Here, you will find some selected projects and some impressions of the processes behind the scense.
Summer Breeze children’s book
In 2024, one of my largest projects to date was finally completed and can be purchased here: probably the world’s first metal-festival-themed children’s busy book for the Summer Breeze Open Air. Published for the event’s 25th-anniversary edition, this project began as an idea during the pandemic when I was shopping for Christmas presents for my little nieces.
I noticed there were plenty of Where’s Waldo-like busy books with various themes, such as “the city” or “the farm.” As a musician, I wondered whether there was anything music-related. I quickly realized that if I wanted a metal music-themed children’s book for my nieces, I would likely have to create it myself.
Choosing which festival to feature in the book was quite easy. I had been working for the Summer Breeze Open Air since I was 18, first as part of the on-site construction crew and later in various roles such as stagehand, translator, and helping the production team. I knew the festival, the grounds, and its people inside and out.
I contacted the CEO of Silverdust, the promotion agency for the festival, and convinced him of my idea. After drafting the first page, I received the green light to illustrate the entire book. It was a painstaking process but also a valuable learning experience. After countless months, it is now finally available.
The book comprises seven pages, each featuring a different aspect of the festival: construction and setup; arrival day; the campsite; the infield and the stages; the backstage area; the production area with small homages to the festival’s crew; and the cleanup afterward.
The task is to find Mikey the Wolf, the recently introduced mascot for the festival and its new children’s merchandise brand. The book is now available in hardcover, softcover, and as an outlines-only coloring book.
Animations for Ronin Hörverlag
I started working with 2D animations in early 2023 and drafted my first animations for the audiobook publisher Ronin Hörverlag. Turning a thriller, a sci-fi story, or a fantasy book into an entertaining short clip is an exciting challenge – which imagery to choose? Which scenes to include? My partners provide me with ebook versions of the books so I can immerse myself into the world of the books to create the appropriate visuals for their stories.
One of the animations I enjoyed particularly was for the thriller “Was damals geschah”. This book centers around a mysterious event in a grand mansion in Chelsea, London. A baby is found safe in her crib, but in the kitchen, three decomposing bodies lie beside a hastily written note. The mystery of who cared for the child and where that person went remains unsolved. Twenty-five years later, a young woman named Libby inherits the mansion and begins to uncover the unanswered questions from the past.
Another one of these animations that I am very fond of is the one for “Die Gargoyles von Notre Dame 2”. This book is set in France during the summer of 1791, two years after the Storming of the Bastille. While the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity seem to be taking hold, the future of the king remains uncertain, and a peaceful resolution appears unlikely. Amidst this turmoil, Henri’s mentor, Mirabeau, is murdered, and Henri longs to be with Catia, who has become a revolutionary icon. Both make a decision that not only threatens their love but also puts the entire country in grave danger.
So far, I have created numerous other animations for Ronin and the collaboration is ongoing.
Content look and animations for Blyss
For the creative guide Blyss, I developed the entire social media content look from scratch. In this project, my clients provided me with the books, as well as additional supplementary material necessary to gain full understanding of their vision. Based on the corporate identity of the books, and the visuals of the existing public appearance, I developed a comprehensive content identity design.
For one, I suggested a change in color to match the vibrant and strong colors of the books’ covers with a calmer content look to complement the energy of the creative process with the calmness necessary for focused productivity.
Subsequently, I then drafted a new composition for the message communicated through posts and videos. I oriented myself along one of the more classic gestures associated with visual arts: two hands forming a rectangular window to as a guide for picture composition and perspective.
With these color changes and composition propositions, I convinced my client and was also hired to create the 2D animated assets for their social media advertisement campaign.
I animated these assets in the formats 1:1, but also 9:16 and 4:5 to be compatible for different social media content formats.
With this project, I could provide the full set of expertise, from analyzing and determining the creative vision of the client, communicating suggestions and reconfigurations, all the way to the final visual implementation.
Music video for Yeast Machine
In 2023, I was hired by the German-based band Yeast Machine to co-develop the music video concept for their single “Your Analogy”, and subsequently to shoot and co-direct it.
Working with this band was another exciting project due to the number of individuals involved with some ideas about the final product and the visuals. What others might perceive as intimidating or overwhelming was an extremely enjoyable experience for me, as the exchange with other creative minds always sparks new ideas and keeps me inspired throughout the entire creative process.
Needless to say, this was an incredibly satisfying and rewarding project that was also a lot of fun throughout the entire process.
Tour poster and social media assets for Drownship and Moor
In 2024, I was contact by the two bands Moor and Drownship to create a tour poster for their fall-run, later the same year. The bands wanted the imagery to combine the two themes of the bands, a swamp (German “Moor”), and drowning.
The result was a crane, drowning in a deadly swamp landscape that had already claimed other victims before. This dark imagery perfectly captures their sound, but also provides a melancholic aesthetic that also stands alone and separated from the music.
The process was quite straightforward. The bands communicated their idea and I provided the first sketch that immediately convinced all involved.
After some coordination, the process started and the result turned out to be one of my favorite digital illustrations.