Dan Matutina / Twisted Fork

Few people can bring texture to an illustration like Dan Matutina of Twisted Fork can. An illustrator and designer from the Philippines, his work runs a wide range – from logo design to illustrations of folklore creatures and sci-fi heros. The best of all, his style (which he describes as a mix of handmade & digital, clean & dirty, old & modern aesthetics) is a constant among all his projects and makes him stand out.

We emailed him recently to talk a little bit more about his work:

Tell me a little more about yourself!
I’m Dan Matutina, a designer & illustrator based in the Philippines. I spend most of my time in the studio, working on illustration and design projects. I arrive at the studio really early in the morning and start my day with this routine: brew coffee (I love coffee), play video games, read the news and then begin work. Apart from working on design projects, I also a lecture at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts (my alma mater) every Tuesdays & Thursdays.

Your style is beautiful; and very consistent as well — how long did it take for you to come to this point as an illustrator? And could you tell us a little more about your process of discovering your style?
Thank you. 🙂 It took me some time to arrive at my current illustration style. It’s a mix of things I like: minimalist lines and shapes, plus handmade and manual illustrations. My favorite medium in art school were watercolor paints, so I also include it in the mix. Science fiction and films are also big influences in my work, especially in terms of composition and feel.

My current style began when I made a banig pattern. I wanted to mix the line patterns with some of the textures I scanned. I found the process pretty interesting, so I started adding different elements to it: brush strokes, paint spatters, etc. Most of the subjects of my illustrations at that time were on a flat plane, in other words there was no dimension. It was pretty limiting, so I decided to make the subjects and backgrounds exist on a 3d plane instead.

Up until now, I’m still trying to polish my style and maybe add more things to the mix. 😀 It’s always fun to experiment and discover new things.

Does your style and work seek to communicate a particular message?
I’m not too sure if my style has a certain message, I haven’t really thought about it. Hahaha. Maybe I should. Hmmm… Hahaha. But I do try to tell a different story with every illustration I make. I guess this is hinged more on the idea rather than my style. I try my best to say something different without trying too hard.

Who would be your dream client / Who would you love to work for?
My dream clients would be Monocle, the New Yorker, Nike and Xbox. 🙂 GOOD Magazine, was one of my dream clients, commissioned me to make illustrations for a couple of their issues. You can’t believe how happy I was!!! Cheers to dreams. 🙂

{Thanks Dan!}