013a

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT



ARTIST PORTRAIT
The man behind 013a is Matei Apostolescu, a 23-year-old graphic designer and illustrator living in Bucharest, Romania. With a classical music and graffiti background, he started designing only three years ago. He has since completed various projects involving illustration, web design and motion animation. Last year, he established his own design studio in Bucharest. Matei finds great inspiration in literature and the visual universe of his own childhood in the post-Communist epoch. In only a short space of time, 013a has become one of the absolute darlings of today’s graphic scene, and with his very recognizable style - a mix of analogue and computer art - Matei consistently pushes the boundaries of visual communication. His often experimental and challenging work can be seen on book covers , magazines, ads, posters, boards and on clothing.



INTERVIEW

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
A lot of things but especially technology and the ever changing complexity
of the world we live in.

DID IT TAKE LONG TO FIND YOUR PERSONAL STYLE?
I never tried to have one specific style - I just let it happen. Most of my work is freestyle.

DO YOU START SKETCHING ON PAPER OR DO YOU WORK DIRECTLY ON THE COMPUTER?
I start with very detailed drawings made with rotring pens, scan them in and process them in Photoshop.





WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO AT THE MOMENT?
Most of the time, I listen to IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) and electronic music.

DO YOU READ DESIGN MAGAZINES?
I love Computer Arts magazine, and I read a lot of art blogs on the web.

WHICH PROJECT HAS GIVEN YOU THE MOST SATISFACTION?
The 115 digital art gallery in Bucharest. I`m one of the founders and I didn’t expect it to grow so fast. We made a lot of noise with this project in Romania and on the web.

DO YOU DISCUSS YOUR WORK WITH OTHER ARTISTS?
Of course. I get masses of feedback from various forums / art groups. There’s a lot of idea sharing going on via the internet right now and to me this is a great way of learning and understanding what’s going on around me.



WHAT INTERESTS YOU MOST IN THE COKE SIDE OF LIFE REMIX PROJECT?
I was always fascinated by the classic Coca-Cola posters, so the chance to work with such important historical material really meant a lot for my skills and future development.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE IN YOUR REMIX ARTWORK?
Love & understanding the idea of love.

IS IT DIFFICULT TO COME UP WITH ARTWORKS THAT FIT A THEME?
Not really. I think it’s an exercise of putting things into perspective and understanding how to transmit a certain message or feeling to someone else.

WHAT'S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM PROJECT AS AN ARTIST?
Well, this may sound strange, but it’s a one billion dollar movie. The way I see it, this would be the biggest artistic collaboration in human history.

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU WHEN YOU'RE NOT WORKING?
In a beautiful place on the Danube, at the Cetate Cultural Port – a cool spot for relaxation and the best food on earth.

Caos CC

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT


Caos CC for Belio Magazine

ARTIST PORTRAIT
Illustrators, designers, stylists, painters, creators of artefacts, web artists, photographers, … Caos Comunicacion Creativa, based in Barcelona, is the studio that links the most diverse talents. Founders Christian Borau and Maria Duran got their start in the graphic world in the late nineties. Being art directors for famous clubs as Palm Beach, Cube and Zoom, fashion labels Chupa Chups, Anata Sesa, Caliu and Group, they got their Caos flyers, posters and fashion prints posted everywhere.
With their online community project Urban Freezone, Caos wants to create a bridge between urban artists from all-over the world. The Freezone project and other Caos initiatives arise from a desire to approach, update and expand today’s visual languages: “We want to be on the cutting-edge of the latest trends in style and appearance, if possible offering innovative solutions and using new graphic styles, without losing sight of our principal objective, which is that the message should be clear and accessible.”


Caos CC for Zoom Club

INTERVIEW

WHAT IS CAOS CC ALL ABOUT? WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS NAME?
Caos Creative Communication was founded in 2002 by Christian Borau and Maria Duran. We are working with a wild & wide bunch of friends and collaborators on graphic, web and art projects for our own clients and some agencies.
The name fits our way of working very well: it’s all about accumulation and composition. We also like the theory that chaos is not really a disorder, it’s just a more complex and spontaneous order.

WHEN YOU WERE A KID, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE?
Sometimes a painter or illustrator. And at other times a musician or actor. The most important was that is was something artistic…

TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND?
Already from the time I was a child, I love all kind of creative expressions, and especially music and drawing. Of course it helped that I had artistic minded parents. My father was a musician, and my mother sent me to an Anthroposophy school in Germany where I got a good primal art education. Later I studied comic style drawing in the Joso School of Barcelona. Two years later I started graphic design studies at the same school.
I made a Master of Multimedia and worked in printing, as a graphic designer and later as an Art Director at Miquel Roig Associates, a small studio with big clients. I left to become a freelancer, and later I created Caos together with Maria.


Caos CC for Relevant Magazine


Caos CC for Tibetan Toybox

WHAT SPARKS YOUR IDEAS?
Sketching a lot, the music I like, good art magazines, the work of other artists, …

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH AS A DESIGNER?
To be creative all as long as I live!

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF WHAT YOU DO?
The best part is definitely the freewheeling part. I like to expand one graphic identity to different supports. It’s like when a painter makes a series of paintings with the same style or concept.

CAN YOU GIVE SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON YOUR ‘COCA-COLA’ “MUSIC IS LOVE” POSTER?
The central image of the kiss is actually a self portrait. The artwork was vectorized from a photo of me and my wife Maria Duran (the other part of Caos). We’re both great music lovers, and for us this poster is very special!


'Coca-Cola' Remix - "Music Is Love" by Caos CC

CHRISTIAN, YOU ARE ALSO A WELL-KNOWN DJ, WHAT IS THE MUSIC YOU LISTEN TO WHILE WORKING?
I like to listen to a lot of different styles of music; it’s the only way to have a total music experience. I´m a huge fan of Prince and The Cure. When I struggle with a new design, that’s the kind of music I put on. But I also like the unique and very special statements of Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Bauhaus, Bob Marley and Keith Jarret.
I also like to listen to flamenco/fusion artists like El Bicho, Macaco, Ojos de Brujo or Camaron. Or classical music. When I’m in a mood for electronic sounds, I listen to Thom Yorke, Depeche Mode and Amon Tobin or other Ninja Tune artists.




Caos CC for Palm Beach

IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR ARTIST YOU ADMIRE A LOT?
Definitely Prince! I like his attitude as an artist, and how he deals with the music business and fashion trends. He is always modern, he never limits himself to one style of music, he gives the impression that the music just flows out. I saw him in concert 4 times, and each time was amazing. His magnetism is enormous. Prince makes it possible to experiment a completely improvised jam session in a concert hall packed with thousands of people.

HOW WAS IT TO WORK ON NEW VECTORS, BASED ON ICONIC ‘COCA-COLA’ IMAGES?
When we got contacted to work on the Remix project, we were really happy because ‘Coca-Cola’ is a very interesting brand to work for. It’s a company with a very rich history in the world of art and advertising and with a very special emphasis in music.
In our posters we used vector elements from other Remix artists, and artists as Creative XL and Pixecute remixed some of our illustrations. It was very cool to exchange material. It was a very interesting experience to work with such a range of great artists, all with a different vision and style.


'Coca-Cola' Remix - "Shampoo Girls"
by Caos CC & RockAndRoll Agency


"Coca-Cola' Remix - "Sisters are doin' it"
by Caos CC & RockAndRoll Agency


'Coca-Cola' Remix - "Summer Day" by Caos CC & RockAndRoll Agency

The Beautiful Game

We all speak football. Not only it’s the world's favorite spectator sport but it's also played by millions of people of all ages, skill levels and genders all over the world. Football’s universality is its simplicity, the fact that the game can be played anywhere with anything. Urban children kick the can on concrete and rural kids kick a rag wrapped around a rag wrapped around a rag, barefoot, on dirt.
Next summer, Euro 2008 will take place in Austria and Switzerland. As the qualifying matches are going into a final stage, we will soon know the 16 teams that will join the host countries.
To quote the book "Soccer and Its Rules": "Are you ready? Ready to cheer the players to victory, marvel at their fitness, speed, and skills, urging them to win every tackle for the ball, ready to explode at a powerful shot? Ready for the excitement of flying wingers, overlapping backs, curling corners, slick one-two passing and goals scored with panache? Ready for another moment in a fantasy world?"
“Yes! We are ready!! And so are Pixecute and Creative XL who remixed some vintage 'Coca-Cola' football ads. A true tribute to the sport that unites us all…


Vintage Coca-Cola Football Ads


'Coca-Cola' Remix by Creative XL


'Coca-Cola' Remix by Pixecute

Forever Friends

“Coca-Cola’, the worldwide symbol of friendship”, “The pause that brings friends together”. Capturing the spirit of friendship, togetherness and love has always been part of ‘Coca-Cola’. When ice-cold ‘Coca-Cola’ appears, friendship enters the picture. A lot of the Coke advertisements focus on this warm moments.

Friends. They inspire you to be the best you can be, make a difference in your life, offer support, raise your spirit, understand you…
Friendship is the strangest but greatest thing in the world. You could spend hours with your friends doing nothing at all and it can be the best time of your life, just because it was with them. Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by our friends.

Over tinkling glasses, minds meet and hearts get closer together. In virtually every corner of the globe, generations of families, friends and neighbors join together to enjoy a Coke.

Who's That Girl ?

Is she a Victorian pin-up, a girl next-door, a movie star, a party hostess, a factory worker or a swimsuit beauty? Her demeanor is radiant, vivacious and breezy. She exudes youthful energy and appears picture perfect wherever she goes, dressed up in the latest fashion.

When ‘Coca-Cola’ started in the 1890s portraying these independent women, it was still a uncongenial time for a girl with big ideas. Women were discouraged from thinking beyond household drudgery, and derided if they distinguished themselves. From these early days, ‘Coca-Cola’ has used the girl portraits in unique ways, always running miles ahead of the times. ‘Coca-Cola’ encouraged and inspired women to live their lives to the fullest and share life experiences.

Far away from the proper etiquette, the ‘Coca-Cola’ girl spreads her wings, chooses hobbies of the modern age and makes a lot of fun. She is traveling, sporting, sunbathing, inviting her friends over, flirting…
From the portraits of cheerleaders at the soda fountain to the ones of iconic actresses and women in flight suits: as a symbol of women’s emancipation, it could hardly be bettered.





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The Coca-Cola Girls keep inspiring nowadays artists. Here you can see some vintage Coke ads and the Remix versions.




'Coca-Cola' Remix version by Fung Wee Lim




'Coca-Cola' Remix by Creative XL




'Coca-Cola' Remix Creative XL & RockAndRoll Agency

Images of Joy & Taste

In 1906, the ‘Coca-Cola’ company hired William D'Arcy, who set the tone of Coke's advertising for the coming decades. He held the view that "‘Coca-Cola’ advertising should create scenes that drew people in and made them part of the pleasant interludes of everyday life". D’Arcy showed pleasant people drinking ‘Coca-Cola’ while doing sociable activities such as shopping and playing games.

In the 1920s, ‘Coca-Cola’'s advertising began to reflect the prosperity of the times. Advertisements depicted the rising middle class participating in activities once reserved for the elite in society. An advertising poster shows a couple of friends, chillin’ outside at a party. An other cardboard shows a young girl being pulled on a board behind a boat. The advertisements created images that people aspired to emulate. And with the growing prosperity, such a dream was within everyone’s reach.

The Early Days

‘Coca-Cola’ had humble beginnings. Created by pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton in his backyard on May 8, 1886, the concoction of caramel-colored syrup was tested as a soda fountain drink and sold for five cents a glass at the largest drug store in Atlanta, Jacob's Pharmacy. His bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, suggested the name ‘Coca-Cola’ and created the unique cursive logo that has been the trademark ever since.



In 1888, Asa G. Candler, an Atlanta businessman and druggist, purchased the rights to the product and later formed the corporation "The ‘Coca-Cola’ Company." Candler firmly believed in the importance of advertising. He distributed thousands of complimentary tickets for free glasses of ‘Coca-Cola’. He also pushed promoting the beverage on outdoor posters, calendars, soda fountain urns, and even wall murals (a precursor to the nationwide use of billboards in 1925). His philosophy was to stimulate the desire for ‘Coca-Cola’ in as many ways and as much as possible, and then have it readily available everywhere.

An Iconic Brand

Somewhere along a road, a billboard bears the image of a silhouetted bottle on its side with the caption: "Quick. Name a soft drink." The image reveals the iconic nature of the soft drink that fills the famous contoured bottle. The answer is unmistakably ‘Coca-Cola’!

In a special issue of Beverage World magazine, commemorating Coke’s 100th anniversary, the author described ‘Coca-Cola’ as "a product born of a solid idea, nurtured with creative thinking and bold decision-making.”
From the very beginning ‘Coca-Cola’ advertisements consisted of slice-of-life images showing the most diverse kind of people enjoying ‘their Coke’.




Different 'Coca-Cola' ads starring everyday people...


The 'Coca-Cola' Remix by Pixecute