Where do you find your inspiration?
In my life. My work is often inspired by my mood, by the things happening to me every day. Besides that, I'm really inspired by music. I love to put the feeling from a special song into my pictures.
Of course I also have design heroes like Joshua Davis or Michael Paul Young who always inspire me but I realized very early that I have to find my own way.
Have you always been into art?
Well, I always hated drawing when I was a child. But when I discovered abstract art I quickly started to love it. I realized that the interaction of shapes and color are some of the most beautiful things on earth.
What projects or activity make you want to rise up in the morning or keep you up at night? How have you evolved as a designer?
I'm not sure if there are certain projects, but there are moments when an idea just takes over me. I can't stop creating then. These are the days I love most.
I believe that my style changed from completely random eye candy-stuff to something with deeper meanings and emotions. It might still look like random shapes/colors sometimes, but almost every piece has a deeper meaning now.
Your work seems to be full of motion and has amazing color combinations. Is it safe to say that this is your signature style?
Yes for sure. I believe my style is still something unique in the design world and I'm actually really proud of this. But of course I'm always experimenting. At the moment I'm really into Typography. It's fascinating to see how my style looks like when it's combined with words and letters. Definitely want to do more Typography work in the future.
What materials do you most enjoy working with?
I love my abstract shapes! I spent a lot of time creating tons of random abstract shapes in Illustrator and try to build something beautiful out of them. And I can't be without gradients and textures, these add so much complexity to my works.
How does a concept come to life from start to finish?
I usually take an idea and try to transform it into something abstract.
A good example here is my work "Reborn" which I did for OFFF Festival 2011. When I read the theme "Year Zero" I knew I wanted to do something like a big bang, but in a unique way. I started in Illustrator, creating a bunch of abstract elements based on triangles and brought these shapes to Photoshop to build my basic composition.
After adding more and more vector elements I was quite happy with it and got deeper into the concept. I thought that this big bang is the evolution of anything we know, including the color. So I kept every shape grey but added more and more color to the edges.
When I'm satisfied with the work I usually close the piece and after some days I look at it again. It's finished if I still like it then.
What can we look for from you in the future? Do you have any new project that you're working on right now?
I just finished some smaller freelance commissions but there's not a huge project in the pipe. I always want to improve my style and experiment with different ways to create abstract work. Maybe I'm also lucky and some nice projects come my way, you never know.
As a digital artist/designer what advice would you give to those who are aspiring to work in the same field?
Do what you love. Never stop learning new things. Try to be the best in what you do. Don't listen to people who hate your work. Never give up.
Our interview for today features multi-talented Digital Artist/Designer Michael Kammerer. He creates stunning pieces rich in color and motion. He also derives inspiration from abstract art, making his work interesting and creatively unique. Get to know another creative talent in this inspiring interview!
