All started with a pencil

Since kindergarten, drawing used to be one of my most favorite hobbies. Motives like houses, planes and landscapes were always preferred since their geometries made a more fascinating impression on me. It took a while before I started to draw other objects of different styles as well, expanding the spectrum including cartoon art.
But do not ask me to draw an animal – It might be disturbing.

I am very proud that I got the chance to become part of a new German NGO, that dedicates itself to help the world with medical supplies which are no longer in need locally. The Deutsche Rettungsdiensthilfe (German rescue service help) collects such supplies from both business institutions and private persons, cleans or repairs them, before shipping all items to other countries with medical deficiencies. My job was to set up an appropriate corporate design, including creating a new logo, a simple website and print media with posters, business cards and decals for international usage.

All graphic templates and suggestions have been made with Photoshop first, before finalizing detailed versions with Illustrator as vector graphics. This was necessary to ensure a good quality when being used as print media.

AI has been developed tremendously in the area of content creation, hence fore making it one of the strongest tools for supporting new angles of digital art. By combining PixAI with Photoshop’s AI and manual editing, I was able to visualize an own concept of Sega’s fictive cartoon character Amy Rose.
30 hours of adjusting prompts and image selections led to the final image shown here. AI can release the burden of editorial craftsmanship, but not ease the optimization of details.
It took about 100 AI generations and dozens of layers in Photoshop to put the character into the wanted picnic scene.

Apple’s famous simplistic designs are one of many factors which made the company so successful as we know it.
I wanted to find out how difficult it might be to recreate the looks in Photoshop as a pixel-based graphic, and also in Illustrator as a vector-based graphic. It turned out that imitating the shape of Apple’s Mac computer is as simple as its looks. However, getting the lighting and shadows of its silver reflective surface right became way more challenging. Basically meaning having to set the color gradients of each surface appropriately, to make it look like the aluminum case of the real Mac.

The result of my replicas can compete with the original, however, this experiment highlighted the advantage of using 3D-models, with which you could set an artificial, but authentic lighting by 3D-software much more easily. If it's necessary to put the model into a total different angle, you would also have to start right from scratch again with 2D-images, compared to very few mouse clicks in 3D-software.

When the German construction company Schimmelpfennig wanted to freshen up its corporate identity, it got in touch with me to ask for a brand new logo. Because today’s logos tend to look very simplistic, you might think that it is also very easy to design one. This is only the case when you already know concrete specifics about the desired end product. Otherwise you will find yourself on a ride through dozens of sketches and suggestions before finally achieving what the client truly seeks.

This logo (including the company’s name) was implemented in Illustrator as a vector graphic, so it can later be used for print media such as decals for company cars like the ones shown below. It is satisfying to see your product driving around in public, being actually used like you hoped for.

Working with Illustrator requires more patience than Photoshop since all conturs have to be set manually before coloring is possible. Because of this, it takes much longer until you really see if your work has been sufficient or not. The advantage however: Once every path is set, you have full control over each and every single shape, making post adjustments simpler. And you can export the vector image in any imaginable size you want. Perfect for print media.

This graphic was created for a flower seller and cartoonist before Halloween for the usage as decals, making it a funny giveaway for friends and clients.