[訪] 驚狂角色創作設計師 Mark Gmehling－MyDesyㄇㄞˋ點子

來自德國的Mark Gmehling是一位令人驚狂的角色設計師。他的創作是帶給人們狂野的想像，特別擅長無邊際的虛擬角色，就如同他所希望的跳脫語言的藩籬，讓所設計的腳色是國際化的...也因此他創作下的人物每個都是特別而令人眼睛為之一亮的。

Mark Gmehling你好，可以像ㄇㄞˋ點子的讀者介紹一下你自己？

大家好，我是來自德國的設計師和插畫家，我叫Mark Gmehling。我主要的專長在於塗鴉和八〇年代的街頭藝術。我學過藝術、視覺設計和行銷。我曾經從事過廣告業一陣子，直到我決定要選擇以插畫家當作正職為止。

Hi there, my name is Mark Gmehling, I'm a designer and illustrator from Germany, my visual background is the graffiti and streetart-scene of the late 80ies. I studied fine arts and later graphic design and marketing. I worked in advertising for a while till I decided to make a living as illustrator.

請告訴我們什麼是你的創作關鍵元素?

由於我的塗鴉背景，讓我總是特別注重角色本身多於風格和文字。我不希望我的作品只能娛樂到塗鴉的畫面，這些作品可以說著國際化的語言而且我也希望我的作品可以為兒童和祖母歡樂。我希望我的作品可以自己說話，所以我不會去解釋他們。

而說到我的創作關鍵元素，應該是像蒙面俠蘇洛一樣的眼罩吧!

•What is the main concept and key element in your work?

Coming from the graffiti background I was always more focused on characters than on styles/letters. I don't want my work to entertain the graffiti-scene exclusively. The pieces are speaking an international language and I hope they entertain little childs and grandmas also. I like my art to speak for it self so I don't explain it.

At the moment a key element of my actual characters is a kind of zorro -mask.

有什麼能夠刺激你的創意點子?你的靈感處方是什麼?

我沒有特別的靈感來源，但是，任何事都會是刺激我靈感來源的養分，就算我離開了我的桌子，這些事仍持續縈繞在我的腦中；一個人夠敏感的畫，踏就能夠將所見、所聞很輕易的拼湊在一起；不過在我的腦袋裡面有著一個特別的宇宙，我得要把它表現出來，以免他們最後浪費掉了。

•What is your inspirability?

Theres no special inspiration source for my personal work, but everything, thinking about a task doesn’t stop when I leave my desk . One is sensible to connect every input fitting that task may it be a sth. I see, feel, hear or smell. And There is this special universe inside my head and I need to bring it to life to avoid going bananas.

在你生命中什麼是最重要的，而這些事情如何反應在你的創作上?

就我看來，最重要的是情就是在人生當中要擁有夢想、目標、個人計畫，然後做自己可以達到的事情。這需要專心、耐心和自信心。如果你開始著手進行並且沒有變成工作狂的話，表示你很有天賦。在我每天的日常工作中，我都得要試著去滿足我心裡面的完美主義者，雖然這從來沒有成功過，但卻是讓我前進的動力。

•What is the most important thing in your life? How is it reflected in your works?

In my opinion the most important thing in life is having dreams/goals/ a personal agenda and doing what you can to reach it. This needs focus, patience and believe in yourself. If you manage to do this without being a workaholic you're gifted. In my daily work this means trying to please the perfectionist inside me- this will never suceed but is a driving force.

可以跟我們描述一下你的工作流程嗎?

我的工作流程都從清理我的工作環境開始，因為我每次都會把工作室弄得很亂。一開始的時候，我會先收集一些資料，然後作一些素描並且發展地更深入，直到我完成了最後的素描或者是情節。接著我會用電腦來玩成最後的作品，通常我使用photoshop，illustrator和Cinema 4d。

•Could you describe your work process?

My working process always starts with cleaning up my whole workspace- (while working on a project I use to mess up the whole room). When I got the brief I collect references, do sketches- develop them further till I got a final sketch/storyboard. Not until then I use my computer to finalize the sketch- Mostly I'm using photoshop, illustrator and cinema 4d.

你是如何取得在商業性質設計與個人創作之間的平衡呢?

商業性質的案子是必需的，因為這可以讓我維持財務獨立來進行我的個人創作。我從事自由接案工作越久，我也越喜歡商業性質的案子。

•How do you come up with a balance between commercial products and more personal projects?

The commercial work is needed as it gives me the financial independency to work on my personal stuff- the longer I'm freelancing the more interesting the commercial projects become.

什麼是你工作時最重要的元素?

絕對是我的素描本，我總是將我的素描本帶在身邊，好讓隨時來敲門的靈感可被記錄下來，這占我生活很大一部分。而工作也意味著將我的想法視覺化並且使其法展成熟。

•What is the most important element when you work

Definitely my sketchbook, I always try to carry it with me to write down ideas that hit me suddenly. This is a constant part of my daily life. “Working” means for me executing these ideas that are visualized and already developed in the sketchbook.

你都是使用哪些軟體做為你的創作工具?

當我畫完草圖，我會使用cinema4d, PhotoShop, illustrator與我的數位版來完成我的創作。

•What is your art tools/techniques

After scribbling I use cinema4d, photoshop, illustrator along with my wacom tablet to finalize my ideas.

和我們介紹一下你最新的展覽吧?還有擁有一個自己的展覽是什麼樣的感覺?

在我現在的展覽中，紅色線的部份是要讓我的角色透過姿勢而非臉部表情來說故事。我忽略任何可以看到的摹仿，我會用國際化的語言去創造一種聲明和態度。

我的展覽是強迫我執行我個人創意的最後期限。如果我不辦展覽的話，我想很多事情很可能都不會看到太陽吧。辦展覽總是讓人興奮的，準備的期間總是有很多的壓力，但是結束之後它就成為我創作的里程碑了。簡單的執行會讓人感到快樂！

•Would you introduce your exhibition to us and how do you feel to have an exhibition

The red thread off my current shows is making my characters tell story only through posing instead of facial expression, so I omitt anything that visualized mimic and create poses and statements that speak an international language.

My exhibitions are a deadline that forces me to execute my personal ideas, if I woudn't do exhibitions most of the things I think about would probably never see the light. Doing exhibitions is always exciting, lots of stress during the preparation but in the end its always a milestone of my visual progress. Execution simply makes happy!