Interview: Brad Schwede of Graffiti Technica

For an artform born of the streets, Graffiti has evolved greatly over its short history. The street art scene is thriving, and graffiti artists are using new types of media to express their artwork. Graffiti Technica and it’s creator Brad Schwede sit down with Flawless Hustle to discuss his foray into the realm of 3d Generated Graffiti.

Flawless Hustle: Hi Brad, please give us a little background on yourself and your project Graffiti Technica.

Brad Schwede: I am an Australian motion graphics designer by trade – working mainly in broadcast design for TV. I have had a few different jobs since I left Uni. (studied Multimedia) mainly in the graphic design arena.

Graffiti Technica was a project I started a year or so ago it was a project inspired by a love of technology, design and graffiti styles. I kept seeing shapes in technology that would lend themselves so well to graffiti styles so I decided to start working away on a few pieces and can’t seem to stop now.

FH: When did you get into writing graffiti? Who or what were your influences?

BS: Graffiti for me has always been a design style rather than a crime. I started sketching designs out when I was really young, I remember being inspired by a book called “Spraycan Art” which I later found out didn’t just influence me but a whole lot of people all over the world. It was the first time that I had seen a book dedicated purely to graffiti and the designs blew my mind.

At the time I was also doing a lot of art and was very heavily inspired by cubist and futurist styles of painting and sculpture. Now that I think about it, I was also listening to a lot of techno and trance so maybe that also had an influence on where the design has ended up.

FH: Are there any artists you wish you could collaborate with if given the chance?

BS: I would like to work with people that are using technology in new ways and in fields that are totally different to design. One of my motivations for starting this work was to try to push my own graffiti style in totally new directions. I think collaborating with people in different fields (science, nanotechnology, music, architecture etc) would fast track this and create something really interesting and something totally new.

FH: What made you decide to bridge the gap between walls, canvases & black books to the web?

BS: What traditional graffiti artists do with shape and lighting in their work seemed to translate naturally into a 3d object. I had been playing around with graffiti in 3d programs for a long time before starting the site – I used to play with designs while I was waiting for long renders to finish at work.

The first few designs didn’t work at all as I had to get my head around the angles and still try to keep the lettering correct. The extra dimension means that you have to think about where your line work would go in 3d space which can get tricky if it is a wildstyle piece with lines going in and out of the lettering

The upside to working digitally is that you can re-purpose the work and render it from whatever angle you want. Once the actual design is created having a digital file gives you a lot more options than having your work on a canvas or wall.

FH: Can you describe your creative process a little bit? What goes into creating one of your 3d pieces?

BS: I started Graffiti Technica with a goal of actually using bits of technology (Cat-5 cable, film projectors, Atari games machine) I was inspired by all sorts of old and new technology that would translate perfectly into some futuristic 3d graffiti design.

If you have ever looked at the angles that go into creating a graffiti design you can start to see them everywhere (and it can drive you insane). I have seen branches on trees that bend in certain angles that almost directly match the blocked out shape of a tag.. The way smoke rises and folds in on itself, angles used in modern architecture. There are a whole list of things that are starting to inspire my work.

Once I have an idea for a work I usually don’t act on it straight away as I find that the longer I leave it the more ideas I get. As the work is 3d you have to think about the texture, lighting and location of the work so shape and lettering are just one aspect to it.

FH: I’ve always been intimidated by 3d rendering. Do you need a powerful computer in order to render the graphics?

BS: It can get pretty machine hungry – my current machine is a dual quad core with 12gigs of ram.. Mainly the machine is used for my motion graphics work so I need the power anyway.

It really depends on what you are doing though. If you are just starting out in 3d you don’t need a powerful machine at all as most modern machine can handle 3d.

Graffiti Technica on Youtube

FH: Do you find a lot of benefit to working digitally versus working by hand?

BS: It is actually harder to work completely digitally as a machine still can’t replicate the way a pen feels and interacts with paper. Even with a tablet you still can’t get the fluid line work that you need. However I don’t mind the initial frustration anymore as it just saves time in scanning and re-tracing.

I am always on the lookout for new software that can get a more realistic effect or replicate the way that pens feel but I am yet to find the perfect software.

FH: Is there a scene for 3d graffiti art these days? What could you tell someone looking to get involved in creating 3d graffiti art themselves?

BS: I haven’t really seen anyone else doing this type of work, if there are people out there I would love to hear from them. I know of a few artists that have done one or two designs in 3d but not a series of works.

I would suggest if people want to start doing 3d graff just to dive straight into any software (3d or 2d) and start designing. There are so many tutorial sites out there on the net that if you are committed to producing work you’ll find tutorials to help you.

FH: Where do you see graffiti & street art going over the next decade?

BS: I’m not really sure where it will go to be honest. I guess it will depend on where people want to take their own graffiti art and style. There are a lot of projects that are going on like wiispray & Graffiti Research Lab that are bringing graffiti to the masses and seem to be bypassing the typical public reaction so maybe blending graffiti with technology is the future.

I know that the gallery scene is starting to accept graffiti art more and more but I doubt it will ever be accepted as a true art form in the mainstream publics mind – and maybe that is a good thing.

FH: How can people learn more about your work?

BS: Best way is via the website (Graffiti Technica), I am trying to update it as often as I can with videos and renders of the work. Hopefully one day I will start making some tutorials for people interested in making their own work.

FH: Thanks for the opportunity and we look forward to watching the artform evolve.

Check out more of the insane 3d renders, artwork and wallpaper over at Graffiti Technica.