Today we put the spotlight on Călin Amariei – visual artist who signs his works under the name Konfusion.
Subsign: First, can you tell us a few things about yourself?
Călin: My name is Călin, I’m (almost) 27 and I like to think of myself as a jack of all trades, hoping to eventually master some. I work as an architect, I do graphic design as a side hustle or whatever the cool kids call it these days and I’m the founder of Konfusion Studio which provides graphic design services for artists and bands, mainly from the Stoner Doom & Heavy Psych subgenres. This includes logos, album artworks, show posters and merch design. The name was inspired by my favorite Zeppelin song, Dazed & Confused. I dipped my toes in pretty much any creative field, from writing to music production so I think it’s fair to say I’m a creative person lucky enough to exercise this creativity for a living.
Subsign: What was your childhood like? Do you think your childhood experiences have influenced your present creative endeavors?
Călin: I know that my parents did their best with what they had available at the time. I don’t think I would’ve done any better if I were in their shoes, therefore I can’t be anything but grateful for the good and anything but forgiving for the bad. I consider myself lucky to have well read, cultured parents that encouraged me to learn and try on new things and nurtured my curiosity. When people hear “childhood experiences” that influenced someone’s current creative work they think of some great (mostly traumatic) events, but for me it was the little things that actually shaped my current work. For example, my favorite cartoon as a kid was Scooby-Doo, the original 60s show. I loved it, it was funny and spooky at the same time, and there was something about it that made me fall in love with the whole aesthetic, especially the backgrounds. Pause any Scooby Doo episode with no characters in the frame and that’s a work of art in and of itself. Nowadays I’m a big fan of old horror movies, the b-rated kind with cheap and outdated special effects, and I think I only have Scooby Doo to blame for that.
Subsign: What did you want to be as a grown up?
Călin: Back in 6th grade a couple of Sociology students came to our class to ask us kids what we would like to be when we grow up for an assignment they had. I said I wanted to be a somali pirate, half jokingly, as I’ve just watched a documentary the night before about Somalia’s piracy and it was the coolest shit ever to me. I think that points to the fact that I’ve always wanted to be different, and be funny at that. I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life, but there were signs. I used to play a lot of Sims as a kid, but rather than removing the steps from the pool while my character was swimming I used to spend most of the time in build mode, designing houses. I’m doing pretty much the same thing today, only with different software.
Subsign: What does your workstation look like?
Călin: I hardly ever work from home anymore, as I’m spending most of my waking hours at the office, so my home PC doesn’t really see much action these days.
Subsign: Do you have a work style? How would you describe it?
Călin: Procrastinate 95% of the time allocated for a given project, complain about having so much work to do, procrastinate some more thinking of ways to reduce my workload drastically, come up with a way to be as efficient as possible the day before the deadline, pull an all-nighter, and somehow hand in the project in time. I don’t recommend it, it’s stressful and dumb but it’s easier for me than actually developing a healthy work ethic. At least this used to be my work style, truth be told though this past year I’ve had so much stuff to do it would’ve been impossible to get it done without becoming a responsible adult with a well thought out schedule. It’s been hard to integrate in my slacker personality at first but I got used to it. Strictly stylistically speaking, I think cut and paste describes my work best, though I wouldn’t call what I do collages.
Subsign: Can you share with us how your creative process works?
Călin: I don’t really have a process, or if I do, most of it is mental. By the time I start working on something, I already know what the final product is gonna look like. For me the hardest part of the process is coming up with the idea. Afterwards, it’s smooth sailing. Some clients know exactly what they want, others have no clue, and while I care about my creative freedom a lot, I prefer the former. That way, I see the challenge of coming up with an idea as a problem solving game rather than a guessing game. Either way, at the end of the day, the client must be happy with the services you provide, therefore communication is key.
Subsign: What is your favorite work you have done so far?
Călin: This is definitely the hardest question to answer so far. Last summer I tried to do a one poster a day challenge, gave up after less than a month. Some of these posters are now on display at my workplace so I guess I like these the most for actually serving a purpose.
Subsign: Who do you follow for inspiration?
Călin: Nobody, assuming the question is referring to other artists in my field. I love a lot of other designers’ work but I can’t say it’s where I draw inspiration from. I’m inspired by obscure music and cult movies, images and sounds from the past century, the warmth of analog equipment, the texture of aged paper in old books and magazines. It sounds more poetic than it actually is, but that’s what actually inspires me. However, if I have to name names: Ed Repka was maybe the first artist that got me interested in graphic design specifically done for album artworks, Frank Kozik (R.I.P.) for his versatility and for designing the album covers for some of my favorite records all time (Melvins – “Houdini”; Acid King – “Busse Woods”; QOTSA – “QOTSA”; Brant Bjork – “Jalamanta”, and the list goes on and on), Raymond Pettibon for designing “Black Flag”’s logo and Sonic Youth’s “Goo” album cover (both of which I have tattooed) and last but not least “Hipgnosis”, needless say why.
Subsign: What advice would you give to someone starting out in the creative field of work?
Călin: It’s okay not to like your own work. I actually think it’s better, it doesn’t make you complacent. It’s important to know how to sell yourself and assure the people you’re working with that you’re up to the task, but if you’re not 100% happy with the final result that’s completely fine, just keep it to yourself. Do better next time. There’s this idiom that quantity is worth less than quality, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. It’s easier to be a one hit wonder than actually applying yourself and churning out works constantly. Who knows, maybe one in a million is a masterpiece, maybe not. But if it is, you’ll always have the others to prove it’s not dumb luck, it’s not a miracle and you actually deserve the recognition because you’ve put in the hours.
Subsign: If you could have a super power, what would it be?
Călin: Teleportation. Stuck in traffic? Couldn’t be me. Flight is late? Bummer. Pasta and wine in Florence for lunch and tapas & cervezas in Madrid for dinner? You got it. Any concert in any part of the world? You don’t even have to pay, you just teleport yourself in the middle of the crowd. I could go on and on but it just becomes more and more illegal.
Subsign: Can you recommend a book, a song and a movie, for our readers
Călin: My favorite book of all time is “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky. It seems a bit intimidating at first, but I promise it’s not dull or overly descriptive as it may seem and it’s worth the effort. My favorite song of all time is “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult, but since everybody knows this one I’ll go with Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – “Solo La Morte To Ammanetta”, from their new album “Nell’ Ora Blu”. I actually recommend the whole album, it’s a masterpiece, inspired by my favorite current in cinematography, italian Giallo movies. They even invited some of the OG actors of that era to do the spoken parts. My favorite movie released last year was “Beau Is Afraid”, so I recommend that one, but if anyone who reads this isn’t turned off by old(er) movies, I also recommend “Profondo Rosso” (1975) by Dario Argento, an absolute essential of the Giallo genre.
Subsign: If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what famous people would you invite?
Călin: A late ‘60s – early ‘70s theme Halloween party which I DJ myself with music from artists like The Cramps, The Sonics, Dick Dale, Hasil Adkins and any other deranged garage bands from that period. I’d invite Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Lee, John Carpenter, Josh Homme, Brant Bjork, Mike Patton, Joey Diaz & Tarantino. Or, for a more formal setting, a space age themed cocktail party should be a cool idea, with music from artists such as Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Yma Sumac, Bas Sheva and many others in that vein.
Thank you, Călin, for being a part of our Spotlight!
If you know an artist that should be in the spotlight, contact us at teodora@subsign.co.
For more of Călin‘s work, you can follow him: Călin on Instagram, Călin on YouTube.
