hasson
A graphic designer by trade, Jonathan makes pictures for a living. After getting his start as a freshman in high school, he has gone on be a finalist in the Adobe School Innovation Awards and amassed an impressive list of clients as a freelance and in-house designer. He now seeks employment designing for the music and entertainment industries.
Jonathan Hasson Who is Jonathan Hasson? Can you please describe yourself? I am an optimistic individual who puts his heart and soul into everything he does. I love to create and passionately pursue my goals. Designing is the reason I get up in the morning and my love for it grants me great focus. My mission is to make the world a better place by serving others with imaginative graphic solutions. How was your background growing up? I grew up in a loving family who were very supportive of my skills and who encouraged me to follow my dreams. For that I am eternally grateful because it’s made me who I am today. Growing up, I was the kid who was always drawing in class. I found it difficult to focus on academic topics but when we would do anything tactile I found that I could complete the task. I am a very hands-on person. At the age of eight my family and I moved across the country from a small town in Virginia to California which I am happy to call my home. What influenced your choice in this form of art? I would say my choice in this art form would be a product of what I’ve seen and heard. I’ve also been greatly influenced by NoPattern, the Imaginary Foundation, and Signalnoise. How was your educational background? My education has consisted of high school and I am currently attending college. Most of the things I have learnt about design I have learned from experimentation. The amount of instructional information available to us provides all those with an internet connection the opportunity to teach themselves almost any skill. I place great emphasis in my life on the acquisition of knowledge because I believe the best people never stop learning.
How would you describe your style? I would describe my style as focused on light and color. In my mind light is the graphic equivalent to truth, hope, knowledge and beauty. Color generates excitement and interest. Humans have a natural affinity for both so I love to experiment with them. I want to uplift others and share some of the happiness and awe that life has brought me. Creativity is very important in your career, what inspires you? I have to say that anything that makes me feel something inspires me, be it an idea, music, books, video, or anything other kind of media. When I create art I try to express the feelings I have that come from the things I experience. I feel particularly drawn to artists with happy, upbeat music like Owl City, Unicorn Kid, Neon Feather, and Angels & Airwaves. I also find the writings of James Allen to be quite enlightening. Your mission is to communicate and represent the effectiveness of your clients’ services and products by utilizing the various mediums of design. Tell us about your creative experience, how well you are doing. I have been blessed to do what I love as my job all my life and I feel that today businesses need a graphic identity in order to be successful. Humans identify with images because vision is for many people one of the primary senses they use gather information about the world that surrounds them. I’ve worked and interned at businesses such as Blast Advanced Media, Ridgeline Entertainment, and Image Quest. I‘ve also had the opportunity to do a fair amount of freelance work for local businesses and organizations. I currently manage the graphic and web needs for the Western States Horse Expo but my goal is to work for a creative firm servicing the entertainment industry in the near future.
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What do you think makes your work different? Since my work is in the cumulative response to my personal experiences, I suppose that in that regard it is unique. My work is different because I am different. I rely heavily on experimentation. Often times while designing I will stumble across something I think looks better than what I had originally envisioned. I adhere to very few rules when I design and I think that it is that fluidity that makes my work in some respects different than others. Who is /are your mentor(s)? I have had many mentors and people who have influenced me. My first mentor would probably be my high school multimedia teacher, Ken Ulrich. He introduced me to the tools that professionals used to create and opened my eyes to the opportunities available to me. A few other people who helped me develop as a designer and as a person would be Laree Florence (Founder of Take Note Troupe), Natalie Rishe (Professor at Sierra College), and Will Goodey (Leader of Uplifters). How has the Media assisted in showcasing for your works? We live in an incredible age of heightened interconnectedness and accessibility. The role media has played in assisting to showcase my work would be as a valuable feedback mechanism. I am always honored to hear what people have to say about my work and it helps me grow as a artist and designer. Through the use of online media I have also made friends across the world when just a few years ago that would have been very difficult to do. If you are not designing, what else would you be doing? What do you do in the spare time? When I’m not designing I love to participate in other creative activities such as writing music and poetry. I also greatly enjoy a good murder mystery like those in shows like Poirot, Monk, and Psych.
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Jonathan Hasson Tell us more about the “In Memory of Weaver Knight” project. Last year I lost one of my grandfathers to a brain tumor. He was a photographer, pilot, travel enthusiast, and storyteller. He would always share with me all the places he’d been, people he’d met, and things that he’d done. I like to remember him revisiting his photography. During his last trip to Europe he visited Stonehenge and took the source photo for this project. We had worked on projects together before he passed but I wanted to do one final collaboration. “In Memory of Weaver Knight” is a reflection of the warmth and feeling that my grandfather had and a memorial to his life. Can you please tell us the branding idea and processes for the DYMONDZ Branding & Designs? Dymondz is the project of my good friend Steven Pitzl. He produces mostly electronic dance music and so for that I thought I would try and go for a bold, modern feel. I also knew I wanted to integrate a diamond into the logo somehow. I began to play around with the letters until I found what I thought would look best.
I also noticed that there were an equal number of letters on each side of the “O” so there would be a sort of symmetry and balance when I enlarged it and put the diamond inside. Branding is sometimes challenging because you have to make sure the logo is balanced, memorable, and scalable. As my other good friend Ben Thompson (Neon Feather) says, “A first visual impression can seriously affect whether people will like music or even listen to it at all.” As a designer it is my job to make sure that my client’s product is presented in a visually appealing way. How would you describe the trends of album covers? Just like everything else, design follows trends. I think that recently the production quality and visual variety of album covers has increased with the development of new styles and technology. With more and more people entering the music industry, there is a decentralization of both music and design due to a growing multiplicity of genres and artists. Minimal designs seem to be more popular today because of their current application: the screens of mobile devices.
What is your favourite project? It’s difficult to choose a favorite project because I like them all for different reasons but if I had to I would choose “Soaring”. It has energy, motion, and detail and I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on it. What are your tools, what do you use to get this works done? My primary tools of the trade are my iMac, Wacom Intuos 5 tablet, Photoshop, clipboard, Sharpie pens, and my imagination. I feel that a healthy imagination is every designer’s greatest tool. Once you understand how to use the available tools you are only limited by what you can imagine. I have also recently added After Effects to my repertoire and am currently working on a motion graphics reel. A quick overview of your design process, how do you go about a brief? Usually after reading a brief and looking up some references I go straight to one place: my trusty clipboard. This allows me mobility and the freedom to jot down bits of inspiration no matter where I am. I’ll stare at the blank page until I have a few ideas after which I’ll sketch them out and look for visual devices that will help achieve my client’s goals and help sell the design. Once I’ve completed the sketch I will scan it and perfect and embellish in Photoshop.
In Memory of Weaver Knight
Jonathan Hasson Website: jhasson.com Facebook: facebook.com/hassongraphics Twitter: twitter.com/jonhasson Behance: behance.net/hassongraphics YouTube: youtube.com/hassongraphics Tumblr: hassongraphics.tumblr.com
The Relativity of Art. Gbenga Mogaji
What side of the Cheese did you see, the rectangle, square or triangle?
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dvard Munch’s The Scream set a new record for art auction sales at Sotheby’s in New York when it was sold for $119.9m (£74m). In 2008, Francis Bacon’s Triptych (1976) was sold for $85.9m to oligarch Roman Abramovich. Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932) was sold for $106,482,500 at Christie’s in New York in 2010. You wonder why those guys that go to Sotheby or Christie spent so much money on artworks? You wonder why people listen, let alone dance to music you find irritating even as a noise? You wonder why people adorn a fashion style and you think they are crazy? On those notes, let me share with you what I call the Relativity of Art. Unlike Science, the understanding of art is relative to the individual. To a five year old and a professor of art, 2+2=4. However, when you see a painting, the perception is different, when you listen to music, the appreciation is relative.
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Art here does not literally mean painting; it is not limited to just designs but all CREATIVE endeavours. You see a fashion style everyone is craving about but you choose not to be moved. It’s something they like but you don’t. A passion they want to be associated with but you can’t be bothered. They liked it. The maker of a creative work has put enough effort for self expressions. If YOU don’t like it, someone else will VALUE it. Understanding ART comes with these: Education, Experience, Exposure, Empathy and Evolvement. While in Architecture School, Lecturers may want to make you adopt their style of art, it’s like not thinking outside the Box. If you want to pass, give them what they want. You might be lucky to go unhurt when you think outside the box, guess they don’t see you as a design threat. But if you express YOURSELF, you refuse to be put into that box of stereotype around you. You will be happy with yourself. Just be yourself. Someone out there will appreciate your CREATIVE works.
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In my 3rd year, I titled my design project ‘ile mogaji’ a Yoruba (language) word for Mogaji’s House. It was a terrace design project I wanted to personalise. Other classmates used the generic title: Terrace House but I guess I was different and I dearly paid for it. However, I had no regret. My classmates found it interesting but my juror said it was LOCAL. I got a D grade but I was happy. Even while I left School, some of my mates still refer to me as ile mogaji. I was happy and pleased with what I did and I can’t be bothered someone didn’t. With a Master’s degree in Art, I can say my Education has helped me appreciate art more. You don’t just criticize anything. I was able to study different artists, their styles and approach. Then you understand their works better. You can’t compare the artistic knowledge of a graphics artist with a Doctor. The education makes a difference. The Doctor may question the sale of an artwork for £2 million but a graphics student might not. However, with experience, we understand art more. You appreciate the artists’ effort and you value it. I remembered my first visit in 2008 to the Tate Modern to see the installation art in the Turbine Hall. It was an experience I cherish till date. I was exposed to art, installation art on a large scale, none that I have seen before. The installation was titled TH.2058, is a larger-than-life model of a massive spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois.
You wonder how manage such project will be commissioned. I have visited the museum since 2008 every year to increase my understanding, trends and get more exposed. Your education, experience and exposure make you have a different approach to creative works. Empathy is the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. With empathy, you see from the artists’ perspective, not from a critic or a competitor, the sweat and anger they put into the work. By means of empathy, a great painting becomes a mirror of the self. Working at Artflow Magazine, I have the privilege of meeting various artists, read their stories and get to know more about them. You know what they are going through, the fear of rejection, the hard work and someone will see those works and describe them as crap. To you something might be rubbish; it might lack creativity, that’s due to the level of your education and exposure. With all these in mind and most importantly your interest and open mindedness, you EVOLVE into an art lover. You develop with interest and have a deeper feeling for creative works. Even if you don’t like it, you appreciate it. I am not a great fan of wedding photography, I prefer documentary or travel but I know about their efforts and investments involved in delivering a professional service. As an art observer, your exposure and interest will determine how much you understand the works of art, how well you can relate with it and feel associated with it. It takes effort to appreciate works, look from the artist’s perspective, the message there in. With a Chinese poster, do you want to say it is not an artwork? Then ask a Chinese man looking at an English illustration. The fact remains that some works may not appeal to you but remember it appeals to some other people, most importantly the artist. It takes effort and energy to get the work out from the brain, appreciate it and relate with it based on your understanding. Gbenga resides and works in London. Creative by default, directing editorial affairs of Artflow Magazine. A branding enthusiast with interest in photography and a social media handyman. Follow him on Twitter: @mogajigbenga
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