Ben Newman has developed a distinct aesthetic over the years; a contemporary fusion of bold shapes, bright colours and playful characters which has been described as ‘bauhaus fuzzy felt.’ He has produced work for a large range of clients, including the Tate Modern, New York Times, BBC Radio 4, Google and The New Yorker. He is the author of the Bento Bestiary (with Scott Donaldasn) and Ouroboros, published by Nobrow and Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space and Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure with Dr Dominic Walliman, published by Flying Eye Books.
In between jobs in his busy schedule we had the chance to ask him a couple of standard issue questions for your creative interest…
What is the driving force for your ideas?
An overactive imagination and an strong desire to create images that evoke lost nostagia. I have treasured memories as a child of finding American comics or Pink Panther episodes on the TV and I hope to spread those types of memories to a younger generation. Whether illustrating for the means of communicating or just creating something for the sake of it, I can’t shake the desire to just make stuff. It’s a bit like breathing. I love doing it and it’s certainly a compulsion.
And what inspires your work most?
Colour, paper, food, animals, music and laughing.