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Featured Member of the Community – Benabadji Samir

Inspiration comes in many forms and we see inspirational art everywhere we go in our daily lives. For a graphic designer, the primary medium for this inspiration is of course on the internet, and it is on the blogs we visit daily that popular digital art is often featured for us to be inspired from (such as MediaMilitia’s ‘Get Inspired’ posts).

Several graphic design blogs also feature interview posts, where the most successful artists of our time are questioned along with their featured works. However, it is often forgotten that we can be inspired by the works of other members of the graphic design community similar to ourselves; it is not as often that we see the stories behind aspiring artists, rather than established graphic designers. It is for this reason that I will be creating a series of interview posts that will question designers of all abilities in the community; allowing you to share your tips, inspirations, your own artwork and your own journeys.

Today’s featured member of the community is Benabadji Samir, an 18 year old from Algeria, who has been enjoying graphic design for about two years as a hobby. He has kindly answered a few of my questions to allow you guys to have an insight into the process behind his works and perhaps inspire the way you feel about graphic design.

Hello Benabadji! Your works are very professional for someone who has only been learning for two years, can you tell us what originally got you interested in graphic design?
Thank you! Well it began when I was watching a French video game channel, and I saw a show talking about speed-painting. I decided after that to find out which program the artist (Nico Di Mattia) was using, and it turned out to be Photoshop. I quickly bought a version and began surfing on the web for tutorials.

Well you’ve certainly come a long way since then, do you have a favourite piece of yours, or perhaps one you are most proud of?
I think I’m most proud of “Digital Love”, because at the beginning of the two years I was only repeating tutorials, but this is the first piece that I created entirely myself from A to Z: from the sketch to the final piece. This piece was actually created for the MediaMilitia and Abduzeedo joint contest.



Is there a particular area of graphic design that you feel most comfortable in? Do you plan on extending your skills to any additional fields in the future?
My favorite area of design is Illustration, whether it’s photo-manipulation or drawings (Digital painting & vector art). I will certainly explore other fields like motion design & 3D art in the future.

Featured Work! – ‘The New Attackers’

My personal favourite of Benabadji’s work is his 1950’s-inspired sci-fi movie poster, which he has illustrated using vector-art. His modern, graphic twist on the old movie posters uses a variety of modern techniques to create this beautiful scene; whilst his use of a grunge texture and authentic typography helps give it that typical 50’s retro feel. The monotone colour scheme of this piece beautifully captures the ‘futuristic city’ theme that Benabadji has created.

Click the image to visit this piece’s Flickr page and let him know your own thoughts on it!

Benabadji, if you had to describe ‘the purpose of art’ in one sentence, what would it be?
I think art is the key to explore the human mind and discover new emotions.

How do you promote your artwork and what have you found the most effective?
I mainly promote my works in community sites such as Flickr and Behance.
I think my works emerged a bit when I began participating in contests, which are the best way to promote your work, even great artists use this tool!

Can you take us through the main process you go through when creating your works?
First of all, I search for hours on the web to find inspiration, then I make a sketch which gives me an idea for the general look of the piece. However, in 85% of my works, the final result is quite different from the first sketch!

Sketch for the Passenger Limited Edition Album:

There are thousands of designers out there and your work is very versatile in terms of graphic design fields, have there been any designers in particular that have inspired you?
There are so many great artists out there that it’s difficult to tell who’s my inspiration, however notable artists that have influenced me are James White, Jared Nickerson, Joshua M.Smith, Archan Nair and Erik Jonsson.
The main thing that makes me say “wooow” when I see their works is their ease to catch the viewer by the hand and take him into their own world.

You’ve mentioned other designers that have influenced you, but as we all know influence comes in all shapes, sizes and forms: Is there any music that helps you get those creative juices flowing?
It depends on the theme of the piece. For example, when I’m doing a piece with light effects, space-theme especially, I listen to perhaps Justice, kavinsky or Daft punk. However, for a more funky theme I listen to Jamiroquai, Wax Tailor, Kanye West and many others!

‘Daft Punk’ by Benabadji:

Daft Punk – Digital Love

Bit of an obscure question, but if Photoshop was a deserted island and you could only take one PS tool with you, which would it be and why?
The brush tool of course! It’s absolutely necessary for me: when I don’t have the right stock image I can just paint it (not now, but once I’ve learnt digital painting and bought myself a Wacom….hahaha!!!).

Finally, do you have any advice or quick tips to share with other members of the design community?
Try, try and retry until you’ve got it! 
The key to achieve good work is perseverance. Many people think, when they see great works from great artists, that it is easy and within 3 weeks they will be as good as these artists, which is completely false: you have to work a lot – a looooooooooot!!!!

Thank you very much Benabadji for sharing your works with us, I’m sure you have inspired many members of the community! Good luck in the future if you decide to turn your hobby into a career.

For more of Benabadji’s work, check out his Flickr and Behance pages!

For your chance to be the next featured viewer, or if you have any questions that you want to be seen asked, add me on twitter! @TomBloomfield

About the author

Tom Bloomfield

My name is Tom Bloomfield. I'm currently studying a degree in English literature and language at Southampton university, England. Graphic design has been a hobby of mine for a few years and I'm very happy to be combining my two interests by writing you guys some posts! My portfolio can be seen over at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tombloomfield/.

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