Harrods magazine asked Brand Nu to illustrate a page to accompany an interview with Victoria Beckham. Victoria herself, was the one who signed off the illustration ready for print. Out now at Harrods Store in London.
Brand Nu has enjoyed 3 week long collaboration with Solent University, working on their latest exciting campaign for summer 2008. The final illustrations have been used all over South Coast of England in forms of billboards, bus stop ads, press, leaflets and even served as basis of the 30 second TV commercial.
Advanced Photoshop, for the third time now, choose Brand Nu to illustrate the cover of their latest issue. Brand Nu is a regular contributor to magazine’s tutorial section as well as sharing practical tips and tricks within editorial features. Magazine available now in the UK, next month worldwide.
A new North American perfume company Seven Skies has had their debut perfume collection illustrated and packaged by Brand Nu. The work stretches from the products to website, point of sale and marketing material.
Brand Nu has enjoyed the ongoing working relationship with London based label Shack Music since 2006. The label still releases vinyl records which are exclusively illustrated by Brand Nu. Recent work counts Palladium EP and image for their 3rd anniversary celebrations.
Have you ever met someone that inspired you so much that you found yourself thinking what it would be like to live a day in their shoes? Or maybe you’ve day dreamed about what you might say to that person if you ever met them “in real life”. Well, we have, and we did!
Interview originally conducted by FAIRspot - May 2008
We asked famed international designer and illustrator Radim Malinic, a.k.a. Brand Nu, the questions everyone wants to know but were afraid to ask. And hey, even if they aren’t exactly what you would ask, it’s a great look into the life of a major trend setter that has helped propel us to where we are today. Enjoy it!
FAIRspot: What’s the more difficult role, Designer or Art Director?
Radim Malinic | Brand Nu: Hmm … Art Director talks more, Designer creates more. If you do both, you talk while designing 
FS: What makes someone a “great” designer?
RM: A pair of hands, eyes and legs … oh and the rest of the body, obviously .. hehe. I don’t really know what the secret recipe is to be a ‘great’ designer. If you are open to new things, willing to observe and keep up with the time and pace around you, maybe they are the key ingredients. Maybe not, who knows. I would only say, stay true to yourself …
FS: Why have you chosen to be represented by an agent as opposed to representing yourself?
RM: I’ve been freelancing for the best part of 5 years now and thought I’ve come to the point where I reached all the possible options on my own. When I released my showcase book, the interest from agents was quite a thing:) It was definitely a good door-opener. Being represented by agents on both sides of the pond bears great benefits of taking the skills to higher level and opportunity to work for bigger clients.
FS: Is there a method to your madness when it comes to choosing color?
RM: Nah, I don’t have a set plan at any time, I just go with the client’s brief. Although I get very open commissions where I just do what I want. There’s a little technique I’ve developed with PSD brushes where by overlaying strokes colour becomes more vibrant.
FS: How long does an “average” print piece take you from start to finish?
RM: I hardly work on anything for more than a day or night. Depending on a brief or image it could take 2-4 hours.
FS: How do you know when a piece is finally “done”?
RM: When I run out of time or space:). There’s a feeling when the image contains the right amount of detail, colour vibrancy and looks strong. Also, when you start smiling in the middle of the night when your piece starts making sense and you’re happy. But sometimes, I find myself working on a piece that I feel isn’t working. The next day though, it makes perfect sense. It’s quite important to leave things to digest.
FS: The Sloanes Interior Murals are insane. What was it like producing such a large scale piece and how were the final images transferred to the wall?
RM: These murals were my first 4GB files ever. Although created at 100dpi this was quite a mammoth of a job. Sloanes wanted to bring the outside inside with a play on the English Country garden mixed with music elements. For example, each piece didn’t take longer that one day to illustrate. It was enjoyable from beginning to start, client wasn’t chopping and changing at all, which made it really easy to finish. Then it was sent to a specialist printer who do wallpapers and that kind of tricks. I believe it was then down to interior designers to paste it all up and apply each strip of wallpaper.
FS: What items do you carry in your pockets every day?
RM: My P990i, which is a crap of a phone and my cash cards. I never had a wallet in my life, so occasionally some loose change. I could be spotted with my man-bag where I drag about a couple of copies of my book and other needed promo, just in case.
FS: If someone paid you $10 Million dollars to quit designing today, and you couldn’t do anything design related for the rest of your life, would you accept the offer? If so, what would you do instead of design?
RM: I guess there a little hole in your proposal, hehe. I would possibly accept the offer, use the money to open a design studio and art direct all the work. There’s some great designers and illustrators that I would hire and live a happy life.
FS: We heard you were in a killer band before! Do you still play? What music groups do you listen to the most?
RM: Yup, although my band days are over I still occasionally play my guitar, usually to pick up a song. It was fun back in day when we played very heavy rock with me on the mic in the front a few hundred people. We then mellowed out and played more grunge Alice in Chains type of stuff, but then I started djing and found it more rewarding. When you’re in a band it’s always politics of what direction to take. Djing was much easier as I played what I wanted. Easy as that, hehe. These days I still love discovering new music of any kind really. Right now I’m searching of a perfect deep house mixtape and some minimal beats. My collections counts more that 600 - 700 CDs and there’s at least the same amount I would love to buy. The only problems is that I’ve run out of space in the house. On a normal day I listen to Fink, Ben Westbeech, anything from Sonar Kollektiv, Blind Melon, Incubus, Erykah Badu, occassional Jamiroquai, Reef, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Terry Callier … anything with a nice beat and feel.
FS: The next time one of your fans catches you at the bars in Southampton, what drink should they order you?
RM: Pint of black stuff…. hehe… Guinness please.
FS: What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned since becoming a designer that you’d like to pass on to everyone?
RM: There’s quite a few actually, with being more patient as one of the most important ones.
FS: What should we expect from Brand Nu for the remainder of 2008?
RM: At the moment I don’t have much of a plan. I’ve just relaunched my website at www.brandnu.co.uk where finally I my work is presented in its full glory. My last site was good, but I didn’t feel I worked it out too well back then. Yesterday I’ve opened Nu Visual Language exhibition which was a major project in works, I’m still working with O2 Germany on all their illustrations this year, working with Heineken too right now and a few other projects that keep me awake at night. There’s a range of illustrations for perfume packaging which I’ve just finished, it was quite a nice change to apply my ideas into a new dimensions and I really enjoyed it.
News posted - Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 | Visit - Brand Nu's profile..
This is the cover illustration Radim did for Wall Street Journal - the Classroom Edition. The issue was out a few days ago.
As far as I remember it was thru my mother’s ad agency when I was in my teens. I liked the buzz in their agency but didn’t like the type of jobs they had on at that time. Nonetheless, I started to craft little mishaps on those ancient computers with very basic software. I remember it being very intriguing and tempting. Back then, when I was in a band with my mates, we were doing all sorts of artwork for our demos, gig posters … then I stopped for a while to re-think what I wanted to really do and naturally picked up my passion for illustration where I left it off.
Which artists did you first look at for inspiration? Which artists do you look at now?
I love colours and shapes, emotions and feeling that any piece of work puts across. There’s stacks of incredible artists out there who amaze me on so many different levels, each in different way. As we work in the digital era not only it’s the idea behind the work that counts, but also the approach and finesse that keeps me intrigued, wanting to know more about the way of their thought. Personally I don’t have any favourites as such, there’s a handful of websites that I check now and then but mainly try to go thru blogs and portals to see what’s fresh out there.
Click here to read the full interview at
Illustration dot org
Brand Nu Illustrates for the April issue of Solace Magazine.
Nu Visual Language is an innovative project by Radim Malinic (Brand Nu) designed to create visuals based on various songs and lyrics. Tracks have been chosen, the collaborators picked, our aim is to create a visual mixtape, a set of alternative artwork to accompany the music, the lyrics and the mood.
Visit - www.nuvisuallanguage.co.uk
Brand Nu (Radim) recently illustrated an article for the Best Health magazine.
Brand Nu finished quite nice editorial illustration recently to go hand in hand with an article about the Facebook phenomenon. The illustration was commissioned by DV8 magazine, which is monthly publication in South England.
Brand Nu worked with VCCP and Stanleys Post on a very special campaign for O2 this January to kick off 2008!
A picture speaks a thousand words, which is why Radim Malinic of BRAND NU is the go-to illustrator for all advertising and personal needs. His pictures, posters and debut publication are filled with spunky, pulsating layouts that have given him international attention.
His current clientele include
Smirnoff, AOL and more recently ADOBE Design.
Radim let Art Nouveau Magazine get a snap shot of his world.
Art Nouveau Magazine: How did you get started?
Radim Malinic: Possibly as anyone else, I was intrigued by the whole process. I wanted to know what goes into it and how to achieve the results.
ANM: How would you describe your business?
RM: As Brand Nu I take on various briefs from music packaging to fashion illustrations and magazine art direction to identity development. It’s fun to keep the diversity going on, doing too much of a same thing could be a killer. We live in a throw away society [and] people want more all the time. We (industry) are producing stacks of work everyday, people aren’t interested in CDs anymore, they want new music in mp3 and a lot of it and the same kind of applies on the design scene. I am a full time freelancer and…
Click here to read the full interview at
Art Nouveau Magazine dot com
Radim Malinic is an internationally renowned innovative illustrator, with an extensive international high profile client list, based in Southampton, the United Kingdom. He’s been working under the name of Brand Nu for the last few years and prides himself on his artistic sensibility. His work has been described as imaginative, sophisticated, sensual and sexy. While his goal is to fulfill the needs of his client, he creates contemporary visions that are a complex montage of layered photographic and colorful elements. His award winning creations have been used in books, magazines, interior murals, corporate identity, CD’s and DVD’s, posters and fine art picture collections list full of returning custom.
Radim released his debut showcase book in October 2007 which earned him critical acclaim from the design community, collectives and has been featured in vast number of magazines.
News posted - Friday, January 11th, 2008 | Visit - Brand Nu's profile..Search by artist..
All images are copyright of the respective artists and cannot be reproduced without the consent of AGM & the individual artists.
- Anna Goodsons - Savannah College of Art and Design
------------------------ - Brand Nu - Harrods Magazine
------------------------ - Hanna Melin - Halifax Home Insurance
------------------------ - Chris Pyle - BLAB! A Retrospective
------------------------
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- ------------------------