Hansen Modern is our latest style at designstripe, and is the 11th style now available within our catalog. It’s been a joy to work on this one and it’s very popular within the designstripe community!
The Hansen Modern style has an elegant sketched, line-drawn effect, as well as five substyles in the editor to adapt each illustration even further. It features topics such as People, Education, Working from Home and Family.
About the Style
Hansen Modern showcases the diversity of people we see in everyday life, shining a particular light on people with a physical disability. The name “Hansen Modern” is a nod to Canadian athlete Rick Hansen, a former gold medal winning paralympian and a disability activist. Hansen’s long term aim has been to create a world without barriers for people with disabilities, through his incredible feats across the Man in Motion World Tour and the activities of the Rick Hansen Foundation.
A Conversation with Claudio Guerra
The initial illustrations for the Hansen Modern style were created by one of our talented illustrators, Claudio Guerra. We recently talked with Claudio to learn more about his creative process and his thoughts on everything Hansen Modern.
Can you tell us how you became an illustrator?
I always remember drawing in the backs of books, notebooks and in a lot of sketchbooks. I think the idea of being an illustrator was decisive when I started studying Multimedia Graphic Design.
Although where I studied did not teach illustration or drawing, my hobby as an illustrator and learnings in design taught me that to illustrate a scene you had to know how to communicate. So nowadays, whenever I start working on a composition, I always try to keep in mind what is going to be communicated.
While I was studying Graphic Design, I started to generate my illustration portfolio in parallel. Some years later, I worked as an art director in a Motion Design studio. There, I was able to express illustration in different styles according to the requirements of the content. It was a way to explore illustration and art direction in motion.
"The goal was to come up with a result that emulated a freehand drawing"
What were the main inspirations behind the Hansen Modern style?
At this point I think it was a search to reach a more organic and irregular result in the middle of digital tools. The goal was to come up with a result that emulated a "freehand" drawing with color fills that would blend perfectly under the stroke and a soft color palette, as if it were a speed drawing.
What do you do to get inspired?
As I read a brief, I start to imagine the scene and how I can best communicate the idea. Then, I quickly start looking for images that relate to what I have in mind. Sometimes I can spend a long time looking for what I want to capture in the scene. It doesn't always turn out to be the first thing I imagine. The final results are not always the first ideas I had in a sketch.
My references have to be based on good taste and a defined style. For example, when choosing certain elements such as furniture, artefacts, characters' clothing, etc, I try to make the art direction coherent and consistent. I also draw inspiration from people's body language and try to translate it as best I can to the characters in each scene.
Who inspires you creatively?
Maybe several artists at the same time. There are some very talented people, like my colleagues at Designstripe. But among those who I have been watching closely for some years and who inspire me with their art are Rafael Mayani, Loish, Magdalina Dianova and others. The character designs of each of them, despite their different styles are full of life and character.
What's a great book you would recommend to people?
I don't consider myself a good reader of books, but I would recommend art books, both by designers, art directors and illustrators. Pages that are visually full of life and creativity. I think a good art book to recommend is that of Loish, who I mentioned before. Her compilations across her three books are really beautiful. Her Illustrations are very expressive, with organic strokes and charismatic character design.
Which scenes do you like the most from the style?
One of the scenes I like the most is from the "Online Collaboration" theme, especially "Office Working". I like the dynamic that is generated in the scene with the 5 characters in it. It wasn’t easy to have several elements, plus the characters Interacting with each other. But I think it works well.
Which of the topics of the style do you like or relate to most?
I found the "Startups & Technology" theme interesting because of the challenge of communicating a more abstract concept. But the visual codes are usually the same. This allows you to mix characters with conceptual elements and thus be able to generate visually appealing scenes.
What extra topics do you hope to create for the style in the future?
I think science fiction would be interesting, or anything related to the universe and the imaginary future. From asteroids, planets, space architecture, astronauts and things like that, hahaha!
What are your thoughts on the style's color palette?
I think pastels, which are light colors within the color spectrum, are great. Having a dark stroke always contrasts well with the light color palette.
How do you think designstripe users can make good use of the Hansen Modern style?
In general, Hansen Modern scenes are light scenes that can be adapted to any web page, app social network or any printed materials you can think of. It’s even better that you can customize a lot of an illustration’s elements.
What message do you think the style gives to people?
Regardless of what the scene itself communicates, I think it can deliver a sense of lightness, of something light, de-stressed, of relaxation, of learning, that things can be simpler. This is mainly because of the style’s freehand strokes and color palette.
Our thanks again go to Claudio for some amazing thoughts on Hansen Modern. It was great to learn more about him too - we see his philosophy shine through in the scenes. Click here to see our entire library of Hansen Modern scenes and objects.
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