Joakim Drescher

What are some of your earliest creative memories and what lead you into design?

I am not really a designer and work nearly exclusively with my own ideas, write my own stories so am not really an illustrator either. I make graphic novels and series of paintings.

What lead me into what I do now? Well, both my parents are artists and I grew up in a very nurturing and supportive environment. I used to art direct my father (a children's book author) to make costumes for me when I was around 4—bird costumes, dinosaur costumes—you name it. I suppose that would be my earliest creative memory!

Where did you study and what were some of your first jobs?

I studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, after school I worked a lot of dead end jobs—cafe work, retail, you name it. I didn't really get much commercial work.

What does a typical working day include for you right now?

I typically work on really big projects (books/ graphic novels). My most recent book "Motel Universe" took me around 7 months, its 100 page story all done in full colour.

I work as much as possible, within reason, I really enjoy what I do so it isn't really work. Maybe 6 hours a day, sometimes less.

Tell us a bit about yourself and the studio that you work for.

I don't work for anyone, I share a studio space with an old college friend who runs a print space called KLD repro as well as 5 others. We all do different things. It's a nice environment, we hang out, chat, drink coffee.