MVM – Magnus Voll Mathiassen — Drammen, Norway

“Illustration is about problem-solving. How is it possible to create something minimal, but still make it appear rich and detailed? The process is both highly organic as well as strategic. Each illustration is a puzzle in a way; colour, form and line need to be put together correctly. I want the result to look fluid, but also to have hierarchy and order.”

Norwegian illustrator Magnus Voll Mathiassen co-founded graphic-design practice Grandpeople in 2005, before focusing on his own MVM studio in 2009. His background in graphics is clearly visible in his editorial portraiture, which features fluid shapes of bubble-gum colour assembled to mould and highlight well-known faces. Given Kraftwerk’s The Robots album by his uncle when he was five, he’s long been deeply fascinated by music and the visual universe that accompanies it.