Simone Lengo

=The first digital artist I looked at was Simone Legno; he is an Italian illustrator who made the website Tokidoki to showcase his 2D digital artwork, which is heavily influenced by Japan and Japanese culture but is presented in a very western way, which gives his work more impact because of the juxtaposition.  His work is bold and recognisable although it may lack detail it doesn’t need it. Since it’s a brand the images need to be mass produced and detail would be useless, it would also take away the impact of the image which is what Tokidoki relies on. Tokidoki shares a lot of these traits with the big Japanese brand Hello kitty, which was one of Simone’s inspirations. I really like the style of Simone’s work because of its simplicity, boldness and use of bright colours to grab attention all give it a unique identity that it easy to identify and that is part of the reason it became so popular. I am also interested in Japanese culture like Simone so I can understand the appeal of the culture there and how it influences his work.

To make his characters Simone first starts with a pencil sketch, scans it in and then uses adobe illustrator to trace over the sketch and add detail. This process is good as some people find it easier drawing traditionally, at least for the initial stuff, and the digital programs give his work the simple bold look which makes his work so recognisable around the world. The thing I like most about Simone’s work is the juxtaposition between the Asian influence and themes to the western techniques used; it makes his work stand out and is really unique. The only thing I don’t really like about his work is the simplicity, although I do understand the reason for it.