The Tastemakers Society

Von is one of those new breed graphic designers, but the main difference with him is, he actually stands out. Today graphic design has exploded like crack in the 80’s, everybody plus they cousins are all trying to be graphic designers. The only problem is that everyone is pretty much using the same software and programs, so how do you create a totally new imagery using the same tools as all your competitors, it’s called talent and determination. You have to want to be different, strive to create that unique stand alone image, and this is no easy task, but then again Von is no average designer.  

Name, age, location

Von, 26, London

How long have you been into design, and when did it really start for you?

Well, on a very basic level I’ve always been fascinated by image making. I’ve been drawing since I could pick up a pencil. My parents always remind me that I could never sit down for any length of time without drawing something - I still can’t. In terms of things kicking off with what I’m doing now - I guess it’s only in the last 8 or 9 months. I only started Hellovon just about a year ago now.

Can you remember your very first designs and some of your first design jobs?

One of the very first jobs I got with Hellovon was to do a small fashion spread for Esquire Russia with 2 other illustrators, we all got 2 pages each. It was a great job and a real learning curve in dealing with over seas clients, which can have its language difficulties.

Did you attend college to learn more on design, or is it more self taught?

I studied illustration and animation at Kingston University, London. As for being self taught, yes and I’m still learning.

You’ve worked with a lot of great clients/companies do you have any favorite projects you’ve worked on, or a favorite project you’d like to work on?

What I want to work on more than anything is the album work and campaign for a band I really respect, to help grow their visual identity over a career. Music is a huge influence on my work and me in general. Something akin to Stanley Donwood’s relationship with Radiohead would be my ultimate goal.

As for projects already completed, the work I’ve done with the KDU. I first did a feature on Mickey Avalon for them in issue 7 of the Royal Magazine which led to them running an interview feature on me, handing over a free double page spread to play with and an official invite to join the KDU. The Avalon pieces still remain some of my favorite from my folio. The next big thing with the KDU is the new SVSV campaign being released early next year. That is something I seriously cannot wait to get into.

Illustration and graphic design have really blown up lately with tons of companies and individuals out there fighting for space, identity and clients. How hard is it to stay unique and present in the minds of so many different clients, and how hard is it to get clients, when there’s so much competition. How do you handle it all?

It has been and always will be difficult to remain an individual as a visual artist. Universities here in the UK seem to breed their own generic style of drawing or image making and consequently you get bands of illustrators or designers coming fresh out with folios that can share too many similarities. This produces a lot of llustrator groups whose aesthetics are quite similar with each person being a variation on the same image making process. This is a double edge sword. The nature of the trade is that it is very much based on trends, so art directors will look for the latest trend and then source people that work in that way. The people I respect most as visual artists are those that very much stand alone in the work they produce. They have their own language, style, aesthetic and vision. People can get far whose work can be grouped in a style with savvy and networking but those whose work will stand alone will always out run them in the end.

What are your thoughts on design, the design world, and how it seems that design is the top and leading focus on many companies minds now?

1. Well I definitley think things are on the change 2. Illustrators and designers are being seen more and more as fine artists with key figures having solo exhibitions in prominent galleries across the world. This trend is now following suit with product design 3. Boundaries between disciplines are blurring more than ever. It is mattering less and less what you are trained in or being labeled as and more and more about purely the visual output you create, that is yours alone 4. Illustration and design is seen as a glamorous career at the moment because companies have become so heavily focused on it over the past few years. Lots of major brands like Liberty’s and Selfridges are bringing in artists to draw over their shopfront windows, do displays, trendy look books, etc. Just look at the vinyl toy explosion. It’s been happening for years but there is a lot of advertising using this particular sense of character design now to some great effect. Brands are having to appeal to more culture and more and more brands in themselves. Everyone is buying into eachother 5. I am personally very excited about all the possible avenues I can take my career right now, both Hellovon and Vonhideki. There is so much I want to do. I haven’t even begun to scrape the surface.

In 8 or 9 months you’ve gained a lot of respect and grown pretty fast in a very short time, what can you attribute to the quick success?

I guess a lot of hard work, determination, and good luck. Getting involved with companies like Cosh, the KDU, and WIWP and making productive use of the internet has been invaluable.

What made you even want to start Hellovon and go the freelance route, what were you doing before, was it in the design field?

Making a career out of what you love doing, it’s as simple as that. This is what I’ve always wanted to do. My hobby, passion and work rolled into one. Before setting out freelance, I worked with a few design agencies, a stint in animation, etc., everyone has to do the apprenticeship and learn the boring but essential basics about web, print and design.

Can you speak more on and what is Vonhideki?

Its the combination of my work with product designer Hideki. The company is all about putting illustration and product design together, exploring the grey area between those two disciplines. We met in 2005 and launched with our debut show and virtual collection Morte Per at 100% East for the London Design 05. The virtual Morte Per collection, meaning “to die for” in Italian, is the debut from the Vonhideki brand which currently boasts five proposed products: the Suicide Bath, the Choker, the Tip, Youth and Beauty Body Cream, and the Columbian Coffee Table. Ironically, the Suicide Bath is the least dramatic among the group, you got the shard-glass tiara looks of the Choker, a diamond tipped sex toy (the Tip) and the urn shaped packaging of the Youth and Beauty Body Cream. It is a range of products designed to overtly aid the consumers death but done and presented in such a way that they are still highly desirable despite their major function. Its the way some advertising does work but we just stepped it up a level or two and it worked. People want them, infact some products from the Morte Per range are in process of being made. The prime example of this is the Columbian Coffee Table, which should be for sale worldwide next year (tenatively spoken).

This year we put on a big show for Design Festival 2006 called ROOM X at the flagship Habitat store on London’s Regent St. We brought together 4 illustrators and 4 product designers from around the world to work together to create a fictitious enviroment within the venue, the enviroment being a high class bordello! The show was a huge learning curve for us as both designers, organisers and art directors but a great experience working with some extremely talented individuals like Wilfrid Wood, Dominic Wilcox, Vault49, Tait & Till, Coombe and Giopato and Nick Deakin. ROOM X was a huge success but we’re taking a break from expos to concentrate on sales.

Who are some of the artist graphic or not that you either look up to or just find their work really remarkable?

I love the work of the following people:

Sam Webber - www.sampaints.com

Grand People - www.grandpeople.org

Genevieve Gauckler - http://www.g2works.com/

Non Format - www.non-format.com

Dave Foldvari - http://www.davidfoldvari.co.uk/

Emily Forgot - www.emilyforgot.co.uk

I have a huge amount of respect for Darren Firth, the man behind WIWP who has masterminded the entire TWO FACED project, exhibition and book being globally distributed by powerhouse of publishing IdN. The basic premise is that 90 or so of the most influential creatives of the last decade were paired off and asked to portray one another in the style for which they have become renowned. It’s a look at the changing face of portraiture over a multitude of media. Some extremely prestigious people are involved like Dave Foldvari, Anthony Burrel, David Shrigley, Johnny Hardstaff and Michael Gillette amongst many, many others. I am so proud to have been asked to get involved and 4 pieces of my work are included in the book and 3 being in the showcase section. For Darren to have pulled off this project is a massive achievement in itself, but to have done it with such style and finesse only goes to show just how good people should be - an inspiration. - Two Faced

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Exactly where I want to be.

If you weren’t doing graphic design what else would you be doing or would like to do?

There is nothing else I really want to do. It would have to involve drawing or painting. If it didn’t it would have to allow me a lot of spare time to paint or draw.

Designers are becoming more and more famous, do you have any groupies yet?

Haha. I have met some enthusiastic admirers.

What is the most important thing in your design process?

To meet both the clients and my expectations with each piece. And to get better at what I do.

What’s the first thing you’re going to buy when you make your first million?

Well, when I was a kid I promised my parents I would buy them this massive house in Puerto Pollensa where their best friends live. They are still holding me to that.

Good bye Von….