Exploring the digitally surreal works of Max Guther.

This week we chat with Max Guther, a Berlin-based illustrator and 3D designer who first worked with us on our SS19 collection. His work takes the form of angled, aerial perspectives, as if viewing a museum exhibit in eerie photographic form.

See more of Max’s work here, and give him a follow on Instagram.  

We love your work Max, tell us a bit about yourself

I create 3D illustrations with the focus on both interior and exterior design but also on the minute details of everyday life, trying to capture a larger truth about human behavior and their surroundings. I am obsessed with the isometric perspective which allows me to give a wider scope of a scene and leading the viewer up to an an all-seeing vantage point. I knew that I wanted to work in a creative field for a long time, during my studies I became more and more certain of working as an illustrator although I’m also still much curious about graphic design, art and architecture. Studying in Mainz with a slightly more occupationally-oriented education and in Offenbach with an artistic approach, the mixture helped me to develop myself and find my personal balance of work.

Guide us a little bit through your process, how do you bring an idea to life?

Besides working as a freelance illustrator where working on a tight deadline is a usual certainty, I really enjoy working on personal projects with time to think, develop and to play around. The idea for these projects might come to mind any time or any place, mostly at nights when I try to fall asleep.  When I start to work on a new project I read about the subject, after struggling with the sense and necessity of this certain issue, I do various sketches by hand before I start to create the illustration digitally. When working in 3D, sometimes I get lost in details and it's hard to find a way out but it doesn’t hinder my creative output. I try to separate between the concept on the one hand, which means searching for a strong idea and illustrating the subject most visible and the execution on the other hand. I'd say my way of working is well structured, of course, being in this field for some time probably make me stay in old habits but I try to break out from time to time.

Is there any artists you're influenced by?

I think there is not a particular artist I’m influenced by. I pull a lot of inspiration from daily life, I’m influenced by people around me, things that I see but also a lot from movies and books, which offer interesting approaches how to transfer different subjects and atmospheres. I really like the aesthetic of old computer games though and and I’m enthused by all kinds of static especially isometric drawings.

SCRT is all for the idea of demystifying creative process, do you have any advice? 

Every person working in the creative field has an own personal approach of working, developing and growing. Working as a creative means to dive into yourself as a person, looking who you’re comfortable working with, what subjects are important and challenging to you and how to combine/separate professional career and personal life. Do what you want to do and don’t let others restrict you.