#colourspaces

[noctumsolis]

I just want to say something about "the rainbow" (or spectrum or whatever).

The basis for this is that it's traditionally split into seven colours:

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Indigo

Violet

There are problems there. The first problem is indigo. Indigo is, really, a purple-blue kind of colour. Then there's violet, which gets the short end of the stick in a lot of illustrations because people often use the actual colour, violet, in place of indigo and depict violet as something closer to lilac or even pink.

The second problem is inconsistency of primary and secondary ordinality. Since I'm writing about the conception and depiction of, chiefly, rainbows I'll concentrate on the additive (light) primaries. These are:

Red

Green

Blue

Combining these we produce the secondaries:

Yellow

Cyan

Magenta

Hang on, what's magenta? Well magenta is a sort of pinkish, purplish colour. In fact it's one of the shades often used by well meaning people, in simple depictions, in place of violet. So that takes care of the confusion over violet and, indeed, indigo.

Taking these primary and secondary colours and placing them in order we get:

Red

Yellow

Green

Cyan

Blue

Magenta

and now we have a satisfactory ordinality of primary and secondary colours. But wait, what's happened to the cardinality? That is to say, the number of colours in the list. We have six now, but we started with seven.

This is a good time, then, to ask why we are told that there are seven colours in a rainbow. Depending who you ask (and frankly I can't be bothered to pin it down) you might be told that the blame lies either with Isaac Newton or Pythagoras. Yes, really. In both cases it is allegedly for mystical reasons.

Newton is said to have started with six colours and added indigo, whereas Pythagoras is accused of starting with five and adding both indigo and orange. I find the latter highly dubious given that ancient concepts of colour seem dramatically different than our own, but in any case indigo appears in both stories which is why I singled it out above.

In any case both indigo and orange are absent from our list, because both are tertiary colours. Yes, I know that you get orange by mixing red and yellow paint, but those are subtractive opaque colours. When talking about rainbows and additive colours you only get orange by mixing red with a little green,* so that red dominates.**

It might be nice, not for mystical reasons but just for the sake of matching, to insert another colour into our list. We've run out of appropriate primaries and secondaries, so let's try some ideas.

If we combine all additive colours we get white, which we could broadly call a secondary because it can be made with the three additive primaries, more-or-less. But where would we place it? If we put it after magenta we get primary secondary primary secondary primary secondary secondary. I personally find that unsatisfying.

We could put it at the beginning, so that the new rainbow is bookended with secondaries, but I dislike the idea of placing white before red.***

Really though, nether of these work because white light is split to maker the rainbow, it's not a part of it. Following that line we can also dismiss black on the grounds that it does not appear in a rainbow and is a total absence of light.

So let's directly compare the old rainbow to the new and see where the gap is.

Red -> Red

Orange -> ???

Yellow -> Yellow

Green -> Green

Blue -> Cyan

Indigo -> Blue

Violet -> Magenta

Aha! The gap aligns with orange. It's a tertiary colour, but if we really wanted to maintain the cardinal seven, then orange seems like the most appropriate addition, with steps Primary Tertiary Secondary Primary Secondary Primary Secondary.

Besides, I like orange. Especially at sunset.

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* Or by emitting light at a frequency which activates mostly red and some green cones in the human eye, but that's a whole other way of making and describing colours.

** It's interesting to note that the colour we know as orange was long considered merely a shade of red, and gets its name from the fruit.

*** Because red feels lower energy to me.

[morganmccaskiecogc]

Colour Management

Questions

Gamut is the range of colours that a device (camera/computer screen etc.) can show or capture.

A colour space is a set range of colours/tones that are available to display in an image.

Most DSLR cameras offer sRGB and Adobe RGB.

The standard colour space that most computer monitors can display is sRGB.

When switching from sRGB to Adobe RGB, the colours that will be improved are generally the reds and greens.

When the colour space in Photoshop is changed this will modify the way that the colours in the images are displayed.

ProPhoto RGB is a larger colour space than Adobe RGB.

When an image is mapped to a larger colour space, it can mean that soft shadows or subtle changes in colours can become more defined and create lines in the image because of the new tones that are available and displayed.

Import/Output Research

The colour space setting in my camera is found in the 'Shooting Menu' section of the setting menu. In the settings menu, the colour space shows as 'Adobe' on the screen, but not on the camera settings menu when shooting.

To find the colour space in a Photoshop workspace, go to Edit > Colour Settings.

sRGB:

Adobe RGB:

ProPhoto RGB:

[colourspaces]

Deep Structure Dispersal by James Roper [Buy here]

[colourspaces]

We Love Colours by Hakim Boo

[colourspaces]

Interview with: Pete Harrison

If you have followed the work of this week's interviewee, you already know of countless collaborations, tutorials, commissions and self-initiated projects that Pete Harrison has brought to live. A regular contributor with many design magazines, Aeiko's colourful aspect and super balanced compositions have excited and inspired many digital art enthusiast whilst catching the eye of new clients at the same time. 

Pete is close to rounding off his first decade in the creative design industry, having worked across many different media and platforms, for which he is renowned worldwide. On the top of running his design studio in his hometown Torbay, Pete is the mastermind behind T-shirt labels Funkrush and SuperCombo as well as Desktopography project. 

This is the Season One final interview, enjoy. 

A few years ago you've written of the most popular tutorial of the recent history. Your Diffuse technique has been labeled as Aeiko style and spawned tons of recreations. At what point did you feel you had to ditch the technique and start from fresh? I think I created an image back in 2004 and at the time was just experimenting and playing around with the different tools and filters in Photoshop. I stumbled on the diffuse technique and used it in a fashion shot, I don’t think this had been done before, but I sent it in for the Computer Arts graduate showcase and it won an excellence award. I also submitted it on the deviantart community which was really popular at the time and it got a lot of recognition there. Then computer arts asked me to write a tutorial showcasing the technique, it did spawn a lot of pieces and people re-creating the technique, but then my style started to evolve.

What is the current evolution of Aeiko style and your future plan to push your signature style?

After the diffuse technique I started looking into light effects and styles, I guess this was an evolution of my style, I was using photos and creating light effects all with the tools in photoshop like the brushes etc. It got to the point where people would be able to recognise my work just by looking at it and the techniques that I used, and yes I also inspired a lot of people, which was kinda cool to see how they used my style in their own ways. My style is still evolving, in fact in some recent pieces I have tried to strip it back a bit and create something a little more minimalistic.

After a few years working in London you moved back home to Devon. Any particular reason why? What are the work benefits of being away from the capital?

London was a great experience and I miss it, there was always something going on in the creative industries all the time and it was an inspiring place, I also got to meet a lot of designers and illustrators there and became friends, at the time I was living in London I started up Funkrush clothing and my printer and supplier were both based in Devon. Also, that is where I grew up so a lot of my friends were living down there, and my parents. I think that Devon suited my personality more, since I am pretty chilled and laid back and London was much more fast paced. Also I was getting a lot of requests for freelance work outside of my fulltime design job so it made sense to free up more of my time, and also I could work directly with my printers to ensure funkrush production was high, not to mention it was more economical.

Is there a big change in your workload now that you're represented by an illustration agent?

At first there was, I got a few sweet gigs through, in fact the Guiness work that I did was the biggest job I've had yet. But recently not so much, which has allowed me to put more time into personal projects such as my clothing label and the Desktopography project.

How do you juggle your day's work along Funkrush, Supercombo fashion brands and other commitments?

I basically have a bunch of tasks to do for each project all the time, which means I never get bored but its just picking some sort of priority. In some respect its kind of fun deciding what to work on, my freelance design work normally takes priority since it has deadlines, and Funkrush I still consider almost like a hobby but if an order comes in I have to get it out, Supercombo I am relaunching that next week so have been working on the new site and products a lot recently. Desktopography is once a year so I don’t have to worry about that just yet, but once a year but it does take a lot of organising. Other things such as my accounts, concepts and personal art I can work on whenever, I do procrastinate a lot though.

Software manufacturers bring out new application packages on regular basis, but how important are the new features in terms of adding to creativity?

I don’t think it makes much difference to me really, since most of my styles and techniques use just the basic photoshop tools that ive been using for years, so it does not affect me creatively. Funkrush product range steadily grows, but what makes a successful T-shirt design?

I realised the other day that a lot of the tshirts that I print in Funkrush and also Supercombo are designs that I like personally, they are done by myself and designers that I know and love. Some are much more successful than others, and these seem to be designs with a concept rather than design for arts sake, the most popular designs are Cool clive, and 88 ghosts. Cool clive is two giraffes having a conversation and 88 ghosts is literally 88 ghosts but in the tape of a terrifying skull!

Desktopography is another example of executing a simple idea in a stellar way. Are you planning to grow the project further?

Yeah this is a great project and im so happy that I started it back in 2005, it is still growing every year, we are currently in talks with publishers about producing a book, we just have to design it, we will probably try and launch that this year, also will try and launch a new album. The website will probably remain the same.

Out of our contemporaries, I can safely say you've collaborated with the most people I've ever seen? Do you proactively seek new talent or reactively agree to offers?

Over the years its true I have collaborated with a lot of artists, I did this mainly because its fun but it also pushed me and have develop my style and techniques. Recently I only collaborate with people with Depthcore if we are working on an artwork for a new chapter, or I do bigger collaborations with members of the blackrock collective as part of a larger project, recently we did a skateboard and some card decks. I would love to do more personal art and there are still a lot of people that I would love to collaborate with, its just finding the time, I do get a lot of requests also, but have to turn most of them down due to time constraints. My favourite collaboration was the one I did with Andreas Wannestadt, it was a flash animation for the splash page of my clothing label Funkrush. You can view it online at the website - http://www.funkrush.com/ We decided to make an animated intro that reflects the essence of funkrush, and that highlights elements from the designs as well as some of the featured artists. I did most of the art directing and creating the graphics and andreas worked on the compositing and animations. The final result is a mixture of urban infused graffiti street art mixed with cool, funky and unique characters. The project took us 6 months on and off whilst we were working on our own projects and client work. It was so much fun because I was passionate about the project (It is my clothing company afterall) and it was fun collaborating. It was exciting getting an email back from Andreas and seeing the progress we had made and it all come together bit by bit.

You're one of the longstanding members of Depthcore collective, having contributed to many chapters over the years. How important is your personal work and what message do you feel it needs to represent.

Depthcore is a great way to do more personal work, and the chapter themes serve us a concept to work around, in fact I think most of the personal artwork I do is dedicated for the collective. Its such a tight crew of people now, inside the member panel we all help each other out and have a laugh too, I really cant wait to meet some of the other longstanding members at the OFFF conference in June.

What's your opinion on 'creative negativity' of today?

Some people will always be negative about things, I don’t spend too much time reading comments on design blogs, recently Tumblr has been pretty good though, and everyone I have met there seems to be positive. I think everyone should be more positive, Amo la Vita!

It's known you're devoted Hospital records fan. If you could redesign your three most favourite albums from their catalogue which ones would they be and why?

Yes love drum and bass and all things hospital, it’s not only a source of inspiration for me, but I have designed for people in the industry and also sponsor them! I'm always listening to it at home too, whilst working! If I had to redesign some album covers I would do Nu:Tone – Words and pictures, Danny byrd – Ravedigger and The new album Yikes! by London Elek.

Aside from these covers, do you have a coveted product or brand you'd like to work with?

I always wanted to do something with Sony, Xbox (Microsoft) or Coca cola, pretty big brands but would be cool to get creative with!

Lastly, what is the best drum'n'bass tune of all time?

I would have to pick two! First one Netsky – Memory Lane. Never gets boring, very well produced, I think its pretty timeless! and also The Qemists – Stompbox (spor remix). This tune is played everytime before we go out, it gets everyone pumped and don’t forget that drop! 

---------- More info on Pete Harrison:

www.peteharrison.com

www.duoform.net

www.funkrush.com

www.desktopography.net

---------- Interviewed for ColourSpaces by Radim Malinic

[colourspaces]

Interview with: Andy Potts

ColourSpaces has the pleasure to bring you an interview with a true legend of contemporary illustration. Andy Potts' work has been dominating magazines, ad campaigns and galleries for over a decade, gathering plenty of awards and silverware along the way. Andy's eye-popping colourful compositions are never short of vibrant excitement and intriguing detail, earning him a loyal fan base and a high profile list of returning clients. Hailing from East of London, read on for Andy's view on self promotion, having work stolen, film poster obsession and his signature style. 

This is the penultimate instalment in the first ColourSpaces interview season, get stuck in and enjoy!

Congratulation on your recent Applied Arts award for the New Scientist cover, it seems editorial work is one of your main outputs. What are the main challenges of visually representing a news story?

Thanks very much, it’s great to be recognised for a piece of work you’re really happy with, makes you feel like you’re doing something right at least. Editorial work does seem to be my main bag, it’s how I got my break in illustration and is something I really enjoy doing. I love the variety and fast pace of editorial as it dovetails well with my limited attention span. I’d say the main challenge is to find an interesting angle on the material and an exciting visual approach that is going to get me enthused about creating it or invariably it won’t turn out too well. Ultimately you want to make an arresting image that grabs the reader and communicates the essence of the article while satisfying all of your own creative ambitions for the piece.

Your images are bursting with many intricate details and textures. Do you constantly build up a library of elements or start from scratch each time?

I do have a bag of tricks I like to dip into but I’m constantly looking for new details and textures to add to it. The library has been wiped out a few times due to a penchant I have for being burgled but it quickly replenishes again. I like to start from scratch as often as I can but time constraints dictate that I recycle some elements in different ways. For instance I have a faithful piece of scanned-in card splattered with paint from colour mixing that looked far more interesting than the actual painting I was doing. It’s like an old friend now, turning up to make an appearance in one way or another, my go-to texture.

  How different is to work on your personal pieces to commercial work? Do you go with a pre-set message or just go with a free reign and see?

With personal and commercial work there’s a different mindset and I’m happy doing both as you can’t really have one without the other. I like to thrive under pressure when there’s a quick turnaround and a tight brief but I love the freedom of working for myself, experimenting with impunity and recycling any new discoveries into how I tackle my commercial work. Ideas-wise, I tend to run with any nagging visuals or thoughts that have been swimming around my head and then exorcise them in some form. These can relate to a previous series of images and themes or be stand-alone freaks so generally it is kind of a free reign approach. The fun for me is all in the process and seeing where it takes me, any messages can be there at the outset or emerge en route. Right now, being a bit of a movie nut, I’m doing a series of favourite off-beat film characters and quotes. It’s a good drawing exercise and amuses my inner-nerd.

Your overall signature style has evolved a lot in the recent years with major emphasis on colour and composition. Where do you see your style in the next 5 years?

Hard to say, you realise looking back after a while that your style has shifted but I’m rarely conscious of it happening at the time. I just follow my instincts and whatever technique or approach is hitting the spot that day. I do tend to get carried away with the colour spectrum but I get a kick out of walking the fine line between eye-poppingly sublime and vomit inducing. I’m making more of an effort to draw and even paint, which used to be my thing before being seduced by digital tools in the late nineties. So I expect a move towards loosening up, introducing more hand crafted elements and a few more monochromatic experiments to save the retinas from imploding.

When thinking of new ways of printed self-promotion, what are the deciding factors?

I’ve recently been dealing with printed self-promotion for the first time in a few years after relying on agency advertising and industry directories for a while. When you’re busy it’s easy to forget that you have to keep pushing your own brand, I always realise the importance of this a little too late when the quiet patches hit. I’m horribly indecisive about my own work so for a recent send-out I wanted to be able to have a good versatile selection of postcards, I chose around 20 illustrations to pick three per client from, along with some stickers and calling cards each displaying a different image and clear directions to the website where it’s all hanging out. While it’s not reinventing the wheel or anything I see it as the start of experimenting more with self-promotional material, I’d love to publish a modest folio book and send that out at some point.

Software manufacturers bring out new application packages on regular basis, but how important are the new features in terms of adding to creativity?

I’m not really a follower of features, I’ve pretty much stuck to the Photoshop methods I picked up over ten years ago with a few parlour tricks thrown in over the years. It’s rare that I can’t figure out how to achieve what I want out of the software but it’s probably true that I could be making life easier for myself somehow. I figure that creativity is what you bring to the software anyway, shouldn’t be the other way round.

You are represented on both sides of the pond, do you feel illustration and its importance differs within continents?

I think there’s a lot of respect for illustration on both sides of the Atlantic but there just happens to be a larger industry Stateside with more opportunities. I notice in American directories that there’s a greater leaning towards traditional styles than over in the UK where it’s a little more eclectic maybe but the level of importance placed on illustration doesn’t really differ wherever you go. Today, illustration is much more of an international affair and the only consistent thing is that everyone wants you to deliver the best work you can so it’s important for me to try and honour that each time.

Drastic majority of design blog posts these days get attacked from army of anonymous haters, picking things apart for no obvious reason. What's your opinion on 'creative negativity' of today?

Constructive criticism is all well and good but I do find that most blogs or comment boards, and not just in the design field, are populated by the few hateful trolls spraying indiscriminate venom. This is, of course, offensive and downright hilarious at times but obviously quite damaging to the intended target if taken to heart. I think people have always enjoyed venting but it’s just that much easier to do in public now without any accountability. These comments always say more about the author than anything else and it’s usually a case of the ol’ green eyed monster rearing it’s head again.

  Increasingly, we see a lot of infringement of intellectual properly in design world. A couple of years ago, your work has been directly copied and caused a lot of grief. Do you feel more needs to be done to educated people not to steal others work?

Yeah, I received a tip-off call from a guy in the Netherlands who assumed he’d seen some of my work in a gallery over there only to realise a Dutch artist was taking the credit. He had reproduced a number of my illustrations, pretty much unaltered, on canvas. I was pretty shocked and surprised that I was being plagiarised so blatantly, especially by a more mature so-called fine artist. I got him to remove the work from his site but discovered that legally chasing him would’ve been a costly and stressful exercise so I let it go. There does seem to be more of a culture of plagiarism around which is probably down to the accessibility of imagery on the internet and a general increase in unoriginality. To compete in an over saturated market It’s easier to mimic something that’s seen as successful or stylish, particularly if it’s lauded in a design mag with a tutorial on how to recreate it. Ultimately if you directly rip off someone’s work then you’re only fooling yourself and eventually you will get busted so why live with that hanging over your head.

  You've worked with who's who of advertising world and house hold brands, but do you have a coveted product or brand you'd like to work with?

I don’t particularly covet any products or brands as such, it’s just great to be able to work with people who have an interesting vision and the confidence in your creative abilities to help represent that. Having said that I’m always up for film related work, whether it be illustration or animating titles. I love the work done for the BAFTA Award film brochures each year, particularly Tavis Coburn’s 2010 illos, very beautiful. It would be cool to work for The New Yorker one day too.

  These days it seems almost compulsory to have an online store. What was is the main decider when it comes to pricing up your work? 

Selling it. There’s a lot of prints available out there so you have to be realistic and affordable, especially with giclee editions. I’d like to get some screen printed work up there soon and a few original drawings.

Lastly, if you could redesign one classic album cover, which one would it be and why?

Bit of a non-answer but I couldn’t really pick a classic album cover that I feel I would be fit to redesign. I think they’re classic album covers for a reason, already iconic and untouchable (be they great or poor designs), and inseparable from the experience of the music for many. Film posters don’t always have that kind of connection and are more open to interpretation I feel. However, here are some old school influential or terrifying album covers from childhood that spring to mind, mostly from my Dad’s record collection. The haunting figure on the cover of Wishbone Ash’s Argus album, the artwork for Jeff Wayne’s Musical version of War Of The Worlds and any number of covers for The Eagles, One Of These Nights is a good one.

------------ For more Andy Potts work and info, see http://www.andy-potts.com

Buy prints from Andy Potts Store http://www.andy-potts.com/store

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Interviewed for ColourSpaces by Radim Malinic

[colourspaces]

Interview with: Steven Bonner

This week ColourSpaces have got one the latest rising stars in the world of lettering and illustration - Glasgow's very own - Steven Bonner. A couple of years ago, the veteran in the design industry has decided to branch out to set up on his own. Needless to say, he has never looked back. Now Steven's work crops up everywhere on magazines covers and editorials,  ad campaigns and animation spots; all seamlessly tied up together in elegant and strong expressive signature style. This has made him a sought after creative with countless companies and art directors. Here's your chance to find out how he does it all.  

Striking simplicity of your images is becoming quickly your signature - however no two images follow the same aspects. How do you tackle every new brief?

I try to approach work by thinking of an idea or a feel that will be appropriate for that particular project, and if that means trying something new, then that's fine. A lot of it comes from my years as an agency based graphic designer, where I was always taught to look at each brief individually. While it's good to have a recognisable style – and it's really encouraging that you think my work carries my signature – it's equally important not to let my individual aesthetic dictate the solution to the point where I'm just indulging myself, and not considering the end user.

What type of briefs do you tend to get from clients - open or prescriptive?

A bit of both really. Sometimes clients will ask for something similar to existing work which is fine as it gives me a head start on the look and feel they're trying to achieve, and I can work with confidence that I'm going to be able to hit it quite quickly for them. On the other side, I love it when clients ask for something I haven't done before or let me come up with concepts myself and I'm lucky that I get quite a lot of clients who trust me to do something I haven't previously shown. Maybe it goes back to the variation of styles in my work and gives them confidence I can pull things off. Whatever, I'm happy they do, I like to keep pushing myself to learn new things.  

After many years at design agency, what was the deciding point for setting off to do freelance illustration?

I'd been doing some illustration on the side for fun and found that I started picking up enquiries here and there. It got to the point where I was working full time in the agency then coming home and doing another full time job illustrating which I physically couldn't keep doing, so I chose to leave the agency and go it alone. To be honest, it wasn't a difficult choice, as I hadn't been enjoying life at the agency for a few years and was feeling ready to move on. Happily for me, it's turned out well so far. I still keep a foot in the old life though and pick up the odd bit of branding and traditional design work now and again, as well as doing some freelancing for agencies in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I don't think I'd ever want to leave traditional graphic design behind altogether as it makes for some nice variation.

You've recently moved into a new studio space in Glasgow? What were the main reasons to switch from home-based studio?

Cabin fever! After two years working from home I was getting incredibly bored of not seeing anyone all day and missed the community side of the industry. Another consideration was being closer to clients by being based in the city, but to be honest most of my clients are either based in London or in the US so that part of it doesn't really make a huge difference.

Right now I'm working in a great little place in Glasgow called Toad's Caravan with a group of independents and freelancers who all have different disciplines. It's meant I can build working relationships with animators, directors, 3D artists as well as other illustrators and designers, and opened me up to new ways of working.

There's also the feeling of going to work now, rather than just wandering into another room in my house to work. The journey to and from work really bookends my day and I find I'm much more more productive in less hours now. After working 12 hour days, six or seven days a week for a couple of years, I'm finally getting my weekends back. Bliss.

Is there a big change in your workload now that you're represented by an illustration agent?

Not really in terms of volume, but the level of client that I have access to is greater now. Apart from the odd quiet month here and there I've been really fortunate to be kept pretty much consistently busy since I went independent, but I find that having an agent does give me more options and streamlines things a bit more as I don't have to directly deal with contracts, trying to get feedback or chasing payments as much.

I had another agent before, but as nice as they were, things just never quite gelled creatively when I was with them. Now I work with Jelly who have been instrumental in promoting the type of work I really enjoy doing to potential clients. I think they've helped me focus what I want to do a lot.

Software manufacturers bring out new application packages on regular basis, but how important are the new features in terms of adding to creativity?

It's all money-making isn't it? If it's a genuinely useful feature then great, I'm all for learning new things but sometimes I get the feeling some features are added just to bulk out an otherwise light upgrade. I only just upgraded to Adobe CS5 from CS3, but if I'm honest, had I not been buying a new mac I probably wouldn't have bothered. I tend to have a process I use for my work so use the same  tools regularly. Now and again a feature will come out that I can use to refine my workflow but I think the image comes from the idea, not the tool.

Drastic majority of design blog posts these days get attacked from army of anonymous haters, picking things apart for no obvious reason. What's your opinion on 'creative negativity' of today?

It's going to happen due to the anonymous nature of it all. People like to build things up to break them down then hide behind their anonymity. I really don't pay much attention to it as I've no time for people who only want to knock other folk. Design and illustration are subjective things, there's no real right or wrong, you either like something or you don't. There's no need to be a hater. If someone's work has technical issues, be constructive and help them out, but why cause grief? I don't get it.

You're coming from graphic design and print background, do you find yourself making conscious planned decisions about colours and lay outs or do you let free and go with the flow?

My colours are always really simple and always have been, but that's mainly because I'm colourblind and utterly crap at choosing good schemes. I can tell you what a colour id from the Pantone number, but don't ask me to pick it out from sight! I'm so jealous of guys like yourself, Ben the Illustrator and Matt Taylor who seem to effortlessly create these wonderfully bright and interesting colour palettes. So so jealous.

As far as layout goes, I do consciously use grids for balance and positioning and always have done. I come from one of the last groups of students who were taught to do layouts by hand with rub-down letters and technical pens for camera ready artwork, so measuring everything out was par for the course. Even though everything was computer based long before I started working, the lessons stayed with me, even when I moved over to illustration. Saying that though, you need to know the rules in order to know when to break them. Sometimes designs that are mathematically perfect can just look wrong, so you have to trust your eye. A little chaos never hurts!

The tutorials you've recently written received great response from the readers, but how do you see current tutorial culture?

I like that fact things are so open now, and I've learnt things myself that I didn't know – mainly technical things, but it's great to know that if I'm stuck with what a tool can do, someone out there has detailed its use somewhere.

What worries me though, is the amount of time I've seen hobbyists out there copying a few tutorials and trying to launch a career off the back of them. It's a bit insulting. To me, tutorials are there to teach a tool's use, or a certain process, not simply how to make a particular image. They need to understand that tutorial images are just a 'serving suggestion', and that the ideas and individuality are what makes a career.

Increasingly, we see a lot of infringement of intellectual properly in design world. Do you feel more needs to be done to educated people not to steal others work?

Definitely, it hasn't really happened to me much but I get really annoyed when I see people like Gemma Correll getting ripped off left, right and centre. Like tutorials, it all comes down to people understanding that ideas are our business and by stealing them, they're taking away our livelihood.

What is your proudest freelance moment so far?

Hopefully there'll be lots of mini goals achieved as I go but actually making the jump to do it in the first place, then finding out I could be more successful on my own than by doing it for someone else was satisfying.

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More info and Steven's work: www.stevenbonner.com 

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Interviewed for ColourSpaces by Radim Malinic

[colourspaces]

Interview with: Wayne Johns

They say an image is worth a thousands words. So what does happen when the words are different every time you look at the image? The story changes, narrative isn't the same but the characters seems to stay. Or do they? These words could fittingly describe the work of London photographer Wayne Johns. This hard working industry professional has been behind the camera on countless shoots for countless clients, weaving in his personal touch and direction whilst gathering award nominations, silverware and worldwide recognition.

After being forced to take a career break for a few years, Wayne Johns has returned to the forefront of the industry with portfolio steadily bursting in its seams with high grade contemporary images. Now collaborating with fantastic creative teams, he brings storytelling back in the front of our eyes. And he's intriguing and inspiring at the very same time too.

You've recently made full change from Canon cameras to Hasselblad. Any reason technical/personal reason why? Mmm, good question! - I guess the main reason for it is personal choice, I just love medium format and what it gives you as a photographer in terms of quality. Don't get me wrong the DSLR's of today are truly outstanding and my Canons were no exception; but for me, medium format does offer much finer quality and better gradation in the tonal ranges. The image size and detail is truly outstanding. 

Coming from a film trained background, before digital was around, I guess the love for medium format has stuck with me through the years. It suits my shooting style too I guess. Hey, it doesn't really matter what camera you use - give me any camera and I'll create some amazing images. 

What do you like about fashion photography? Is it your preferred field or do you do other genres?

I just love the creativity that designers are putting into clothing these days, there are Fashion designers out there, both well known and not so, who are truly outstanding with their creations and how they interpret their designs/concepts. I think they're amazing! I love shooting Fashion, I do others genres too, I also shoot beauty, Advertising and Portrait too. Thinking about it,  I guess I'm definitely a people photographer.

Your image series bear rather darker edge, especially 'Birds of Summer'. Are we witnessing start of bigger more consecutive series in the making?

That has been said recently, my style has been described in many different ways from very haute couture, to high fashion, to edgy, dark, graphical, classical etc  I guess I'm a mixed bag. Am I turning to the dark side? I'm not sure if the "Birds of Summer" series has sparked that gossip or what. But its definitely had an amazing impact with many many people and lots of magazines. That series was very specific in my mind, I already knew what I wanted and how I wanted it to look long before the shoot was planned. I think its definitely worked. As for a bigger more consecutive series. Mmm, not sure, watch this space.I might even run that series as an exhibition if the interest is there from galleries and art buyers.

No seriously, I love shooting such a range of things and all very different, I guess every creative person drops into a certain creative zone once in a while; though I'm sure I'm like many other creatives out there and have a million ideas and never enough time to shoot them all. To get them all done - that would be fantastic.

Since the affordability of decent cameras, we've seen an influx of new people who offer their services. How do you reckon they've changed the landscape of the industry?

Mmm, there is a topic that could get very deep and meaningful! - I'm on both sides of the coin on this one I think: I think well done to all those who pick up a camera and creative beautiful imagery, even if not everyone likes it or gets it, to them it matters. On the flip side, it annoys the hell out of me when you have a minority that truly do not know their craft or the industry they're messing around in; but suddenly because they own a half decent digital camera they are suddenly 'professional' photographers and think they can charge people money for what can only be described as awful work, that clearly shows they do not understand what they are doing or should be doing! Harsh I know but it's true. A lot of these people are terrible photographers but ok computer users of retouch software, all of a sudden their images don't look so bad, but you really shouldn't substitute poor photography with reasonable retouch skills, if you need to do that become a retoucher. 

I certainly believe, it has watered down the quality of imagery now a days, in terms of what clients have been using to advertise with, with a nudge from the economy as well, budgets are either forcing Pro Photographers to shoot for less or the client ends up using a cheaper Photographer with very visible downturn in results. It can't be helped I guess, though I do feel clients will be coming back to using skilled photographers again, those who can obtain the shot in camera, and paying for it properly again as well, as it should be.  This explanation excludes any compositional work or creative effects that would be required outside, but I'm sure you get my meaning. 

What do you feel is the most common mistake that you see emerging photographers people make?

Heck, not sure I could give an answer for that one, as its so variable in its own right. In my industry, I guess a lot of emerging photographers from universities and colleges etc leave thinking they're now photographers, again one thing they are not taught is the industry itself. The process of putting a book together, the business itself, for example running your own business, then how to shoot for the type of clients you would like. Its hard out there, very very tough and very competitive, there's a lot of talented big boys out there who's work is truly amazing and whats more they've been around for a lot of years! Thats tough competition and you're wet behind the ears.

Is there a part of photography/industry that you don't like? 

The cost of equipment! The industry, I still think it can be very political and is still most certainly a who you know not what you know industry. Photography wise, funny enough I'm not that keen on retouching, I don't find great pleasure sitting in front of my screen for hours after my shoots - a strange one int eh digital world eh. Though I do think an image carries its own effect, it makes the viewer have a reaction and sometimes an emotional response to what they see. An image of a child starving in Africa, is a powerful picture which certainly has the power to make you cry through sadness. Now its not really a nice image but its powerful and it lets us know whats happening in the world. Not every image is beautiful! Phew, thats a bit deep isn't it?

You are the the beginning stages of your book of nudes. Where did the idea come from and what do you wish to achieve with this book? 

I am indeed, how did you know? I'm actually at the beginning of 2 books, the other I won't disclose details of at the moment. My book of nudes is titled "The Emotional Body", it really came from my idea to show the emotions of people as themselves in their natural naked form; to show how they are or perhaps how like to be or indeed be portrayed, normal life or even a fantasy perhaps. For me, its a journey into the varieties and diversities of some of the people in our world and I really want the images in this book to show a small sample of this and a sample of peoples lives and emotions, but for it to work it must give the viewer and emotional link to what they're seeing. 

It will be beautiful when its finished; I aim to shoot around 200-300 people for it and I'm still taking on applications for it for those interested in being involved in it. There is no criteria for this, male, female, old, young, transgender, who ever, what ever, please feel free to get in touch. Cheeky plug there. Plus, if there are any publishers that would be interested in publishing it when its complete please get in touch.

How much importance on the message do you feel personal work needs to have?

I think personal work is very important, it allows a photographer to experiment with their ideas and creativity to break free, without putting risk to a client; I believe personal work is needed to help a photographer develop and progress into who they become as an artist experimenting with ideas, themes and lighting it all helps you decide what you like don't like and what works and doesn't work for you. You're own personal stamp if you would, so yes very very important!  It seems any new work published on the internet attracts more haters rather than admirers. What is your opinion on 'creative negativity'? 

Mmm, where do you start on that one? Is it jealousy, true dislike, a moan because someone can, or do some people just have to much time on there hands? You decide on that one. I must say though, I have noticed the English seem to be the ones that like to moan about other peoples work the most.

What is your opinion on people shamelessly ripping off others? Has it happened to you? 

Do you mean taking someones image, or trying to copy it? I think taking someones else's image is just disgusting, copyright is out there for a reason and it carries serious penalties, deservedly so as well. When it comes to people trying to copy someones else' image, well what can you do about that?

Is that person gaining anything or is everyone they show it to going to say, oh that looks like the image so and so shot!  I know of an instance where a portrait photographer friend of mine said he wrote to an amateur photographer who had tried to copy one of his images, and the similarities of the shot and lighting set up were to close to his. In all honesty, when you take a general subject with a general background you are going to get a lot of similar general looking results, what can you do, the human body pretty much looks the same, there is only so much you can do with its form.

Is there anything in your career that you wish you hadn't done? 

Ah hell yeah, taken a break for nearly 5 years. I had a really good client base, magazines, make up companies, hair product companies etc and an agent, then I was forced to take a break due to a serious injury; this took me out of the industry for nearly 5 years. You then realise you've lost all your good clients, the people you knew in the magazines don't work there anymore and people/companies you used to work with ask 'who are you?' Damn that was tough and still is. No fun at all. My words of wisdom - don't ever take a break, even if you have to pretend you haven't.

Do you have a coveted product, band or brand that you wish to work for one day? What is the one thing in the world that you wish you had shot? 

Wow, thats a toughie! Take any of the big names in the fashion, beauty, fashion magazines, portrait or advertising world and that would be lots of answers to your one question. There are definitely certain designers I would love to shoot with Dior Couture or Gareth Pugh. He's definitely at the top of my list. What a genius! A great fan of his for sure, a collaboration will come with that I'm sure. One thing in the world I wish I'd shot - Wow, there are so many, good, bad and indifferent. I would need a serious amount of time to find a single answer for that one.

What is your main plan for this year and beyond?

Apart from world domination you mean?  Well, to shoot like a crazy one really, lots of personal projects I want to get done and lots more clients I need to get again. Of course my books will take some of my attention and time to complete but they are ongoing. To secure another agent would be nice again, I'm so charged and spilling creativity and enthusiasm, it's unreal. I have some plans to shoot some quite controversial images this year, which I do want to run as an exhibition. Apart from that I just want to keep shooting and creating beautiful imagery for all to see; its my passion and I live it and love it. When something like this makes you this happy inside, you know you're in the right place and you just have to keep going with it.

------- For more work and information on Wayne Johns see www.waynejohns.com

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Interviewed for ColourSpaces by Radim Malinic