Hugo Bernier’s delicate sculptural forms and imagined characters give his hazy work an ethereal feel

Across the works of Hugo Bernier you’ll encounter lots of “imagined characters”; strange little beasts cause mischief, busts with a mohawk (or sun) bursting from their scalp, and striding, determined figures with elongated fingers and toes. These are paired with more abstract, sculptural and “stylised explorations of form”, flower-like patterns, for example or hand-poked type for the band Men I Trust which is finished with snail shell serifs. These two strands of the illustrator and designer’s work have a similar essence, with rounded lines and hazy forms, giving his work an pleasingly organic and ethereal feel. It’s no surprise, as – alongside music, fashion, and industrial design – one of Hugo’s foremost influences is the “inimitable beauty” of nature.

While Hugo does work with digital methods, he makes sure to “maintain a connection” to physical mediums in every piece he makes, whether that’s ink drawing, airbrush painting or trailing various print methods. Hugo’s design practice is mainly rooted in zines, flyers, and band t-shirts, often drawing heavily on his illustrative style and methods to create lettering, branding and iconography that still feels distinctly in the same world as his personal work. He draws influence from fronts and logos from design history, all in efforts to create “a sense of timelessness in stylised, referential yet original form”, he says.