visual
Fredrik Tjernstrom

 
Tell us a bit about your background, who are you and what do you do?
I'm 31 years old, living in Stockholm, Sweden. I graduated from Beckmans College of Design (Graphic design) in 2004 after three years of studies and have since been working as an illustrator. I've been represented by Agent Bauer here in Sweden since 2006, and I work mostly in the field of commercial illustration.

How did you get into illustration?
I have always been fascinated by things that are illustrated/painted. Before I started at Beckmans I was working at an airport, a place that I truly disliked. It was very far from creative decisions, and I didn't really see how I was going to become an illustrator because I didn't know anyone who was working in the field. I think I applied 3 or 4 times before they accepted me.. It was during those three years that my interest for illustration really deepened, It was also in this process I decided that I was going to focus solely on illustration and leave graphic design to other people. I worked for two years, walking around with my portfolio to every place I could find, but it wasn't until I became represented by Agent Bauer that things really started to happen.

What kind of a balance do you have between personal and comissioned work?
I normally spend the same amount of time on comissioned work and more personal projects. My personal illustrations usually tend to be a little bit more detailed than the commercial assignments, and when I work on my own stuff I don't have to have a deadline to worry about.

You've done quite a wide array of work from window art to magazine editorials, what do you like the most?
It depends on who I'm working with. It doesn't really matter what kind of media it is, as long as it's something that attracts me. I like to do more magazine illustrations when I work on commercial projects and vice versa. The constant change is something that suits me, and is one of the big reasons that I like my profession so much. When I graduated from school and started showing my portfolio, people thought that it was a little bit too diverse. I kept hearing that it would probably be better if I would just stick to one style, but now I think the diversity is one of my big strengths. But the thing that interest me the most is books, I would really like to do more books in the future. My examination project at school was a comic book that got published, and since then I have been working on a follow up to that one.

What has been your favourite project so far?
My personal graphite illustrations are definitely my favourite and what I am most proud of. And I did 3 t-shirt illustrations for H&M, which I was kind of pleased with, because it was very close to what I would normally illustrate when I do my own stuff. Basically they told me to do what ever I wanted to do.

And I did some illustrations for an exhibition magazine with a photographer, were 4 fashion design students showcased their clothes, and I illustrated the surroundings, that I think turned out good. It was really nice to collaborate with someone, (not just the ideas, but also the pictures) because illustration can sometimes be kind of a lonely job.

What about the most challenging job?
I've just completed a book; a collaboration with one of my old teachers from school. I have been working on it for half a year, it will be published in Sweden this fall. It was quite a challenge to do more than 100 illustrations in just 3 months, finding a style that that would fit together with the text, and finalize it in time for printing.

What are some of your main influences?
Photography, movies, people and music, basically the same as for everybody. Some of my Illustration influences are Neo Raush, Rene Gruau, David Downton, Al Parker, Joe Bowler, James R. Bingham, Coby Whitmore (I really like the old 40 - 60s American commercial illustrators), to name a few.. And I have to say David Lynch, probably one of my biggest influence. But it feels like a discover a new illustrator every day who makes something that really inspires me.

view Fredrik's work at fredriktjernstrom.com