Updated December 7, 2024
* * *
Building upon a broad artistic and technical background, I craft all sorts of cool stuff with passionate people who love what they do ālike me.
I feel especially comfortable creating for screens, but Iām notoriously curious, driven to explore, learn and experiment across all kind of media. Thatās why I like to collaborate interdisciplinary and do projects that cross-scale in production.
If you need to slap a single label on what I do, I like the German term āGestaltingenieurā (which translates to something like āengineer of formā), but basically Iād prefer for you to simply think of me this way: Iām not specialized in _anything_, Iām specialized in _everything_.
Experience
----------
Beeing a habitual beginner and ālearn-aholicā, I grow my skillset primarily by doing. Most recently Iāve leveraged my roughly 15 years of experience in creation and code by
**Creation:**
Research, conceptualisation, art direction, design systems, interaction and UI/UX design, prototyping, development
**Code:**
HTML, PHP, CSS (incl. SCSS), Javascript (incl. GSAP, Three.js, paper.js)
**Tool kit:**
Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, DaVinci Resolve, Blender
teaching Game Design and supervising attending distance students at Euro-FH, University Of Applied Sciences
since 2024ā¢Remote (Hamburg, Germany)ā¢ongoing
teaching Game Design and co-developing said degree program at Wilhelm BĆ¼chner Hochschule (Wilhelm Buechner College)
since 2024ā¢Remote (Frankfurt, Germany)ā¢ongoing
exploring technology and its effects on culture and society as founder and chairman of the non-profit Virtuelle Kultur e.V. (Virtual Culture)
on a project basis since 2022ā¢ongoing
shaping visual systems and helping brands through strategic design thinking and art direction as self-employed **design consultant**
occasionally since 2018
planing, designing, and building digital solutions and helping brands evolve as designer and front-end developer at Wagnerwagner
since 2013ā¢Remote (Reutlingen, Germany)ā¢ongoing
running an experimental art practice dubbed **allyourhype!**, acting as a formless archive for random self-expression
infrequently since 2012
You might be thinking _āThatās a hell of a lot of stuff pal!ā_ and youāre absolutely right. I do a shit load of things.
Do I do too much?
_Maybe._
Do I spread myself too thin?
_Probably._
Do I enjoy every little piece Iām working on, though?
_Absoāfuckingālutely!_
Contact
-------
Due to my numerous long-term commitments and extremely limited remaining capacities, I rarely take on new assignments for the time being. If you have something special you want to collaborate on and therefore talk about, though, message me on Linkedin.com or get in touch via good olā Email. Charles Bukowskiās basically summed it up perfectly:
> _Ā»Understand me ā¦
> I do not have time for things that have no soul.Ā«_
That being said, Iām always down to casually meet and muse over fresh ideas with a good cup of coffee or a nice matcha. And if thereās only one thing about me to take away from this website, itās that Iām always interested in learning something new to broaden my horizon.
Alternatively, thereās of course the solid option to join forces with the tried-and-tested team of Wagnerwagner or the collective mind of Virtuelle Kultur e.V. if you want to end up working together.
Design Ethos
------------
Even though Iām utilizing design in as many forms and for as different projects as I possibly can, I try to align all of my creative work with what I like to call my design ethos. And while preferences and focus points change and my attitude towards specific style concepts and design philosophies shifts, the following ideas are meant to be way more fundamental, allowing potential collaborators for a better understanding of my thinking, my design values and how I aspire to approach projects;
> I believe design is best approached with a ādonāt-know-mindā and in a playful yet meticulous manner. At the beginning of each project, we need to learn as much as possible about context and the flow of things, to then develop an individual approach and finally design from inside to outside, from user experience backwards to technology.
>
> The design process is a steady search for value, itās meant to be organic and iterative. The crucial part always is to ask honest questions, listen closely and be empathetic to the culture we create for.
>
> And since design draws from and feeds back into the world around us, good designers borrow from multiple places. We have to go through life with our eyes wide open, we need to study everything around us.
> As designers, we have to acknowledge circumstances as they are, but our work has to be future-positive, it has to be accessible and empowering. After all, design is not just _āwhat it looks likeā_, or even _āhow it worksā_, ultimately design is about the meaning it produces, itās about what it enables.
>
> We might be hired by companies and organizations, but we work for those affected by our craft. We design for people.
> I furthermore believe in doing good work without rushing, crafting with intention and that the best āstuffā is usually built by happy folks. To craft consistently well we need our working relationships to be long-term partnerships built on trust and care. Design is not meant to be a sprint, but a process of growth.
> Lastly, to design is to shape the future. Therefor, good design needs to be holistic and sustainable, robust and consistent, intuitive yet innovative. To achieve that, the baseline is simplicity, but we canāt shy away from offbeat aesthetics, playful storytelling and even vast beauty, if appropriate, either.
>
> Design needs balance, it has to speak to the head and the heart. Form follows feeling, just as form follows function.
> / last updated November 2024
* * *
(more) About Me
---------------
Iām convinced how we spent our spare time not only tells a lot about us, but strongly influences our output as creatives, as well. In the wise words of the amazing Frank Chimero:
> _
>
> Ā»Iād say slow down, find a quiet place and create time for solitude so you can hear yourself. Itās so noisy out there. And find the good ones around you āthe patient, compassionate and interestedā then elevate the conversation as often as you can. **The things that nourish you are also the things that will nourish your work, give it purpose, depth and soul.** Itās hard to say what those things may be, but life has taught me over and over that you donāt need to know if you are willing to ask.Ā«
>
> _
So here are a few things that nourish me.
### Music
Besides art, all kinds of design and technology, I get most excited about music. Iāve worked on graphics and artworks for a few bands in the past and Iām dabbling into making music myself from time to time, but mainly I enjoy growing and listening to my beloved record collection.
Here are some of the LPs occupying my record player most often at the moment.
/ last updated December 2024
### Games
I probably do not deserve the title āGamerā and might not conform to the stereotype either, but Iāve been into video games since eight year old me watched my big brother play Secret of Evermore on his SNES back in 1996.
Besides the sheer entertaining qualities and the frequent utilisation of experimental hardware and emerging technology, I believe video games are still crucially underrated as an artform and cultural property.
Here are some good (or at least interesting) games Iāve played recently.
/ last updated September 2024
#### Moonring
install from itch.io (for free!)
#### Trek to Yomi
install from Steam
### Books
Even so I spent most of my reading time with my first-born daughter and her favourite childrenās books right now, I manage to squeeze in a few pages of the books recently added to my āantilibraryā and some re-readings of a few of my favourites every now and then.
Here are some books Iām currently reading.
/ last updated August 2024
* * *
On the topic of reading and time spent; Thanks kindly for stopping by and taking the time ( so far) to read through this website, your attention isnāt taken for granted!
Thatās it with the āme\-me\-me\-festā for now. Have a great day and remember to scroll slow.
Much Love.
Colophon
--------
This is the 2024 iteration of my personal website which has existed in various forms since around 2009. The current version is composed of a bunch of dead simple handwritten files.
If given a choice, I build websites without tracking, fingerprinting or personalised cookies. This one leads by example.
Text is set in āSatoshiā by the Indian Type Foundry
Some of the JavaScript utilizes GSAP and paper.js
This website is hosted green, all files necessary to run lucasrees.com are served through my own webspace
Ā©2024 Lucas Reesā¢Imprint (in German)
ę„ć
ęÆå„½ę„ (nichi nichi kore kÅjitsu)