Gilles de Brock’s bold poster designs use found imagery and psychedelic hues

Art director and designer Gilles de Brock’s designs are informed by “the limitations of the medium” he uses in each project. Psychedelic in colour choice and composition, Gilles creates work for long-term clients, who give him the trust and freedom he needs to experiment. Having worked with Nike, Metahaven, and most recently Red Bull, Gilles hopes to convey his own reflections on a subject in ways that the client may not have previously considered.

“The hardest challenge is to keep myself happy doing the designs. I get bored easily and since I like to think it’s all just a hobby and I don’t have to force myself to do it,” explains Gilles, who earns his keep outside of the design world. “I find a lot of challenges in programming different aspects of the work which is something I generally enjoy doing.”

An ongoing project of the designer’s is a series of posters for the Studium Generale at the KABK in the Hague, which encapsulates the organised chaos that’s come to define Gilles’ work. Using a mixture of found imagery from Google, pop culture references and nostalgic typography, it’s a bold series, with an identity that’s become more image-focused and refined over the years. “I’d like to think my work conveys clear stories, but I never set out to tell a specific story. I work intuitively, so usually the work is abstract to some extent and most of the time I don’t know how it will come out in print,” says Gilles. “I think with the posters specifically, each is a recording of the topics that are currently in my head.”