We chat to the London-based graphic artist about his impressive body of work.
You Make It Possible - "I keep this thought close to my heart and I encourage who reads this to have the faith to do so as well"
Jeff Osbourne is a self taught graphic artist based in London, who has a passion for creative retouching, 3D and typography. We liked his work so much, we thought we'd find out more about how he goes about creating it and what inspires him...
How did you first get started in design?
I left school at the age of 17 without any qualifications or a clue of what I wanted to do with my work life. I literally asked all my mates how much they earned and one of them was getting well paid (for that time) as an apprentice drum scanner operator. So I was lucky enough to get a job as a four colour planner (which is the same as a modern day art worker, but using film instead of a Mac).
I always had an interest as a kid in air brush art, especially type, I would stare and wonder how the air brush artist could make these cool looking 3D chrome letters. I never thought I would end up making my own!
What work are you most proud of?
Let There Be Light - "a little test to see what the Advanced renderer could do in Cinema 4D R11"
Hmm... That's a hard one. But if I had to narrow it down, it would probably be Let There Be Light (personal work) and Virgin Unlimitacular (professional work).
Let there be Light (above) as it got quite a bit of exposure and a well known 3D guru saw it and made a tutorial of how he thought I made it for his blog. All of a sudden I was getting loads of hits on my behance page and great feedback.
Virgin Unlimitacular
And I would also chose Unlimitacular (above) as I couldn't read a paper or pass a billboard in London without seeing it, and tell me who wouldn't like to see their handy work on a massive 96 sheet poster and in the press!
How important are personal projects?
My personal projects are very important. It is my way of expressing my faith (I'm a born-again Christian). And how I feel. I also have 100 per cent say on the outcome of the design without anyone's input, which in itself is quite liberating.
What do you see as the advantages of being self-taught?
Four of Clubs - "I was one of 54 artists around the world invited by http://digitalabstracts.com to produce a piece of art for a pack of poker cards"
The main advantage of being self-taught for me is that you are not taking on someone else's thought process. I find that this stops creativity as you follow step by step instruction by a lecturer.
Don't get me wrong, I read books and looked at what online tutorials there were at the time of learning, but I used my own mind and would find out, better, creative ways to use the software at my disposal.
What tools do you make most use of in your work?
I Need You Tonight – "a personal piece created with the 1980s in mind"
I am always looking for new ways of creating my artworks. But the process of my work normally involves Cinema 4D, V-Ray, Illustrator and Photoshop.
Have you seen a great example of 3D typography? Share it with us in the comments!
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Tom May is an award-winning journalist and author specialising in design, photography and technology. His latest book, The 50th Greatest Designers, was released in June 2025. He's also author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine.
