Are Age

Location: Hassleholm, Sweden

Are Age is my artist name which I intend to keep. I'm a photographer by trade and have been working as a professional graphic designer since 1998. I really enjoy my work, but feel I have a more artistic spark in me that wants to come out in the open. That's why I started 555design in June 2004. In this digital playground I am free to make whatever I want, which mostly happens to be a washed out and trashy style. Why old and grungy? I love things that you, just by a look, can see that they simply have an entire story by themselves. For example: if you see an old car you can imagine who has driven it, where it has been or all it's journeys through the country, maybe even abroad to other countries and cultures. It's fascinating... The same goes with people; a wrinkled face is beautiful because it shows that the person has lived a life full of experiences. Therefore the imperfect is perfect. Inspiration My main inspirational source through time are the well known graphic artists: Neville Brody, Vaughan Oliver, David Carson, Malcolm Garett and Max Kismann. Later on I discovered the fabulous Dave McKean and his amazing cover art for the dust magazine. it more or less turned my world upside down. Everything before that seemed a bit bleak. I really wanted to do what he did, only problem, I didn't know how. But then a couple of years later I stumbled upon Eduardo Recife at: www.misprintedtype.com and finally I understood what to do and how to do it. The photoshop brushes were the key to success. Everything in my graphic life changed and it got even better when I understood that it was quite easy to make new brushes by myself. Since then it would be really hard to not live with the brushes and to make more of them. As I mentioned earlier I'm a graphic designer and making print material. For that I need high resolution images and brushes. Therefore most of the brushes on the net are a bit too small for me to use, that's why I make mine more or less as big as possible to keep the quality intact. Why and What? Why? For the love of art and music! I've been drawing since I was four or five and I’ve been listening to music since I started to walk. I believe that art and music can change the world to a better place. if things are more beautiful and the air is full of music people tend to smile more, that's what keep me going and going. Besides that, it's just something that has to come out. Combining these two interests (art and music), makes record covers a natural choice. but for that i need photographs, another good reason to evolve myself. What? as mentioned above; cd-covers and photographs. Besides from that, I also make book covers (in another project called www.schakt.nu), artwork, t-shirts and eroded magazine (a digital portal for talented artists to show the world what they can do). As a gratitude for all of you who like my work I also got some goodies, wallpapers and my favorite brushes.