kombinatrotweiss : new entry Steven BONNER on finding ideas, typography and trends, Nils KASISKE's photo-realism and Nina TIEFENBACH's portrait illustrations, Sandra BEER with coffee and savouries to fuel her creativity

The newest member of Kombinatrotweiss is Steven BONNER who specialises in final, 3D, typography and logo design. He works with clients from design, illustration and graphics from his studio, which is based near the Scottish city of Sterling. The agency briefly introduces the illustrator who comes with over ten years of experience in the business with this small interview on GoSee.

What inspires your work?
I'm inspired by a whole host of different things and I like to look to the outdoor environment for ideas, finding letterforms and interesting shapes in the strangest places – an arrangement of branches on a tree, or a shadow casting in an interesting way for example. As I work heavily with type, I am also a keen collector of old examples of lettering that I can use to spark an idea for my work at some point and especially love old movie titles and posters.

What would you change in terms of your job and working with clients if you could?
There's very little I would change about my job, but lots more I want to learn. I want to be able to take my existing skills and apply them in interesting and unexpected new ways. The beauty of the creative industries is that there's always something else to try. For example, recently I've been learning 3D software so that I can take my work into that environment and find new ways to experiment with my imagery.

Is there any goal you have set for yourself in regards of your work?
At the beginning of every year I set myself a set of around 6 goals that I want to have achieved by the end of the year, and so far I've been lucky enough to meet every one – maybe next year I need to think even bigger! Sometimes it's something as simple as exploring a new style, and sometimes I choose a client I want to work with and go after them. I think next year will be about self improvement and taking things up a gear again.

How would you describe the way you work?
I think I'm pretty traditional and everything starts with a pencil and a piece of paper. I think going straight to computer stifles creativity and the process becomes mechanical and more about the finish than the idea so I like to doodle ideas till a good one hits me, then spend time refining it on paper. My sketches are very loose, and I leave out the details till later as I think getting bogged down in the fine details too early takes the character from a piece.

I'm interested in getting my ideas across in as simple a shape as possible and only add in details once I'm happy that the core message is being conveyed in the right way to the viewer. You can always add in details and ornamentation later as decoration to add interest, but never as a way to disguise the fact that the idea isn't strong in the first place.

Are there new tendencies in the market in the fields of illustration?
I think there's definitely a trend towards the use of type as the image rather than simply supporting an illustration or photograph, and as that's a big part of what I do, I'm happy to see that continue. Art buyers have really caught on to letters as beautiful shapes in their own right and there's some amazing work being done just now. As far as I'm concerned, if a picture paints a thousand words, then a picture made of words must be the strongest method of communication you can hope to get.

Nils KASIKE’s illustrations are full of imagination and incredibly precise. His spectrum ranges from photo-realism, to complex technological drawings to vectors. In his art projects and exhibitions, he processes phenomena of the communication age. His first book 'The Songbird's Suicide' was published in 2009 by Gudberg Verlag. Last year, Nils created a t-shirt for the Serviceplan campaign and their 'The Hunger Project' charity project. The T-shirt is sold on designforcare.org and all proceeds are donated to charity.

Jojo ENSSLIN (final, layout, animation, art, character development) from Düsseldorf likes the small gestures, the wink of an eye and the furtive glance. As often as possible, he tries to let these moments flow into his work. His illustrations are alive and kicking – Jojo animates his stories and brings them to life.

“When I was only 3 years old, I already knew that I wanted to draw and create things when I grow up”, explains Nina TIEFENBACH (final, layout, storyboard). For 10 years now, Nina has been working in her favourite business, mainly for magazines and advertising. Her portrait illustrations are expressive and sport her indistinguishable style. Her watercolour paintings lend a certain exuberance and lightness to her motifs, drawing in the viewer and fascinating them.

Beautiful scripts, books and figures from bygone times, collected by Sandra BEER (final, layout, art) nourish her imagination, which she prefers to materialise in ink on paper. Most of her drawings are handmade and are naïve, intuitive and playful. Her unique and affectionate way of illustrating is very touching.

The illustrator on her dream job: “During my time at university, I approached almost all of my tasks with drawing and noticed that is was especially the lack of prior knowledge that made me tackle those challenges free from bias and full of naivety. The result is my unique style and it makes me particularly happy to explore the world of drawing by just following wherever my intuition might take me.”

After graduating in illustration and graphic design at the Hochschule for design in Offenbach, she travelled to Sydney, where she worked for several music events and for the FBI Radio station, all of which inspired her to continue her pursuit of an illustration career. Nowadays, Sandra describes her style as “playful, naïve and emotional”.

When asked what should never be amiss in a creative workshop, apart from her equipment, she answered: “I think coffee and something salty should always be within reach. I could never do without my collection of little figures and pictures scattered all around me either. They make me want to sit down and draw.”

We are happy to reflect this very creative atmosphere by showcasing a handful of her works here on GoSee.

Nature, fashion, typography, music and architecture inspired Pomme CHAN from London just as much as everything else that she encounters during her everyday life. The very emotional style and her draw of the brush are fascinating and very touching. She worked for clients such as MTV, Nike, New York Times Magazine & Marc Jacobs.