Be immersed in nostalgia with the artwork of André Meca. Combining his vivid imagination and his love for collage, André developed a style that is distinctly his own. This talented artist has developed a style and a passion that is über inspiring. Read on this interview to know more about him and his work.

First off, we'd like to know more about you. Can you tell us more about yourself?

Hello, I am André Meca, a Portuguese graphic designer and illustrator. Currently I'm studying Graphic Design in Escola Superior de Artes e Design (ESAD) at Caldas da Rainha and working as a freelancer. I’ve always been very enthusiastic about design and the arts. I love to play with feeling and emotions, I truly believe that's really the base of design in general. I even consider myself a very, very simple person that have dreams and objectives in life, and a hard-working guy for sure. That's me.

Did you always wanted to become a graphic designer/illustrator?

Not at all, at first I started to teach myself programming as I love working with all the lines of code, and the scripts. However after some time, a massive change happened. I don’t know why, but I broke away from programming and moved towards art. That’s when Photoshop came into my life. It’s amazing to see how a simple piece of software changed my mind forever… From there I went to a design course, and the rest of the story is currently being documented via my portfolio.

What achievement are you most proud of?

To have found what I love to do for the rest of my life, and to still have the imagination to carry on for many more years. And of course to be recognized for my work, to be able to inspire people.

Can you describe your style? How did you develop it?

Collage! I just love to cut and paste... it's very simple... i grab this and cut here and there...grab another image and paste it here and there too! Always trying to be simple and creative! In the end when the image is finally composed, I love to edit it again - mixing colors, playing with levels and curves...well, endless possibilities.

Do you have any creative rituals to help you come up with a concept?

YES! My creative process is very stupid, really. I love to wake up and take right away a big cup of coffee, then I plan out the idea/execution. Finally, I execute it very fast, and many times the first sample is the best! That’s it, thinking and planning take up most of the process, and then the execution is very fast.