The Magazine

Home

About us

News

Interviews

Events

Showcase

Painting

Illustration

Sculpture

Digital Art

Photography

Graphic Design

Fashion Design

Product Design

Vehicle Design

Architecture

Special Effects

3D Modelling

Animation

Film Making

eBoy
Pixel Perfect : An interview with eBoy
by Mark McGough

eBoy create re-usable pixel objects, which are used to build complex pixel escapism.

eBoy are probably the most famous and successful illustrators of today.

Some of there clients, partners & friends: Adidas, Amazon, Arena Magazine, Attenda, AXE, Bizz Magazine, Blender Magazine, Boston Magazine, Brazen, Bungalow Records, Carraro, Coca-Cola, Computer Arts Magazine, Create Online Magazine, Creative Review Magazine, DaimlerChrysler, Der Spiegel, Design Plex, Die Woche, Die Zeit, Diesel, DKNY, Edge Mag, Egg, Electronic Gaming Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Expo 2000, FontShop, Fortune Magazine, Gamecity, Geo Magazine, Grooves Magazine, Honda, IDN, Kellogs, Kidrobot, Levi’s, Microsoft, Monster, MTV, Nestle, Nike, Panic, Paopaws, Paul Smith, Pentagram, Pepsi, Renault, Replay, RollingStone Magazine, Saatchi, SAP, Spin Magazine, The Face, The Guardian, The New York Times Magazine, Tomorrow Magazine, VH-1, Wired Magazine and many more…

Mark asked eBoy 8 questions.

1. As I am sure you are told a lot, your illustrations are very reminiscent of computer games from the early 90's. Are their any plans to release an eboy game?

There are no plans yet, even though it would be wonderful to participate in one.

2. On average, how long can an eCity take to illustrate?

If we work full time on a large cityscape it takes about 1 to 2 months. But since most of the larger cityscapes are free projects, we don't have much time to work on them. So sometimes it can take years to finish a picture. At this point we have several started cityscapes waiting to be finished.

3. Do you have any rules for the use of colour in your illustrations?

We work with a customized colour palette to get clean colours for printing. But we don't have any real preferences about any colour.

4. As a designers, do you believe in working for a design company first or starting up on your own?

It depends ... both ways are ok. We first worked for other companies -- at some point we decided to be independent and follow our own ideas. But there are so many variables to take into account that it's impossible to define a simple rule.

5. You have been published in a lot of books and magazines. What marketing advice can you give to young artists & designers?

Don't look too much into being published by others. Better publish your stuff yourself. There's a lot of good blogging software out there. Use it. Publish regularly but not too much of the same stuff at a time. Try to aim for your highest possible standard -- at the same time don't be shy to show your drafts.

6. People always dream of getting their big break. How did you get in contact with your first big client and how did this lead to getting the commission?

A spread in a Japanese book about web-designers possibly helped us, we did our first cityscape for this and got some attention. After a short while we were commissioned by MTV to do an online-game and some icons for there website -- maybe this was our first big name client.

7. For young budding illustrators and designers, what action do you recommend they take in the next week if they are serious about succeeding?

Start a blog and show your stuff. We're in love with tumblr.com for fast uncomplicated blogging, but there are many other good ones.

8. What was the best piece of advice someone from the industry gave to you?

Can't remember. Don't think we got any.

To find out more about eBoy visit:
hello.eboy.com