Egger Grey Illustrators : interview with English illustrator Neil DUERDEN on composition, the demand for individual advertising and the tonality of advertising in England compared to that in Germany

The borders between photography, image editing and illustration have become blurred for quite some time now. Neil DUERDEN c/o EGGER GREY is a good example of this. He actually meets the job description of an illustrator: he visualises commercial communication and adds emotional aspects through his imagery.

He doesn’t just mainly work on the computer ‘sketching’ lines and adding colours and effects, he also uses ‘raw material’ from other sources and creates imagery by combining these. He uses photography and CGI images and then combines these in a composition.

Neil is an artistic picture editor with a conceptual approach. Digitalisation has resulted in a lot advancing into digital raw material. Kris Krüger from EGGER GREY tells GoSee, “instead of seeing the increased use of digital imagery as posing a great threat to illustration, some illustrators embrace this as an opportunity.”

In Germany ‘commercial’ communication usually attempts to gain the acceptance of the target market, which can result in the unique or the unusual loosing out. Polarisation is often demonised in mass communication. However a lot of illustrations lean towards polarisation. An illustration is loved by some, ignored by others and sometimes seen as less appealing or perhaps even disturbing by others.

In visual communication it is the presentation of a beautiful world, a desired and longed for ‘reality’ that polarises the least. Though illustration isn’t a 100% realistic depiction of reality, this is how it evokes emotions, dreams, wishes and fantasies. If an illustration then manages to make dreams a reality and create a connection to an offer, such as a product for example, then it has the best chances of being effective as an advert. The desire for individual advertising is more common in England for example.

Neil DUERDEN: “it is very interesting how the eye of the beholder can differ in England and Germany. A lot of my work resembles a visual explosion: whilst the overall impression and composition are really important in England and what ultimately grabs the viewer’s attention, small detail and individual parts also play a vital role in Germany.”

EGGER GREY : Let's start with the usual, tell as a little about your self and what you do?

Neil DUERDEN : I'm a self confessed mac monkey is based in rural england about 20 miles north of Manchester, I create pieces that combine elements from mixed media, photography that are interlaced with complex vectors to create pieces that always hit the brief for clients all around the world. My art is from the heart and this passion shows through clever usage of the latest technology and hand rendered techniques alike. Lately an I've been exploring complex routes in 3D rendering too - from scenes through to typography. I am always hungry for commissions and love what I do.

EGGE GREY : For how long you been doing this and what keeps you going for more?

Neil DUERDEN :I've been in the creative industries nearly 20 years. Starting as a studio junior and ending up as an art director. I found that a lot of agencies have a "wallpaper". approach to advertising. By this I mean they won't try and push the boundaries for clients in terms of their direction and customer-base. I found this frustrating I believe that to cross sell a product or service through clever advertising is what it is all about. This made me re-evaluate where I was going creatively, so I decided that commercial illustration was the way forward for myself. This was a build up of both personal pleasure, as I love what I do, and for-filling briefs for aspirational clients.

What kind of music do you play to get you going through the day?

Music is essential, I work with it constantly in the background and listen to everything from Radiohead through to Dance. I have a passion for quality hifi too, I believe that music should sound as it was intended too and not compromised by poor equipment. At the moment in the background there's Portishead playing which seems to be on my playlist more and more at the moment but earlier I was listening to PWEI. It's all good and keeps me going throughout the day. This is all driven by a superb valve based system sourced from all over the globe.

Once you start working on a Piece, what's your working process?

I take a briefing and then dependent on the looseness either come up with a few solutions to the campaign or start directly on the creative treatment. Each and every job demands a different approach, the one that fits best. I also keep the client informed and email them and discuss the project at every stage to keep the job on track and right for both the agency and end client. At the end of the day commercial illustration is about selling a product or service, this needs to be the main objective in the most creative way possible.

Do you ever come up against a brief that beats you?

The simple answer is no. The personal answer is yes. I've done pieces where the result is not what personally I saw as the end result. The client has changed direction and the briefing has been liquified down from the original concept. However the result has worked and driven sales up, so from a personal view it may not be my best work, it still worked as a effective piece of advertising - breaking the hold. This has been the case for a few high end consumer electrical giants that have boards of director all putting there feedback to the agency who react as needed.

You mentioned 3D as a new key part of your work, tell us more.

3D has become a new powerful part of my creative arsenal. It started with typography and has slowly become a key component within many pieces. This ranges from hyperreal piece that don't really exist - making a scene or packaging scenario look better than real for instance. You can tell it's not quite real as the colours and textures are too perfect, but you need to look twice to see the fact it's not photography.

So you busy, what hours do you work and what do you do in your spare time?

I work both the European working day and then the US working hours most days, weekend too quite often. I believe that you need to be available for the time zone you are working so that ideas and concepts can quickly be built up within the timeframe chosen easily. This allows for style and compositional tweaks to be acomodated with no errors. The spare time I do get is split between my family and the hills, I'm a keen fell runner and rack up at least 200km each month running up hills and mountains. If I'm not above ground I also spend a lot of time exploring forgotten caves and mines. All quite different from my work life but again challenging.  I'm usually accompanied by my three dogs who are now ridiculously fit and have no problem with a 30km hilly run!

Your golden tip of pure wisdom would be...

Enjoy what you do, the industry is fast passed and high pressure. If you are doing this just for money stop. You need to enjoy your work, keep the passion alive as anything less will show in your work. Also remember you are commissioned by an agency and they have clients, they both have expectations and aims. You need to ful-fill the brief and make it your own, however it needs to serve a purpose and sell the product or service in a way that is appropriate for there brand message and approach in the most creative way possible.