Though there are countless blogs with declarations of love for Adam Hill’s work with links to his flickr photostream, there is very little actual information about him on the internet. I put my internet detective pants on (aka sweat pants) and began meddling. I was able to decipher that he is from Cape Town, South Africa and worked for Code (Company of Designers) as a senior designer and is in the “Post-Core” band the Sleepers. After that ….   So, I decided to email Adam and see if we could find out a little more about him.

Is any of the information mentioned above correct?

I recently left Code to pursue a freelance career which also helps me balance my time between design and music more effectively. Sleepers is a Progressive Rock band. “Post-Core” is a band inside-Joke. We laughed at how every tiny genre of music is somehow now ‘post-this’ or ’something-core’. So we just added a prefix to a suffix and we were left with a genre that really had no meaning.

Did your interest in designing band posters start from being in a band?

Since I was in high school I’ve admired the way band posters are so huge overseas and that people will buy posters as commemorative artwork. Pouring over books of awesome posters of your favourite bands. By the time I got to Design school I formed the Sleepers – so the interest in band posters was compounded out of necessity. Which was great because I was able to combine my two passions – design and music.

What was the first band poster you illustrated?

The first poster I made was a black and white collage for The Sleepers’ first show back in 2005. I was a big Art Chantry fan back then so the type reminds me a lot of what he does. I also hand coloured some of the eyes and ears. I still have the poster in a cupboard somewhere.

What band would you most like to be commissioned to do a poster for?

Wow. This is a tough one. So many great bands have had the cream of the poster design world do work for them. I think I would love to do a poster for (lists a couple of his favourite bands in his head) : NIN, The Mars Volta, Wilco, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Queens Of The Stone Age. The list goes on but really, if a band was to approach me I would probably be so happy. I would love to do a poster for pretty much anyone. Also, doing posters for smaller bands is also a lot of fun. You really get the sense that you are contributing in some way by getting their name into the public eye.

Being from South Africa, do you feel that the art scene there has significant differences from how you perceive the art scene in the US or Europe?

Well, I’m not really a fine artist. I have friends in the Art scene and they often complain about how small it is. I think this also makes people overly protective about their work and can stop them from wanting to collaborate. You can only have so many fish doing one thing in a small pond.

But from a designer’s point of view I think there is a much larger appreciation for really great design overseas as opposed to South Africa. I think we are a young country with a majority of our population not being that visually literate. Not because they wouldn’t appreciate it but because they haven’t had enough exposure. With this said, I think our country’s level of visual literacy is growing every year.

What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages of being an artist from South Africa?

People who love good design and art are really appreciative of the work you do here. Also, the tiny scene we have here is filled with really cool people who are supportive of everyone’s work. We are further away from everything else so I think we have an opportunity to grow and cut our own path without having to live in the shadow of so many amazing artist’s overseas. This has its downside too – I’m too far away from Flatstock, from some of my favourite bands and a lot of really interesting Artists that I would love to collaborate with. One of the main disadvantages would be a lack of appreciation or understanding of why good Art and Design is so necessary.

What artists inspire you now and how has that changed from who inspired you when you were developing your talent?

If someone’s work resonate’s with me, I seldom loose interest in them. Basically, many of the Artists and Designer who continue to inspire me are the same ones who’s work I discovered back in college. The list continues to grow all the time – Aesthetic Apparatus, Ames Bros, Peter Saville, Saul Bass, a Lot of mid-century modernist designer’s and illustrators, Leonardo da Vinci (mainly for helping me understand that creativity doesn’t have to stick to on field or medium), Low Brow artist’s like Mark Ryden and Camille Rose Garcia, Daniel Clowes, Josef Muller-Brokmann. The list really could continue forever. I am constantly seeing new work by people I’ve never heard of that blows me away. Thank you Internet!

Is there a medium that you would like to explore more? (oils, sculpture, music, film etc …)

I would love to explore figure drawing, paper sculpture, motion design and improve my photography. I would love to create the title sequence for a film and then write the music for it! For me, first prize is when you get to combine the things you love the most. It’s really fulfilling.

What South African Artist or Musician would you recommend that the rest of us should be aware of?

There are so many great South African artists and musician that I am also fortunate enough to be friends with. Artists like Jordan Metcalf, Bison Art & Ali Aschman are really worth looking into. Bands like Isochronous, Dear Reader, Side Car Fire, Lark, Andy Lund & The Mission Men, Coal and Verona Walls are all great and are trying to do something different and exciting. Or course, their is also my own band, The Sleepers, which I would like to shamelessly self-promote.

How do South Africans feel about the buzz the rap group Die Antwoord is getting in the rest of the world?
Personally I’m not a fan of Die Antwoord and think that becoming massive through an internet meme is a sure fire way to cut your lifespan in half. I think there are a lot of other South African groups that are so much better that deserve a lot more attention.

Sometimes when you meet someone with your same name, there can be a bit of awkwardness or even competition. When I interviewed Adam, I was unsure if it would be a contest to be the “Better Adam”. Luckily for me there was no awkwardness or tension from this incredibly nice and talented artist. Which I realize now is why he won the “Better Adam” gold medal long before I could enter the race.