Klaus Meinhardt

Overview

Klaus Meinhardt is such a versatile artist – one minute he’s creating clever, conceptual graphics; the next it’s humorous, cartoon-like panels; before moving on to pictograms or icons. His work is ideal in all kinds of scenarios – online, editorial, publishing, instructional materials, and more.

The creativity and imagination of this Hamburg-based artist are far ranging, too. He’s a songwriter in a band, he loves the drama of sports like football and boxing, and he collects old paperbacks published by Rororo – a colourful German equivalent of Penguin Classics.

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. Some of his earliest memories include the first moon landing, and Muhammad Ali’s Rumble in the Jungle, which he recalls as magical images brought into the family home by television. 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.

Training

Klaus studied Fine Art first, before moving to the Hamburg Technical College for Design to complete a diploma in Communication Design.

Approach

Working closely with his clients, Klaus likes to get into a brief and understand exactly what’s required. Then he starts drawing and sketching on tracing paper, before shifting to digital media and working in Illustrator, InDesign or Photoshop.

Klaus is inspired not by recreating images from the world around us, but by understanding how peoples and cultures will look at any given subject through art and illustration. He looks at all kinds of other artists working in different periods and styles, then advances on some of those ideas with his own approach to the subject.

Styles

Clean, clear, striking and with a touch of humour where appropriate, Klaus’ images always make an impact. Rather than a handmade and instinctive feel, he prefers to construct his images like a graphic designer, and his compositional and layout skills are very strong. His work images have a variety of finishes, from a crisp geometric look through to the clean lines of his manual illustrations, and on to a woodcut style which works well for portraits and subjects such as food.

Client List

• Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt
• G+J Verlag
• The Financial Times
• Rowohlt Verlag
• Oxford University Press
• Pfizer
• Korn Ferry Consulting
• KPMG
• Phillips
• W&V
• Wunderman Health
• Hauffe Newtimes Publishing
• Va bene Verlag
• Migros Magazin