What happens when you mix liquid photography, 3D wizardry, and “wild little pixels?” Sean Freeman and Eve Steben of Sean & Eve (formerly THERE IS Studio) turn creative chaos into visual poetry. Their secret? Never eating the same meal twice (creatively speaking). In this candid conversation, they crack open their process, revealing how happy accidents and mathematical precision collide to create some of today's most captivating visual work.

Introduction by Marshall McKinney, Former Art Director, Garden & Gun Magazine

Working with Eve and Sean is an immense joy! They are kind, open, and gracious. They are fast and efficient. But honestly, don’t let their calm demeanors fool you—the best part of having them aboard a project is that it’s like stepping into any creative ring with Muhammad Ali in your entourage. The work will be polished and honed sharp, and it always packs a punch. They’re big-picture thinkers who meticulously drill down into the minutiae to render visual solutions full of subtext and knockout pow. That’s a rare combination. To be sure, they’ve put in the reps and, in my opinion, are the undisputed heavyweight champs when it comes to executing complex creative solutions that must, well, float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

What is your work philosophy?

Quality over quantity?... Nurturing the joy in craft and collaborations while embracing challenges, happy accidents, new methods, and aiming for the stars.

What is it about illustration that you are most passionate about? 

Our favorite part of the work is developing textures that we then manipulate to create something greater, really embracing the whole process… The thinking, the making, the discoveries, and the incredible details that come from that kind of approach. During these sessions, time is suspended—it’s pure exploration, raw creativity, that we pour ourselves into. Each session and material can go in so many directions; it keeps the work exciting and ever-evolving.

Besides illustration, your studio also does art direction, typography, CGI, and photography. What’s your favorite type of project to work on?

We love analog and digital artistic methods equally, as well as everything in between. It’s always mesmerizing how wonderfully things can blend together and the specific aesthetics you can achieve using various techniques. That said, it’s not so much about the nature of the project but the output and the journey to get there. We love the speed and happy accidents you get with photography. Being on set, shooting things—it’s all very hands-on and sometimes experimental in how you can bring effects to life. There’s an incredible buzz and rush of energy that comes with that. Contradicting the speed and immediacy we love about photographing projects, we love the time you can spend crafting elements in 3D and the mathematical yet abstract nature of this approach. It comes with its own hurdles and sometimes crazy, unexpected learning curves, but you have to take the rough with the smooth. Pixels are wild little things.

Your work spans advertising, editorial, food and drink, music, and film. Is there a particular category you like best? 

It’s all about good balance, as working across industries keeps things fresh from a creative standpoint. Eating your favorite meal every day can make you sick, and this is what we actively try to avoid in our work. Projects that are nourishing and fulfilling are the ones we’re most passionate about, either from a creative, production, or personal perspective. To answer the question, the best part of the work is the variety of projects and industries we come across: the techniques, treatments, results, and basically the whole process of bringing ideas to life... With a focus on tailoring our approach to the message, the weaving of each project is unique. 

We really like the advertising work at large: The idea is bold, and it must be executed beautifully. We enjoy the intensity of the process, the craft that goes into it, and the excitement of seeing it out there in the world, giant and glorious. We love music, film, and editorial because of the evocative, conceptual nature of the work and the unique opportunity to develop treatments with a different layer of storytelling into the mix. We love working with food and drink for its unique, ultra-textural, playful, and physical nature. One day, we can shoot an amusing and textured liquid piece for an ad campaign, followed by a floral arrangement for a music poster— next, a burger, chocolate, ladybugs, or something entirely different... Never a dull moment! That’s the best thing.

What is the most difficult challenge you’ve overcome to reach your current position?

Finding personal balance while pushing the practice. When you’re so passionate about your hobby that it becomes your work—and that you’re two in that tango—lines can be blurred between life, ambition, and time. As a side angle to this theme, another challenge is overcoming the worry of work drying up and embracing the flow. It’s probably healthy to always have a little bit of that fear that keeps you on your toes and makes you evolve in your practice.

Who were some of your greatest past influences?

We’ve always been big fans of contemporary art and various other art forms—more so than design, strictly speaking. We love the work of the YBA’s: Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn... Also, Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson, David Shrigley, Jeff Koons… Going back a shade further, Francis Bacon and Mark Rothko show how they managed to capture so much emotion with paint. Design-wise, in the early days, the work of Non-Format was a considerable influence, as was Stefan Sagmeister and everything he was doing.

Who among your contemporaries today do you most admire? 

In the typography department, we really admire Alex Trochut. His work has been brilliant ever since we first came across it so many years ago. His typography work is exceptional, varied, and well-thought-out. It’s been inspiring to see his work evolve and develop. On top of all that, he’s also a genuine and lovely guy.

Who have been some of your favorite people or clients you have worked with?

The human side of things and relationships play a big role in the creative process and are something we value in our work. We’ve been fortunate to collaborate with fabulous clients and people through the years. Many of them have become regulars or actual friends over time. In that department, we must throw some flowers to our incredible agents at LEVINE/LEAVITT, with whom we’ve had the joy and privilege to work since the studio’s infancy and who have collectively been a vast provider of good vibes.

What are the most important ingredients you require from a client to make successful work?

As a start, fun projects for fun brands are always sweet ingredients. Then, Sean enjoys a well-wrangled concept for working within a brief and executing an idea, no matter how abstract it might be. The combination of a tight deadline, a blank page, and an open brief makes him break out in a cold sweat. At the other end of the spectrum, Eve absolutely loves an open brief, room for artistic freedom, and getting involved with conceptualization and is amazing at running with it. Good communication, providing concise feedback, and carrying a vision are also vital to a successful recipe. Overall, collaborating with trusting, enthusiastic clients who embrace the development process, supported by budget and time to execute ideas at the right level, is definitely the cherry on top. 

What part of your work is most demanding, considering your position? 

As stated previously, finding personal balance while pushing the practice is important. When you’re so passionate about your hobby that it becomes your work—and that you’re two in that tango—lines can be blurred between life, ambition, and time. There’s the need to do personal work and learn new techniques and tools alongside keeping on top of and consistently delivering quality commissions in an ever-evolving industry landscape, not to mention putting time aside for all that important life stuff and maintaining energy levels. I guess you can’t complain about being busy, but the nature of freelance work can sometimes make this a tricky exercise where the pace can get a little unpredictable. 

What professional goals do you still have for yourself? 

Working on projects we love, staying passionate about the work, and having fun. Traveling again for commissions, working on physical installation pieces, and more in situ collaborations would also be fantastic. We find that working in a totally different cultural environment is very stimulating, and producing public work is always a great experience. This side of things changed a bit for us, especially with the increase in remote work over the last few years... We miss it! 

What advice would you have for students starting out today? 

Obviously, today is a very different landscape than when we started out, but in the beginning, the approach was to be lightly aware of what’s going on in the scene (perhaps harder to achieve today with the omnipresence of Instagram) but to do personal work being almost oblivious to what’s happening. Do your thing, get it out there, and find your niche. Also, as fellow typographer Anthony Burrill famously quoted on his iconic poster, “Work hard and be nice to people.”

What would you change if you had to do it all over again? 

Taking the importance of social media more seriously and getting on board with it sooner.

What interests do you have outside of your work?

Cooking, eating, traveling, theater, music concerts, walks in the forest, friends, and family—in no specific order.

Where do you seek inspiration?

Music has always played a big part in finding inspiration through moods and lyrics, perhaps less now than before, but it certainly was a big part of what kickstarted Sean’s love affair with typography... Creative juices can start flowing in so many ways: by actively or passively researching elements for a project—online, in bookshops, museums… It can also be totally random, for instance, when you get that eureka flash in the middle of the night. Inspiration often comes through a multitude of things and actions: enjoying art and design, playing with materials, contemplation, discovering weird textures or unusual applications, reflecting on mundane things, traveling, being on set together, cooking, floristry, ceramics, crafts at large... From that, we build up our creative wishlists, boards, collections of images, and material, all of which keep the wheel spinning.

Where do you see yourself in the future?

Working on projects we love (which fulfills our creativity), being passionate about the work, and still learning, experimenting, and having fun. Other than that, we’re somewhere nice, near a wild beach or a village, sharing a bottle of wine with our feet in the sand and looking out over the sea.

How do you define success?

Being able to work like we do, year in and year out—every year, we thank our lucky stars.

Sean Freeman and Eve Steben’s studio Sean & Eve is a creative powerhouse known for its innovative and multidisciplinary approach to visual communication—with an award-winning portfolio widely recognized in visual arts features and campaigns worldwide. Their creative process is characterized by a dynamic fusion at the intersection of digital and analog worlds, resulting in tactile, contemporary, and timeless artwork. Driven by a passion for image-making and visual storytelling, Sean and Eve seamlessly blend design, textures, craft, and art experiments to produce compelling hybrid work mixing typography, illustration, photography, and CGI—with a keen sense of balance between form and function.

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Discover other talents in Graphis Journal 383.