Neil Cunningham- is a graphic designer based in Wales, inspired by urban culture
[Up and Coming] Neil’s work is full of atmosphere and drama with multiple layers, or as he puts it “a visual assault of texture” so when our paths crossed I decided to ask him more about his inspirations.
Angel: Who or what inspires your work?
Neil Cunningham: A huge chunk of my work is predominantly inspired by urban culture - music, movies and fashion present me with a large scope to work with. Also, things like every day conversations or found items can get my creative juices flowing, plus you can’t beat a good design book/graphic novel to get you back in the mood for creating.
A: What other Artists or Designers do you admire and why?
NC: I admire artists/designers who have an honest and unique approach to their
subject matter. It is all to easy to follow the latest design fad, but to have
your own artistic voice requires a great deal of talent, vision and strong
self-belief (im still trying to get there!).
It is for these reasons I admire artists/designers such as Dave Mckean, Ashley Wood, Kerri Roper, Andy Potts, The123 Klan and my old tutor Carl Melegari, who all continue to evolve without stagnating. I also learnt quite a bit from my fellow classmates at Uni, who all had a unique approach with regards to their creativity and subject matter.
A: Describe your work visually and explain the content?
NC: I suppose my work can usually be described as a visual assault of textures,
materials and mark-making techniques. My work is experimental, and I never know
how it is going to turn out, which is always a big plus.
Everything I create, whether it be a college or a sketch, starts off hand made/drawn and finds it’s way through the Mac and Photoshop. Using this software gives me great control over composition, colour etc, and the possibilities are endless - it’s just knowing when to stop sometimes. It’s always a plus when people ask how I create my art because then I know I’m not overusing the Mac!
A: What are you future plans?
Just to keep doing what I do and not give up on myself. It’s difficult to get
your foot in the ‘creative’ door these days, with the amount of talented
artists/designers out there.
Ideally, a design studio would be great but also freelancing really appeals to me - it’s just the initial, difficult process of building a good client list!
