Artist Influences Erick Johansson

Erick Johansson is a professional photographer and retoucher that came from Sweden but now is based in Berlin (Germany). He is mostly self-taut but he obtained a master in Interaction Design. He is famous for his amazing photo manipulation piece's created in Photoshop, he describes his style as " surreal realised in a realistic way with a touch of humour" and you can see this in his work. He draws inspiration from the world around him but unlike a photographer he captures an Idea instead of a moment. His process can take weeks to even as long as months because he uses his own photographs instead of stock images, so he has to find the right spot in the right weather in the right season which takes a lot of patience, he would start with sketch (idea) then find the right place to shoot it, then he would layer 100's of photos up to create one realistic surreal image as if he actually captured that impossible imaginative moment.

Set them Free
Erick Johansson
www.erickjohanssonphoto.com
Photo manipulation 

Drifting Away
Erick Johansson
www.erickjohanssonphoto.com
Photo manipulation

Photo manipulation is nothing new, you only have to look back to the Bauhaus where Otto Umbehr started experimenting with photos, producing the famous (Roving Reporter) but with advancements in cameras and software the medium has been lifted up to a whole new level. Erick's work is a perfect example of these advancements at there best. His work has been praised by massive companies (The creators of the software he uses, Adobe) who have referred his work as impossible photography. I believe his work has had a big impact on the industry and most certainly inspired myself and many more to rethink out of the box when approaching a idea.

Dive In
David Ward
Photo manipulation

Artist Influences Marcelo Schultz

Marcelo Schultz is a graphic designer and illustrator who specialises in the art of typography. Being the Co founder DDQ design based in Curitiba south of Brazil and worked with top brand companies such as Nike and has become a very successful designer over time. His typography is in his words "built from scratch" and his love for illustration is clearly shown in all of his work. He start starts almost every piece using traditional materials (pencil and paper), from there he scans them in and builds them up using Photoshop and illustrator. He produces the illusion 3D using non 3D based software, to achieve this he has built a solid foundation of illustration skills such as understanding perspective, colour and texture and has gained a good understanding of digital software programs (The Adobe Suite).

Work Done By Marcelo Schultz
www.marceloschultz.com

Work Done By Marcelo Schultz
www.marceloschultz.com

I believe he has been part of group of typographers (Craig Ward, Luke Lucas) that have changed the way we use type. These artists make the words they are describing become the illustration or at least part of them. The imagination that he injects into his words enhances the message that he is putting across. In my opinion he is a great example of how important it is to never loose young traditional processes completely to digital methods because the marks that we make on paper are our own personal styles, they are our Identity of a designer.

My Illustrative Type influenced By Marcelo Schultz

I have already touched on illustrative type in one of my recent projects (Hello) I created this piece (Roll Up Roll Up) using the same process that he did using pencil, paper and illustrator. I tried to make the word become the illustration by giving it that carnival feel, I tried to give the type a rolling feel to emphasises the word roll up, and I found the image a very enjoyable process. One thing I will say is that I have not done with developing this process further, In the next coming month I am basing a whole project around this style of illustrative type and am very much looking forward to it.