A Journey to Individuality with Fragment.Vision
An interview with @Fragment.vision Curated By @Sonderplant
Who are you?
Hi, I’m Fragment Vision, but my real name is Andrei and I’m an 18 years old visual artist based in Romania, Europe.
What got you into graphic design?
Well there’s a long ass story, but to summarize it I’ve always been into art, especially when I was a child and I used to draw cartoon characters. While growing up, I learned how to understand myself and art in general, so a few months before the pandemic started I began doing logos and stuff like that. Even though Photoshop has always seemed very hard to understand and use, I have pushed myself to learn it to bring my ideas to life.
Who has or continues to inspire you, and how have they influenced your creative work?
First of all, life inspires me in a lot of ways. I’ve been through many hard moments so I think everything that happened to me has contributed to who I am now, all those things are reflected in my art. We are literally a sort of result of our surroundings. We see things, go through a lot of emotions and, at the end of the day, acknowledge and take them with us into our art. There are a lot of people in this community that inspire me a lot. Shoutout ##newgen, all the people in there are amazing, besides that clearly @joy_divizn, @gbcpierre, @reduciano, @daniel_valer, @lumbyst, @6wrkge6.
How would you define your style, and how did you discover it?
I really don’t know how to describe my style though, I hate when people box themselves in a specific genre or style. I love combining things and freeing myself because my work it’s about feelings. Just do your thing and leave it to the people, let them translate it as they feel like.
What was your thought process like when creating the design for the Pink Tape Collection?
The Pink Tape collection was made very random, exactly how all my designs are because I love creating when I feel like doing it. In the past, I used to force myself into creating something just because I was so interested in numbers and all that shit, but right now I just imagine things, looking for starting points to develop my ideas on them. I have never been able to explain myself how I make art precisely because when I create I feel that my mind disconnects from my body, that I become one with the project. In every project, there is a small piece of my soul that will always light it up.
Can you share an experience when you had to work within a tight deadline, and how did you manage to deliver high-quality work?
To be honest, even though I’ve never been pressed for time or by a deadline, I used to apply a lot of pressure on myself, which is a very bad thing for people's mental health in general, and everyone that has this problem should stop doing it. I always manage to organise my time properly and that’s a very important skill.
How do you handle feedback and criticism of your work?
When I was young, my mom thought me that sometimes it’s better to listen to other’s opinions. Growing up with that idea I’ve always liked to get feedback. I guess the most important thing is to know how to receive feedback, positive or negative, without having your vision altered.
If you could change anything within the graphic design industry, what would you change and why?
I would definitely change the way people underestimate artists and how sometimes clients abuse us in certain ways. Let’s work together, thus through love, emotions and humbleness to shape this place and transform it into a better environment.
What is your all-time favourite piece of media (movie/anime)?
My Favourite movie is probably Requiem for a Dream along with Trainspotting, shoutout @onuralpdw for being an amazing movie dealer.
Do you have any advice for beginner graphic designers struggling to find their place within the field?
Just don’t box yourself, try to find your own rhythm, your own style and don’t apply pressure on yourself and on how things happen. Just keep in mind that people are not the same, mental health is the most important thing, don’t let anyone abuse you and learn how to love yourself and others too. And remember that you are not alone in this shit.
Anything you want to shout out?
Shoutout my family, shoutout my girlfriend, shoutout ##newgen, shoutout Onur, shoutout VIZN2, shoutout Dxnu, shoutout my printer, shoutout Sonderplant, shoutout Visual Pharmacy, and most important, shoutout myself and all the time I’ve spent developing myself, learning how to love, how to stop hating myself. Shoutout to all the people that made me hate myself, traumatized and made me feel small because I’m not like that anymore. Love y’all! It’s us!
A @Thevisualpharmacy & @Sonderplant collaboration