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Por Ana Thomas Fotografia Jean Fondeur
I'm sure some of you might have heard his name, seen his awesome wallpapers,
or are already using one of them. Portal is pleased to bring you
an interview with this digi-tal artist, Vlad Gerasimov,
who is from Irkutsk, Rus-sia. He runs Vladstudio which specializes in creating wallpapers for computers and
mobile devices.In this interview, Vlad shares with us his hum-ble beginnings as a designer and how he
got started with crea-ting wallpapers as full-
time self-employment. He also shares his ideas,
inspirations, and future plans. Vlad has a unique style
of illustration, with simple lines and shapes. His work has great the-
mes, which promises to win the hearts of viewers and make them happy! So let's move
on to have a digital chat with him!
1. Hello Vlad, how are you today?
What are you working on at this mo-
ment?
Hi! I'm very well as always, thanks! :-)
Right now, I am having my morning
coffee and finishing my new wallpa-
per, "The Traveling Tree." The artwork
itself is completed, and I'm busy sa-
ving JPG files for all possible formats
(for 2,3 monitors, mobile phones,
etc).
2. Tell us about your background,
where are you from? How is a typi-
cal day for you?
I was born and have always lived in
Irkutsk, Russia. It is located near lake
Baikal, the deepest lake in the world
by the way. I received economical
education, but never spent a minute
working as an economist! I also play
piano and guitar, and dreamed to
become a rock star.
My typical day may seem not so
interesting. I spend most of day at
home, sitting with my MacBook Pro
(because I am a home-based wor-
ker). I reply to e-mails of my websi-
te visitors and clients, maintain and
improve my website, and of course,
I always draw something in Photos-
hop.
3. How did you get started in gra-
phics and the digital art field? Please
describe the evolution of your work,
from your first project to the present
day. Do you freelance full-time?
My father and older brother are pro-
grammers, so I had access to very
early computers since my birth in
1981. But I did not use computers for
design until my brother needed de-
signing help in 1999 - he needed cus-
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tom
"skins"
to replace s t a n d a r d
Windows controls (such as buttons,
scrollbar, etc). So I learned Photos-
hop a bit and started making inter-
faces (skins, icons, other graphics for
software). Over time, I also learned
HTML and PHP, then started making
web sites.
I worked as a designer in a small
company for some time, then I de-
cided to try working for myself,
and started my own website -
Vladstudio. It was only a de-
signer portfolio at first. While
working for various clients,
I played with Photoshop
and created artworks, just
for fun. The idea to publish
these artworks as wallpa-
pers was very lucky for me -
over time, my wallpaper were
more and more popular. So a year
ago, I decided to stop working as a
freelance designer, and try to make
my living only with wallpapers. So
far, it works!
4. How do you mainly produce
your art? Can you give us an insight
into your creative process? Do you
sketch your works out by hand first?
I actually have many tutorials that
show typical workflow. Yes, I start
with pencil sketch of a wallpaper
most of the time. Then I scan it,
open it in Photoshop, create basic
shapes with vector tools. Then I add
shadows and highlights with large,
soft brushes, then add all the little
details.
5. I love how you design the
beautiful wallpapers. They have
great themes, lovely colors, they
are detailed and proportionate.
How did you develop this simple
yet appealing style?
Hmm, I think it was not intentional,
this style developed itself. :-) May-
be part of the reason is that I spent
a lot of time making icons, and
therefore my art inherited some of
icon design principles - clear lines
and details, pseudo-3D, etc. Other
reason is that I like to draw things
that skip your brain and go straight
to your heart. This style of drawing
helps me to
achieve that.
6. When did you launch your web-
site and what is the most important
thing that you accomplished with
it? Why did you choose to distribute
your artwork as wallpapers?
Hmm, I will need to check with my
archives, I don't remember! :-) My
first website was art.softshape.com
(not online now) and was a subdo-
main of my brother's website, www.
softshape.com. My current website,
vladstudio.com, is very important to
me - because it is actually my only
source of income now!
I distributed my artworks as wallpa-
pers because I wanted people to
use my art, not only look at it, then
close and forget. Wallpaper design
has some limitations (should be dark
and not too busy), but I am OK with
that. I also believe that the huge
part of my success is many extra
features. Right now, my website vi-
sitors can:
• Set my art as a desktop back-
ground, or background of mobile
phone (almost 70 screen sizes are
supported)
• Send my art as e-cards
• Buy posters, t-shirts, mugs, etc
• Learn from design tutorials
• Change wallpapers randomly with
a Companion program
• Have my art with a clock on their
desktop (wallpaper clock)
• I am working
on ma-
king
b l o g
templates (in-
cluding Wordpress themes) from
some of my artworks.
7. Most of your works has ani-
mal or nature themes. How
does nature influence your
creativity? What are your
main sources of inspi-
ration, any particular
artist(s) or website(s)?
Yes, many of my
recent works look
like they are de-
signed for children
(many adults like
them too though).
There are too many
artists that inspire
me. Often, I stumble
upon another artist on
the Internet that draws
so much better that me!
That challenges me, and
I try to constantly improve.
As for particular websites, I
find a lot of good art at devian-
tart.com, and I always check out
russian photo site, photosight.
ru. General inspiration-
related sites, such as
smashingmagazine.
com, are good
too.
8. Of all the
work you've
created, can
you name
a couple of
them that you
have a special
love for or con-
nection to?
Every artwork is as a
child, you know I think
the most special for me are:
• Learning to Fly - don't know why,
but it resonates with me
• Planet Earth - Inversed - that's my
most popular artwork ever
9. Aside from your design work you
also seem to enjoy writing Photos-
hop tutorials, can you share with
us your favorite Photoshop
trick or technique?
I would be careful picking
a trick just for the sake of a
trick. The worst you can do
in Photoshop is to design
something that says "Look
how I can do it!"
Always use tools and tricks
that help you tell the story, not
only because they're cool. Sorry,
that was necessary to say :-) and
replying to your question, I think
my favorite small trick is fast
hair,
19
because I invented it myself,
without any advice.
10. Since your artworks and illus-
trations mostly have vector style,
why not choose to design them in
Illustrator instead of Photoshop, or
maybe start them with Illustrator
and polish them up in Photoshop?
For several reasons. First, I'm too
lazy to learn Illustrator. :-) Then, pure
vector drawing is not for me too - I
use vectors for basic shapes, but
most of work is done later done
with pixel tools. And for this purpo-
se, the vector tools of Photoshop
are quite enough.
11. Do you have any specific plans
for the future direction of your art-
work?
I really hope to keep making art
until I am very old and have lots of
grandsons. Also, I find myself more
and more interested in illustrating
for children. For example, I just finis-
hed a set of 12 artworks for a Czech
toy manufacturer. When I improve
enough, I plan to start working on
illustrations for "Little Prince" (maybe
in 2-4 years I hope!). And of course
all my artworks will be published on
my website as wallpapers for your
desktop.
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TITLE: Paseo fuera del jardinARTIST: Gerard EllisWORK DATE: 2009CATEGORY: PaintingsMATERIALS: mixed me-dia on canvasSIZE: h: 92 x w: 70 in
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Con Chuck Anderson
Success comes with time and effort, and we can see a prime example of that in this weeks interview. As an ex-tremely bright veteran of the design world Chuck Anderson has done a ton of work for large corporations such as ESPN, Reebok, and even created al-bum covers for artists like Lupe Fiasco, and FallOut Boy. Chuck shares some im-portant tips with us and gives us a look at his book "Wandering Off Into Space". So check out this interview and also check out that book, the proceeds go
to charity.
1. Welcome to Portal, please in-
troduce yourself. Could you tell us
where you're from and how you got
started in the field?
My name is Chuck Anderson and
I've been running my studio NoP-
attern for just over 5 years now. I'm
originally from the Chicago area but
currently reside in understated and
quietly cool Grand Rapids, Michi-
gan. As for how I got started, I've
said this in a million interviews, but
after high school I decided to take a
break for a year before I went to col-
lege. During that time I was working
on getting my personal art and de-
sign out on the web, in magazines,
etc. and work started coming to me
as a result of that.
In around the spring/summer of 2004
things really started to snowball and
I got busy enough that I decided I
would move forward with it and
never look back, totally bypassing
school. I had the support of my par-
ents (I was 18 at this time) so I just
went after my dream of being a full-
time artist and designer as my own
boss. Looking back sometimes I can't
believe how well it's worked out. I'm
very grateful to a lot of people.
2. You are currently selling a book
called "Wandering Off Into Space."
Tell us what we are in for if we do
decide to purchase it.
It's a look back at my work from the
last 3 years or so, since I put out my
last book in 2006. A mix of person-
al and commercial work including
drawing, photography, illustration,
and Photoshop work. It's really a
supplement to my online portfolio,
NoPattern - kind of a more perma-
nent version of the site, something
tangible to hold and show people in
real life.
3. Now give us some reasons why we
should buy your book over the many
other design books out there?
Ha. Put me on the spot like that! I
don't know, because I'm donating
portions of sales to Invisible Children
and it looks nice on a Nelson bench
or coffee table.
Por Josmeiry HernandezImagenes y Fotografia Jean Fondeur
35
4. What initially made you want to
create a book of your work?
I think it's really, really unfortunate
that so many artists let their work
live almost exclusively on the inter-
net. Art and design - it's great seen
on the computer screen for sure,
but it's meant to be seen on walls
or in a book, properly printed and in
context of a page, rather than pix-
els. At least that's my opinion. Both
are necessary, but I just love going
above and beyond the regular old
portfolio website.
Everyone is an artist or designer the
moment they put up a site with a
few designs on there. It takes a little
more seriousness and dedication to
invest time and money in producing,
promoting, and selling a real actual
book. I would encourage everyone
who can to try doing it. I can also
say from experience that being able
to send a potential client a few cop-
ies of your book overnight really can
seal the deal on winning work. It's
worked wonders many times for me.
Great way to help you stand out
from others you might be up against
for a new client's work.
5. Many of our readers might not
know, but you were the designer
of the critically acclaimed album
"Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor."
Could you walk us through the
whole process, from being con-
tacted to creating the cover. And
did you work hands on with the
artist? Or did he give you a specific
outline for the cover?
Lupe is a really visionary artist who is
in a great position to promote fresh
art and design. He contacted me
after I met with him several years to
do photos of him for LTD Magazine
- we met in person in Chicago at
St. Alfred's for that photo shoot and
stayed in touch after. As for the pro-
cess, he had this crazy skateboard
with an illustration on it that inspired
the whole look of him floating in the
air with things around him.
We met up at a studio in Chicago,
I did all the photography of him for
the cover and back cover of the
booklet, then shot all the photos
of his belongings that are floating
around him. So the vision and con-
cept was all his - as for the aesthet-
ic, production, and execution, that
was all mine, inspired by his words
and thoughts for it. Turned out really
cool - a very memorable cover for
a unique artist.
6. You have a very large client base
ranging from companies like ESPN to
Reebok. How does a designer build
up a strong clientele?
I hate answering this question be-
cause I've realized there is really no
right answer for it. The way I've got-
ten clients - by contacting people
by email, having my work seen in
as many online and print outlets as
possible and just networking really
hard - I
feel is
a great
way to
do it.
I don't
k n o w
how to
inst ruct
someo-
ne to
do that
- just be
p e r s o -
n a b l e ,
real, upfront, and above all, do at-
tractive work that is memorable and
unique. If you offer up what 100 other
people offer up, you're going to be
just that - one out of a hundred, or
these days, out of thousands. So it
comes down to unique, fresh, and
forward-thinking design mixed with
unending work ethic and a determi-
nation to succeed no matter what.
That's what sets some people apart.
Also, think long term. Don't think that
one magazine feature or one big
client is the peak of your career if
you're just starting out. Look at it as
a baby step to bigger, better things.
7. Can you tell us about your first
Photoshop experience and how
much you have evolved since then?
What is the most important lesson
you have learned?
My first Photoshop experience!? I
have no idea. I remember getting
like, Photoshop 4, maybe even 3,
years and years ago. This is when I
was probably in junior high. We're
talking like 1999 here or something.
So whatever I could get my hands
on then, some limited or educatio-
Always be thinking what's next whi-
le perfecting what's now.
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at it. Never think you've mastered
it, there's always something new to
learn somehow.
8. Are there any specific techniques
you use when designing that you
would suggest to someone who
is starting out in the same field as
you?
There are probably people that
would like to murder me for saying
this, but I've often designed in RGB
first even if the final file has to be
CMYK for print output. I've found
it best to work in the natural color
mode for a screen first, save your
layered PSD, then flatten, then
convert to CMYK (never convert
to CMYK when its still layered...trust
me.)
Then after I flatten, I'll pull the colors
up with saturation and contrast
control. This is really only used in
specific instances where I know the
client only needs the flattened ima-
ge. Otherwise, I'll work from the start
in CMYK. I don't know...that was
probably a bad tip because you'll
nal version, was all I had. I thought
it was great, but so complex. I just
remember using it and working at it
all through high school and by my
senior year it was second nature to
me.
However, I have mostly learned that
you always evolve with Photoshop,
much like any other medium or tool.
The most important thing to know is
that you are always learning. Always
a student to your medium. Even An-
nie Leibovitz said that about photo-
graphy in an interview recently with
American Photo. Be a fan, be a lo-
ver, be a student of your medium
and that's how you'll become great
probably get yourself in trouble for
doing that one way or another! Ha!
9. Thanks again for providing Portal
with this opportunity to interview
you. Any final thoughts for our rea-
ders?
Don't try to be me or any other
designer. Just find out what makes
you YOU. Figure out what YOU
love, what YOU love to do and
create. Sometimes that requires a
step back from actual working and
designing and just looking, listening,
getting inspired, and being a spon-
ge to the world around you.
Don't force things. People who
force things get forced out. Let it
come to you naturally, slowly, pace
yourself, have fun, and do it as long
41
Pringles : Surprisingly crispyAdvertising Agency: Grey Worldwide, Frankfurt, Germany Creative Director: Tim Jacobs Art Directors: Katja Klodt-Bussmann, Peter Schönwandt Copywriter: Christoph Pfeffer Photographer: Thomas Balzer Other additional credits: mo postproduction GmbH, Meike Wittenstein Published: March 2009
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Elefanten shoes: Playbox, 2Take the shoes out and come in!
Advertising Agency: Grey Group / G2 Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany Creative Directors: Birgit Hogrefe, Christoph Knoebel
Art Director: Claudia Sackmann Copywriter: Sebastian Merget
Illustration: Jennifer Eckert Published: August 2008
Mtv eat this adAdvertising Agency: Loducca, São Paulo, Brazil
Creative Director: Guga Ketzer Head of Art: Cassio Moron Art
Directors: Daniel Poletto, Kika Botto, Carlos Thunm Copywriters: Rodrigo Senra, Andre Godoi
Released: September 2008
Blusens: Orgy of the sensesAdvertising Agency: BAP& CONDE , A Coruña , Spain Creative Directors: Miguel Conde, Tony fernandez Art Director: Alfonso Serrano Copywriters: Oscar Villar, Alfonso Molinelli Illustrator: Gael Lendoiro Photographer: Emilio Montero Account Manager: Ana Belen Vazquez Client contact: Miguel Churruca Published: April 2009
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Makita: 20 562 HolesAdvertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Johannesburg, South Africa
Creative Director: Bennie Du Plessis Art Directors: Jade Manning, Jp De Villiers
Copywriters: Bennie Du Plessis, Russell Grant; Musa Sithole Photographers: Simon Scholtz, Harold Webster
Art Buyer: Vernadi Simpson Account Supervisor: Zoe Willems
Account Manager: Skye Capazorio Planner: Adene Van Der Walt
Additional credits: Sagren Reddy Published: 2009
Nikon lens 35-55mm
1-35-5-6D7776655435
F3.6-30
MAD
EIN
JAPA
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Nikon
lens
35-55mm
1-35-5-6D
7776655435
F
3.6-30
MAD
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IN
JAPA
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Jean fondeurPlaya de Juan Dolio
Rep Dom
Debajo, participacion en la exposicion ‘‘WallRider’’.A la derecha proyecto personal ‘‘je te kife’’ wallpaper
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- LocationSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic- Doing Business AsELTALLER- Creative FieldsAdvertising, Art Direction, Illustration- TagsAdvertising, ArtDirection & Illustration- AdvertisingWork done in a local agency for multiple clients- IllustrationsArtWork done with non-specific purpose- URLhttp://www.behance.net/carloschu
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