Ollie Munden puts a combination of nature’s creatures, tattoo design, street art, 80′s skate graphics and far eastern woodblock prints (amongst other secret ingredients) into a pot and mixes them all together to create a beautifully seasoned stew.

Hey Ollie, could you give us a brief description of your background ?
Yep – sure. I followed the usual path through art school and went on to study Graphic Design at University. I got my first job up in town (London, UK) as a Junior Designer. I stayed in that job for a while until I found my feet and discovered it was actually Illustration that I wanted to focus my attention on. I set up my own site, called ‘ForeverNature’ at the time and this led me to team up with a guy (who in fact used to tutor me for a short while) called John McFaul. Together we expanded what he had started and ‘McFaul’ became ‘McFaul Studio’. I will have been at McFaul Studio 4 years this March as Senior Designer.

What kind of work do you create at McFaul Studio?
Well everything we do tends to stem from an illustration perspective, it’s what we do best. But our ambition coupled with our illustrative skill and design flair has led us to play in areas, and on outputs, that perhaps most other illustrators might not get to. I think that’s what creating the studio has enabled – clients take our ability to work across more than just the regular illustration outputs much more seriously. We have created a full brand website for Nokia Interactive, a TV commercial for Specsavers, Idents for Music channels, 3 x 30ft murals for a Havaianas Flip Flop campaign, design graphics for more than 1 pair of Air Jordan’s… to name drop just a few examples. We get some great jobs, but they come at a price – both on our time and our lives, but we love what we do and will continue to do it for as long as we are enjoying it.

What do you get up to outside of McFaul Studio
Illustration, design and general creativity is part of my life, in fact, it pretty much is my life. If I’m not working on something at the studio I’m working on something personal or collaborative. Tattoo design is something that has really taken off for me in 2009, and is something I have a real interest in. It has been ‘hands down’ the most satisfying way of outputting my work. This is due to the fact that the people you are working for are incredibly into what you are creating for them, there is nothing more permanent (artwork wise) than a tattoo. The client takes what they are asking of you seriously and if (and so far they all have been) they are happy with the result the feedback you get is far more personal and heartfelt than working on a commercial project. This for me is the real treat when designing a tattoo. The same goes for mural work for independent clients; if your painting something bespoke for their home or company the appreciation and interaction from the client is really rewarding.

Plans for 2010?
Yeah, there are always plans. I hope to push things both inside and outside of McFaul Studio. There are some great projects lined up for both right now and I’m just looking forward to getting stuck in. I’m going to be launching my own site early in the year where I’ll showcase personal work, tattoos, murals, collaborations and more.I am also really keen to try my hand at actually tattooing. I hear I need to practise on some pig skin first – although I do have some candidates on my list that have offered themselves as guinea pigs for my early attempts, you want to sign up to that list too?

I wish Mint Mag all the best for 2010. Peace.

words Ed Schofield

WWW.MEGAMUNDEN.COM

Prints from Ollie’s recent collaboration with fellow Illustrator ‘Chris Ede’ are ‘ON SALE’ here:
http://www.chrisede.net/store/

This entry was tagged as air jordans, ART., design, graphic, mcfaul studio, Mint Magazine, ollie munden, tattoo.