With your beautiful compositions, great color choices and impressive typography, your works are really exciting and stylish. How do you define your style? What software do you use mostly?
Well, first of all, thanks a lot bak mag for showing interest in my works. To answer your first question, I think It is quite hard to define my style. I’ve spent the last few months evolving from one style to another as I’m learning new techniques and as i get more confident in my potential. sometimes I'm talking about urban decay style, sometimes I feel that my style is more in the subjects that I treat, the universe that I try to create more than in the technique/colors/textures that I use. Regarding the software... I exclusively use adobe photoshop.
What's your greatest aim in life, as a graphic designer? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
My greatest aim in life? I think above all, I’d like to set creation at the heart of my days and be able to pay my bills at the same time. This would be great. I’d love to meet interesting people, see new places and involve myself in as many projects as i can, the usual stuff! I guess I’d love to get recognition in the world of graphic design too, not really to get any sort of fame or big money... but in order to work on ambitious projects: projects where you have the time and freedom to explore new graphic orientations, medias, or techniques, and try, as much as possible, to push things to the next level.
In ten years from now, I see myself pretty much in the same situtaion working as a graphic designer or a DA somewhere in the world... I think I’d love to get more responsibilities too, be in charge of management aspects of the business, observe things with a strategic point of view... maybe discover new talents too, I’d love that!... I’m actually open to quite a lot of things....
Which artists, designers and books have most influenced your own artistic efforts?
I dont have a classic art education, I’ve never been to any school of art and have never really read so much art or design books.... I’ve started graphic design like a year ago or so... and except from a few graphic designers that I’ve discovered at that time like Scott Hansen, Nigel Dennis or Rob Chiu, I can’t really say my works are influenced by artists, designers or books... I’m mostly inspired by the new trends in graphic design, by fashion, by sneakers, by tv commercials, by science fiction movies, by abandonned factories, rusty wrecks, by highway tunnels, russian nuclear submarines, weird reports on TV at 4 in the morning, drunk conversation with friends, shapes and colors on my cereal box, bad ass drum’& bass, hip hop... u know... I just catch things there and there!
One of our previous special guests on Bak Magazine, young French digital painter and illustrator Melanie Delon says "I love my country and especially my city, Paris. There must be a 'very good' reason for me to leave France." Do you feel yourself so connected to your country? Have you ever thought about living in another place?
I don’t feel that much attached to my country, but i must admit I’m as I’m growing I get more and more attached to my people and friends here and this network that I've slowly built so far. But although I’ve lived abroad before, in Norway and Belgium for a coupe of years, and even if France is a real cool place to live in, I guess I’d be up to live abroad again, depending on a job opportunity probably...
How does music affect your soul? Which artists and bands do you listen nowadays?
Music is present in every single aspect of my days... It really has a wide variety of effects on my mood and creativity. I listen to tons of hip hop, drum’n bass, electro, 80’s lost charts, nu roots, soundtracks...many things. Moreover, I’ve been involved for a few years into drum’n bass and electro music productions with a couple of friends, even if I don't get much time left for that now, I feel like there are a lot of similarities in the process of musical creation and graphic design. We have lots of conversations about those subjects, sharings thoughts and issues for hours. It really helps me sometimes, especially when I feel stuck on a project, or having a hard time finding inspiration.
Regarding artists that I listen... I've lately been through a huge flashback to my hip hop classics, with mostly artists from NYC, like EPMD, NAS, KRS ONE, the Wutang and so on....
If you had one chance to share your dinner table with an artist from art history, who would you choose and what would you tell him/her? (It can be a person from old times, such as renaissance era, or a living artist...
I’d love to meet leonardo da vinci. He’d probably get really bored having to talk with a complete idiot like me... but you told me I could pick whoever I wanted!
I feel like, above beautiful art and advanced science, there is something really mystic about Leonardo Da Vinci. Something like if those kind of geniuses had access to a truth about this all universe that we’ll never understand. I don’t think I would tell him much. I would mostly listen to him. Observe in the depth of his eyes and try to catch this glimpse of magic that makes the difference between men and history.
Imagine that you have a limitless budget. What kind of a "dream project" would you create?
I think I’d create a huge club or space, where music, motion graphics, architecture, design, and all sorts of disciplines and performances could really express their potential. This place would gather energies, talents, and visions from everywhere to deliver the most inspiring and breathtaking time ever!
Theme of our current issue is "Me". How do you describe yourself?
Autistic, creative, stressed, bitter, moody, aesthete, dubious... Sorry Bak... I’m not good at those questions...