5 Questions for Rasmus Berggreen

We are delighted to have Rasmus Berggreen for this interview today. He's a concept designer and the co-founder of the visual development studio MOOD, which is located in Copenhagen Denmark.

He has worked several years creating art for films and games before starting MOOD. One of his current project now on Kickstarter is the Fall of Gods artbook. You should really see that artbook because the art is awesome. The campaign ends on 22 Oct 2014.

For this short interview, we'll talk a bit about his work and Fall of Gods.

Qn: Can you give us an introduction on how you got started in art, your training and personal ​inspiration?

I still remember as a kid seeing some art being made for a Disney film and I was totally blown away. I really like to draw, and I didn't know you could actual make a living out of it, and it was so amazing to see imagination being transformed into living images.

Years later I found out there was the Danish design school, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where you could get specialized in design for film. I worked hard to get into the school, and it really helped me focus on what I wanted with my life. Luckily I got in, and it opened a whole bunch of new doors for me.

I'm inspired by the more classic painters like William Turner, there is so much drama in his paintings. I have always been drawn to the storytelling in images. This is what I strive to do, to get better at telling a good story, as well as being visually appealing.

Qn: You've worked as a concept artist for films & games before. Now you run your own studio.How different is the experience?

Wow, there is a lot of difference.

The design part is more or less the same, and you will have to solve the same challenges.

But the company also has to work, so you need to invest a lot of time in making it an awesome place, as well as getting all the practicalities in order -- there are so many things besides the actual work, like talking with the clients, managing expenses etc. Necessary things to run a company :)

But there is a huge freedom in having your own studio, we want to be engaged in what we do, and we work hard on getting involved in projects we have a lot of passion for.

Qn: You seem to have been in the concept art industry for a long time. What advice would you give to those who want to become a concept artist?

Try to work hard to get into a school that focuses on what you want to do. It gives you the opportunity to really focus, meet others with the same interest and evolve.

Also, get to different events and talk with people. To land a job is of course depends not only on how good you are, but also networking.

Qn: Your Kickstarter project Fall of Gods is inspired by Norse mythology. How does your team approach research when it comes to design?

I think it is important in the design to make a strong direction. In this project, we want to interpret Norse Mythology with a Scandinavian point of view as we have mostly seen American versions and they all tend to make it in a different form… just look at Thor to see the difference.

Scandinavian nature has been a huge inspiration, and the feeling that man is small and fragile in it. We have researched Scandinavian nature for a long time, and that has transformed into the design. We want the world to feel kind of real, so you can almost imagine being in it. And I think looking at nature helps make the design more believable.

Qn: What is most challenging when trying to create a piece of concept art? Do you have examples from your past projects or Fall of Gods?

The biggest challenge is to make it interesting.

In the beginning it was more about being good enough at painting and the technical aspects, but now I feel it is even more important to tell a good story. Sometimes you succeed, and other times the image end up flat and boring. But I try to always iterate on my pictures, until it tells what I want.

Working with clients you also have to understand where they want to go and that can be challenging. You need to transform that information, and hopefully come up with a strong concept.

Special thanks to Rasmus Berggreen for this interview.

Check out more details of his Kickstarter campaign at https://kck.st/ZCci5V

Campaign ends 22 Oct 2014.