Klaus Meinhardt — Conceptual Graphic Illustrator, Hamburg

Klaus Meinhardt is such a versatile artist. One minute he’s creating clever, conceptual graphics; the next it’s humorous, cartoon-like panels; then he’s crafting stylish icons. His work is ideal in all kinds of scenarios – online, editorial, publishing, instructional materials, and more.

Klaus decided to be an illustrator when he was five or six years old because he felt he could improve upon the children’s books he owned. Later he created his own comics, and went on to work in a graphic design studio before cutting the safety-wire and becoming a full-time freelance illustrator. With a far-ranging imagination, Klaus studied Fine Art then went to Hamburg Technical College for Design to complete a diploma in Communication Design. The beauty of Klaus's graphic style is that you know immediately what is intended! He sees himself as a "designing" illustrator who carefully considers which style perfectly fits the content. A good idea is essential and a good dose of humor certainly plays a role. Klaus specializes in business and financial topics, as well as medical and anatomical areas. He creates icons, vignettes and logos and enjoys character development as well as "woodcut" lines with a nostalgic look. To balance his work, the Hamburg native plays guitar and composes for his "Heinz Krämer - Werner Hornig Sextet," and he enjoys cycling in the countryside. He speaks: German, English, Low German, and Upper Austrian

Approach

Clarity, precision, symmetry, and a keen attention to detail are very important to him. He loves perfect composition and precisely balanced, eye-pleasing lines and shapes. Klaus likes to use bold, optimistic colors. He never settles for anything half-baked or immature. He finds spontaneous, scribbled, and hastily created work uninteresting. Only the calmness of the forms allows for intellectual contemplation and, when done well, creates a visual "pulling effect."

Styles

Clean, clear and with a touch of humour where appropriate, Klaus’ images and graphics always make an impact. Constructing his images like a graphic designer, he has strong layout and compositional skills and uses the finish to hone their look and feel – from a crisp geometric style through to a woodcut effect, which works well for portraits and subjects like food. He works using: Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator

Client list

Klaus has clients including Oxford University Press, Pfizer, the Financial Times, Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt, G+J Verlag, Rowohlt Verlag, Korn Ferry Consulting, KPMG, Phillips and many more.