Toast Concept

www.toastconcept.com

Toast Concept, are a design company based in Lyon, France. They were formed in 2007 and cover a broad range of design such as Graphic Design, Product Design, Motion Graphics, 3D Animation and Web Design. As-well as Posters, Logos, Flyers and Montages.

I came across this company, whilst researching into Audio and Visuals for my self directed project. I particularly like the 3D animation they produced called Speakers because the visuals and audio is in sync with each other and I really like the way the speakers are created in an abstract form. I also like the use of colour that they have used and the smooth movements of the camera. This animation can be seen in the video below. This is something that I am looking into for my self directed piece and has been a huge influence for my research and development.

I like the way all the work uses simple aesthetics which gives a clean and professional look to the whole portfolio. I also really like the Graphic Design work they have produced because they all use the theme of having a white background that makes the abstract shapes and colours stand out alot more. I have posted some examples of their Graphic Design work.

Gary Fernandez

www.garyfernandez.net

Although I am a Multimedia Designer, I am still very interested in other areas of art and design such as Graphic Design, Illustration and photography. I really like the design work of Gary Fernandez who is a freelance Illustrator, Art Director and Graphic Designer from Madrid, Spain who now lives and works in Vancouver. I came across Gary's work after seeing his illustrations on the front cover of Septembers issue of Computer Arts.

Inside the magazine, it shows more work from Gary and also has a short interview with him. In the interview Gary explains how he comes up with ideas for his work. "What are your creative influences?" he answers, "The outside- urban or forests. That s where the actions happens. Inside, the things from the outside change in surrealist way. I listen to music all day. It helps me push what i have inside."  

You can clearly see how these influences have inspired his work, especially the outside world, which you can see in his work with wildlife, plant and trees appearing throughout his way. I also think that Gary's work could have been influenced by the work of Bridget Riley, with the shapes, colours and shades that he uses. Although Bridget Riley tended to use Black and White optical illusions in her work, i can see some similarities. 

Gary has an impressive portfolio and has worked for large companies such as Coca-Cola, Corona, Camel, Volkswagen and Nokia. I think these companies have used Gary because his unique illustrations catches the eye of many people with his use of colours, shapes and abstract forms. However, Gary can also work in a way to suit a certain client, such as his work for Coca-Cola, which is very different to his other style of illustrations. He uses alot of white space with the main focus being on the Coca-Cola bottle and the swirls coming out of it. I think Gary must of been told to emphasize on the bottle or he would of created his abstract wildlife that you see in his other illustrations, which would of took the focus away from the brand. 

I have chosen to put this illustrators work into my research because I think that looking into different areas of design can only help you become a more creative person. His work has influenced me to want to try and create my own illustrations and maybe move them into an animated after effects piece.