It’s Thursday, and you know what that means – it’s time to put the Spotlight On. This week, we have the pleasure of interviewing a distinguished Italian designer whose illustrations are in a class of their own, and recently won praise during the London Olympics. It’s true – today we’re getting the lowdown from Giampaolo Miraglia, who you may remember from our artist showcase a couple of months ago. On with the interview!

SL: Did you study to become an artist/illustrator/designer?

GM: First of all thank you so much for inviting me to join Springleap! Yes I did, at college I started with traditional arts, studying Sculpture and Jewelry at the Institute of Art in Rome, then Graphic Design at the Istituto Europeo di Design. But I did a lot of tutorials and research over the Internet myself.

SL: What’s your preferred medium?

GM: I have to say paper; the satisfaction to have the work in my hands is always rewarding for me.

SL: What other designers or illustrators have influenced your work?

GM: I don't have another artist who influenced me overall, or maybe is better to say that they are so many I can't come up with only one name, for sure one of my favourite artist since I was a child is a Dutch painter called Karel Thole, best known for his amazing covers for the Italian periodic SciFi books series 'Urania'.

SL: Name your favourite artwork of all time.

GM: Is very difficult to name only one artwork, there are so many talented people doing amazing stuff out there.

SL: What music are you listening to at the moment?

GM: To be honest I’m not listening any music at the moment, if I’m in my studio with other people I like to listen music on the radio, but if I’m alone I prefer to put a movie in the background, mostly older ones I’ve seen many times (Argento, Cronenberg, Carpenter, Fulci, only to name few of my favourite directors) many of them have great soundtracks so I can't ask for more.  

There you have it folks - sci-fi novels and film soundtracks, more than enough inspiration to fuel your imagination!

Enjoy the interview? Check out Springleap's other interviews in the Spotlight On series here.