crucero - all aboard!

jolly good news, even before christmas, actually: my first proper magazine cover! it's in the shops and everything! :D

you can also take a little peek on issuu:

a former colleague of mine published the first issue of his own cruise ship magazine called "crucero", which is "cruise" in spanish.
i am on board - literally - as well as a few other ex-colleagues from the city magazine we used to work at, which i think is a really lovely thing, getting the old gang together again. i am working on the next issue as i write this post, so fingers crossed this will work out for everyone!
it was really tricky to make it so that all the text that needed to be on it fit, and that it was legible! one of my favourite details are the flowers, which are actually highlighted by an extra shiny printed layer.

i also did an infographic on a ship's scrubber system, which filters the gas emissions. i got a little pencil sketch to work with, and after hours of reacquainting myself with illustrator, i managed to make some sense of it all! live and learn ...

here's a little bonus for you, if you have scrolled all the way down: this is one of my first ideas for the cover, which i really loved. it was abandoned because the powers that be decided the ship wasn't recognizable enough for the first issue. as you can see, i kept the jungle foliage frame!

find me on instagram ...

... for my visual diary - you can expect bright colours, details, some food and the occasional wig.

stranger things - my submission for amelia's magazine

here is my submission for the illustration open brief for the anniversary edition of amelia's magazine. the topic was "that which we do not understand" - anything esoteric, religious, ghostly, unexplainable, and preferably something with a personal connection to the artist. the story behind my picture goes like this:

one dark and rainy autumn evening on my way home a stranger approached me. he was from india. he told me i had a great presence, an aura, and if i wanted to, he could show me how to use it to heal people, just like he did. visiting sick people and laying his hands on them. he gave me his card. i was young and scared and quickly made my excuses. i threw the card away. i might have forgotten about it, had not the same man approached me one day, years later. i had moved to another city and was on my way to visit my parents when i met him at almost the exact same spot. we talked for a while, and with a friendly goodbye parted ways again. i still didn't take him up on his offer. i haven't met him since, and sometimes it feels like a dream. i wonder how he did see me, my aura, and if it's still there. i have my doubts.
p.s. i have long toyed with the idea of taking up physiotherapy, because i seem to be good at giving massages. i guess you could call that laying on of hands. maybe i have missed my calling.

- have you had an experience like this? please tell me in the comments, i'd love to hear about your strange encounters!

essentially, the picture was assembled from these two scans, my first time experimenting with warercolours in that way - i enjoyed playing around with that a lot and i'll definitely do more.

illustration friday "radio"

it's been a while i submitted something to illustration friday, so here's something quick from tonight on the current topic of radio - based on me spending nights glued to the old radio next to my bed at my grandparents, curled up in the pool of light. memories ...

a bling bling challenge

on my to-do-list of online competitions and courses that grows longer and longer, there is the make it in design summer school. three tasks you can submit a pattern design for, the last one has just started – and i managed to create one tonight and have already submitted it, for fear of not getting around to it again. had a look at some costume jewelry and started with some dots ... the brief was the following: megatrend: dissonance, theme: jewels. not sure i incorporated the dissonance part, but hey ... i got it done! playing around with the hues turned into the lovely gif above.

ADDED BONUS SURPRISE CONTENT: this pattern made it into the surface pattern design lookbook, yay! :D - you can find it on page 25 here:

two for rödelheim

hello there, dear traveller! if you ever find yourself in the frankfurt area and in the mood to venture outside of the inner city, these two jewels in rödelheims crown of young, upcoming businesses might just be the ticket: ortells, a small café/craft/design shop owned by the charming özlem, and next door bistro savory, a culinary heaven for the growing vegan community, run by nina. those two lovely ladies commissioned me to design their joint flyer for 2014, the result of which is being eagerly distributed around town as we speak ...