You know we go crazy for bold colors here at TDK, so when we came across freelance artist & illustrator, Oriol Massaguer we wanted to scroll through his work forever. Here, Oriol shares with us his experience during the time he closed down his website and all social networks to focus on finding his style, plus he argues the limitations of digital, and strongly advises you 'Be a hardworking rebel!'
What are some of your earliest creative memories and what lead you into design?
My first creative steps go back to when I was a little kid, at the age of 6 or 7 years. I remember being in school, and drawing for hours, on the desk, the paper, the reading book ... totally in my world, what happened around me was secondary .. hehehe. Then as a teenager I entered the world of graffiti, I learned the importance of combining colors, playing with the shapes of letters, understanding shadows and lights and getting volume.
For me it was a key time, now when I'm working with plasticine or painting in photoshop, I have the same feeling as when I was painting a wall with spray, always trying to surprise myself. When you get it, it's exciting!
After high school, graphic design and 3D studies, artistic drawing perfection courses, etc. but all that was very boring, my real creative background is my childhood and adolescent learnings. In a way it is what I try to transmit now in my projects.
What does a typical working day include for you right now?
Then I start working until lunchtime, which is usually at 1:00 p.m. and it is a moment of relationship with the other professionals with whom I share a workspace. After lunch and a short break, it is 2:30 p.m. and I go back to work until 7:00 p.m.
How did you develop your style as an illustrator and what tips would you have for others?
When I started working on advertising projects as a freelance illustrator, I had a realistic style, I used to do it in pencil and manually.
Over time, I learned that this method of work was not very effective, especially because of the timings, the little margin of error or to go back. It was also a style that many other artists and illustrators already use and that was not good in my opinion either.
I decided to take some time without projects, I closed my website and all social networks, and focus on finding my own style, a personal seal. During that time, I suffered the loss of a very dear and important person to me and the birth of my second child, and in a way all this inspired my style, playing with my children, with those colors that baby toys have, plasticine, soft forms all that, along with some vinyl that my father gave me of rock of the 70's provoked something in my mind. So my style arose, I usually start a project thinking about the idea I want to transmit, then I make a small sculpture in plasticine that serves as a reference for many things, light, shadows, imperfections, etc .. And finally I make the illustration with the computer, which allows me cleaner results, a palette of colors and much faster than analog. But in my case, I always need to have an analog background.
My tip is not to hurry, things come when they have to arrive, be honest with yourself, ask yourself questions.
You have to collect small details that catch your eye, mix them and create something new and express everything you have inside, your signature.
What have been some of your biggest disasters and how have you learnt from it?
One of my biggest mistakes, was at the beginning of working as a freelancer, saying yes to all the projects that were offered to me. A graphic design project is already in place, such as 3D renders, pencil drawings, etc ... just for the simple fact that it was a great client or for money, and put everything on the web. Then I checked my portfolio and that was chaos!
You have to be honest with yourself and know how to say "NO", at that time it may seem like a defeat, but over time you understand that it was the best decision.
There are people who believe that digital has no limits when in reality it is vastly limited, too much perfection.
What advice would you give students starting out?
At school you learn theory, sometimes a little practice, but the most important way you will learn is by mistaken.
Even if you get a job in a design studio, leave your mark, have a personality.
Experience new things at home, everything is done, but everything is still to be done.
Break the rules, the rules are there to break them.
Don't settle easily, be demanding with yourself, imagine what you want to be, and work to get it, follow your instinct always, even if you say you're wrong.
Be a hardworking rebel!
What role does digital design play in your studio in 2018, and how to you apply traditional graphic design skills in a digital age?
In my case they are 50% digital vs 50% traditional.
Although the final result is digital in most cases, in the process there is much traditional work, whether in sculpture, in drawing or a set design for example.
The important thing is to be clear about the limits of one and the other method. There are people who believe that it's absurd to work with a traditional method in the 21st century, and that the digital has no limits, when in reality it is vastly limited, too much perfection.
For example, at the moment it is impossible to recreate an old oil painting, those strokes of the brush, that small relief of the painting, those small imperfections.
No program can express that, or Photoshop, or Cinema 4D, etc.
Analogically you will not get that sharpness, those bright colors, that speed, that animation or that spectacular rendering.
Where to find Oriol Massaguer online.
Website: oriolmassaguer.com
Instagram: @oriolmassaguer
