At Studio Muti you'll find a team of awesome illustrators, designers and letterers All this was started back in the day by Clinton Campbell, Minй Jonker and Brad Hodgskiss who among other things enjoy cleaning, surfing and drinking. Hear about how they juggle the day to day and some great tips on what they look for in a graduate and developing/evolving your style!
A bit of background on MUTI
Clinton Campbell, Minй Jonker and Brad Hodgskiss started the studio in 2011. Over the past 7 years we have grown into a team of 10 illustrators, designers and animators.
Where did you study and what were some of your first jobs?
Minй cleaned toilets in Scotland and then studied Visual Communication at The Open Window Institute of Arts and Digital Sciences in Pretoria. Brad studied Sports Science at the University of Stellenbosch, then changed direction to study Marketing at Red and Yellow Creative School of Business. His first job was working as a Surf Shop assistant. Clinton got a BA in Applied Graphics at the University of Stellenbosch, one of his first jobs was that of a barman.
Minй still likes cleaning things, Brad still like surfing and Clint still likes drinking. :)
What does a typical working day include for you right now?
An average work day involves juggling between illustration, managing projects, dealing with clients and budgets and making sure all the illustrators are happy and have enough caffeine in their systems.
What qualities and skills to you look for in a graduate?
Originality, thoughtfulness, and craft. Another important trait we look for in a young illustrator is if they have the ability to decide if the work they have created is the best that it can be. Have you explored all the options or investigated the ways that could make your work better? It’s very easy to convince yourself that your work looks nice, but we would suggest pushing past that stage to a place where it looks great.
Experimenting, learning from each other and mixing things up a bit is essential to keeping your portfolio fresh, and staying inspired.
How did you develop your style as an illustrator and what tips would you have for others?
As a studio of 10 people, we work across a broad range of constantly evolving styles and mediums. As MUTI started growing, we were able to integrate more styles into our portfolio. Currently our portfolio includes everything from digital painting, vector icons and characters, to typography and animation.
Experimenting, learning from each other and mixing things up a bit is essential to keeping your portfolio fresh, and staying inspired.
Any passion projects / collabs you would like to share?
We’ve just finished a collaboration with local Cape Town menswear brand Good Good Good for their Valentine’s Day collection, entitled ''Till Death Do Us Part.” Here’s a little preview from the SA Menswear Fashion Week
We also joined forced with friends of ours at Baseline Skate Shop for their new venture Faux Pas, which includes a new range of skateboards and T-shirts.
Lastly, we created the this promotional animation the 2018 Cape Town International Animation Festival.
What do you look for in a great client?
Any client who give us lots of creative freedom and enough time for crafting our work, is pretty great.
Where to find Studio Muti online.
Website: studiomuti.co.za
Facebook: /studioMUTI
Twitter: @StudioMusti
Instagram: @studiomuti
Dribble: /studiomuti
