Mr Bingo chats about working with Camden Brewery in London.
(Link to original interview page)
On the eve of the Hells Can party, we’ve decided to give you a rare glimpse into the mind of Mr Bingo, illustrator, insulting postcard-ist and now, can designer. So here it is, Mr Bingo – The Interview. Read on to find out how he started out, what he’d draw for can #2 and why he once signed a man’s privates.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO ILLUSTRATION?I’ve been into drawing since as long as I could hold a pencil. When I left school I did a foundation course in art and design, followed by a degree in Graphic Design (specialising in Illustration) at Bath Spa University college. In 2001 I moved to London, and after a couple of years of working in shitty jobs I managed to turn illustrating into a full time career. I’ve done a good 10 years of commercial illustration and I’m now dipping my foot into ‘artist’ waters too, which is fun and interesting.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO WORK ON THIS PROJECT WITH US?Because having your work on a can of beer is fucking cool! How many other things can you look at with your art on and then open and consume the contents?
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BEST AND WORST BITS OF WORKING ON THIS PROJECT?Best – Knowing that my artwork would be on a can of beer. Worst – None of us having a clue what we’re doing! I normally just make a picture and hand it over to the client but with this job I’ve been really involved in every stage and working out how to make an illustration that works on a can has been a steep learning curve. The artwork had to work visually, it had to adhere to legal requirements and it had to be suitable for printing on aluminium. All of these things presented new challenges and took a lot of testing and back and forth conversations with people to get it right.
IF YOU END UP DOING ANOTHER CAN WITH US, WHAT WILL BE ON IT?It will be a blank can, one colour, with the name of the beer in small hand writing in the middle of the can. Serious answer: Whatever you ask me to draw, or we come up with together.
WHICH MONUMENT DIDN’T MAKE IT ON TO THE CAN – BUT YOU WISH HAD?The HSBC tower in Canary Wharf. I used to work in there!
YOU’RE BEST KNOWN FOR YOUR INSULTING HATE MAIL POSTCARDS – ARE THERE ANY SECRET RUDE BITS WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
If you look really closely you can see… *this part of the interview has been censored due to extreme obscenity*
WHAT’S THE STRANGEST THING YOU’VE EVER SEEN YOUR WORK ON?A persons leg. (a stranger) I also once signed someones penis during a book signing. At first I refused but he said he’d queued up for 45 minutes. I decided it was a valid argument and also thought I needed to just do it, in order to diffuse the situation.
WHEN YOUR TRUCK OF HELLS CANS ARRIVES, WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THEM?I will force the truck driver out of the vehicle (at gunpoint) and then go on an adventure in the truck. Whenever I stop anywhere I will drink the cans of beer. The police will eventually catch up with me when I get careless and make a mistake like leaving an empty can of Hells in an open bin or something.
No comments:
Post a Comment