Stevo is a Dublin born Animator & Illustrator. He moved to London in the mid 90’s to pursue a career in traditional animation. It was here; through work at a new media company he was introduced to Flash animation. Having learnt about new media, web design and authoring, Stevo was employed by boo.com. Since then he has worked for a vast array of companies both in full time and freelance positions. He is currently working freelance from his studio in East London.

Co-founder / Creative Director - Man vs Machine
Vortex caught up with Mike Alderson after his well earned break in Sweden. Mike is an ex St Helens student and highly successful partner in Man vs Machine, a cutting edge motion graphics design company based in London.

Whilst at school Mike won a scholarship sponsored by Pilkington Glass to study and practice engineering.  However, having talked to a friend who was studying Graphic Design at the College he had second thoughts and successfully applied to study Graphic Design also.

Due primarily to the all consuming emergence of computer technology, illustration as a subject and profession has changed enormously over the last two decades. However, out there, are (some say mad) individuals working in a traditional manner and with traditional media and achieving remarkable results.

We here at Vortex believe that, along with the popularity of traditional type methods, (see Alan Kitchings work at St Bride's) there is a niche future in hand crafted design work in the commercial world. Chris Kasch, ex student and Go Kart fanatic gives us an insight into the life and rigours of working in the capital as a freelance illustrator:-

Vortex caught up with recent BA DGD graduate and E4 Sting winner Phill Swaine for a chat:

Phill, when did you first realise that you wanted to be a designer?

From as early as I can remember I was always into art and design and constantly received good marks/feedback at school but i fell into a Physical Geography & Earth Sciences degree at UniversitY. I realised how much I actually enjoyed the photography and illustrating side of it a lot more than studying the movement of tectonic plates...hahaha!

Did you always want to specialise in motion graphics?

Born in 1962, Bregenz, Austria. Stefan Sagmeister studied graphic design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. In 1987 he moved to New York to attended Pratt Institute on a fulbright scholarship. He then returned to Austria in 1990 for community service as an alternative to obligatory military conscription.