Tell us a bit about yourself and how you found your way to a creative career.

I’m Ben, Graphic/motion designer and illustrator, born and raised in Jerusalem. I studied Visual communication at Bezalel Academy. My passion for graphic design and illustration started from writing graffiti. It started as simple tags on walls and other surfaces, and soon became murals with real typographic value, later to be accompanied by cool characters and illustration bits, unusual color schemes and feeling of motion.

How did you find your medium and style, and who and what influenced you?

I found out that I enjoy the feeling of pencil and paper the most, and that it gives me better control of the lines, curves and general shape. I then use the raw material and either manipulate it as it is or vectorize it. I take a lot of inspiration from the roughness of linocut prints and lately from mixed media street art and the simple “bad” illustration that skilled illustrators draw as a form of liberation from strict styles of drawing.

What subjects are you most fascinated with?

I am most fascinated by everyday objects, usually the ones that are related to simple living, food and beverages, and also nature and the situations happening between them. In most of my recent work I like interpreting song lyrics into illustrative compositions.

What illustration trend are you either loving or hating at the moment?

I love the new wave of illustration that is sketchy, uneven, lines aren’t parallel etc., but have great color schemes and a wonderful overall composition and style.

I also love the revival of 2d flat illustration that gives a great feeling of volume while totally flat and clean.

How do you create characters, what inspires them, how do you use color?

Usually when I create characters, I use a certain kind of characteristics like specific eye shape, face and limb size as a nice starting point for my illustration, also to have the work associated with me and my illustration style. Once in a while I find one subject that I really like illustrating and just draw it constantly for an unlimited time period, usually because I find out that I can play with their size, character etc. the recent ones were Palms, Snakes and Moka pots. Regarding colors, I usually pick one color to start with and then either contrast it drastically – Usually with a limited palette, or compliment it with a wide palette.

If you had to pick a favorite project, which one are you most proud of and why?

Last year I worked on a series of illustrations and animation for Beit Ariela’s new lecture season for 2023–2024. The project’s idea was to give life to an object that is related to a specific lecture. The style I chose to illustrate the characters in was a mix between my regular illustration style and a more loose form of it - to let the mind work faster and make funner results. 

I really enjoyed working on this because I had the freedom to research and let my imagination go wild. The motion process was also a fun step along the way and it allowed me to complete the story and give it life.

Describe your dream project.

My dream project would be just to illustrate and design vinyl records for my favorite bands.

What’s next for you?

I am thinking about creating a small book that will include a link between my favorite song lyrics and an illustrative interpretation for them – demonstrating my illustration style and developing it. Also to experiment more with animating my illustrations in all kinds of different forms and mediums.

Rapid Fire Round!

Morning person or night owl?

I’m a morning person in the morning and a night owl in the night and they don’t go well together. 🫠

Favorite word

Paradigm

Lunch or dinner?

Dinner!

A celebrity you’d like to have a drink with

Kyle Kinane is my favorite comedian from Los Angeles, I think that’d be wild.

If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future?

I think I would go to the 90’s as my current self.

Sweet or savory?

Savory

Are you a thinker or doer?

Both but I mainly think until I finally do.

Go-to karaoke song

Take on me A-ha

City break or beach holiday?

City break

What superpower would you like to have?

Probably the ability to teleport, I’ll never be late anywhere again.

Thank you Ben!