Q&A with Lorenz (Lopetz) Gianfreda

Hello, I'm Lorenz "Lopetz" Gianfreda sitting on a terrace of a nice caf? house located in the heart of Switzerland's small capital city Bern with coffee, cigarettes and your Workspiration questions. I'm surrounded by sparrows eager to steal away some crumbs from the cookie that came with the service.

What inspired you to become an artist?

My mother loved to read to me lovely and artistic illustrated books when I was a kid. To her slight disappointment I soon got more interested into all sorts of comic. I loved to copy my early heroes like Mickey Mouse, Asterix & Obelix, TinTin, Lucky Luke... Later I started to draw my own series for the audience of my two younger brothers. Since then it was obvious to me to do work with the pencil.

What tools do you use to organize your work?

My brain, my friends and partners and my assistant the smartphone.

What is your ideal work environment?

I need it cosy. I can't imagine to do my work well in a large crowded office space. Also pretty important to me is the opportunity to leave the work for taking distance. That is probably why our studio B?ro Destruct is located just next to the clean river called Aare that is flowing around the old part of Bern city.

Where does your design inspiration come from?

We say inspiration sources are surrounding us. Design books, mags and blogs are good to have but they also distract. I draw inspiration from trips to foreign countries and cultures, from daily objects, packaging, music, movies and games...

Who are the creative people you admire most?

There are so many different creatives from different fields who are impressing me with their talent that it would be unfair to exclude or forget them here. If I have to drop just one, it would be... hm... lets just take my most recent discovery «Laura Mvula» and her song «Is there anybody out there?».