CorelDRAW Master - Maurice Beumers

Maurice Beumers


Name: Maurice Beumers
Occupation: Graphics designer and illustrator
Employer: Self-employed
Location: Germany
Website: www.econceptum.com
Blog: www.econceptum.com/blog
Hobbies: Drawing. Painting. Reading books. Capoeira. Tree climbing. Camping.


Biography

Born and based in Germany, I learned to draw as a young child. An autodidactic study of numerous scientific subjects, including anatomy and optics, helped me develop my knowledge of shape, perspective, and figurative representation - all of which contribute to good illustration. After an apprenticeship in advertising, I began doing airbrush artwork and portraits on commission in my sparetime, while working for several sign making employers. In 2007, I took a job as a corporate publisher and marketing assistant for a European IT supplies enterprise, and since then I use the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite daily, taking full advantage of it in my work with graphics design, marketing materials and digital illustrations for my clients.

How long have you been in this profession?
I've been a self-employed designer since January 3rd, 2012.

Why did you choose this profession?
For two reasons: 1. Art, design and illustration are my passion - there's probably nothing I know better. 2. I am a blockheaded do-gooder, and self employment was the only way to combine my passion with my interests.

How did you get started?
I'd planned my business years before, but the year I started was simply the right time for my concept. It sounds like the common story: after some frustrating occupations I decided to dare the big step and took the chance. I'd done some freelance work besides my previous employer at the time, so I was lucky to have some clients when I started.

What are your most important accomplishments?
Just from the beginning it was self evident for me to have higher standards for myself than demanded by my clients. It is most important for me not only to satisfy a client but to surprise him. With every task, I try to get better results than before - it's natural that creativity should never become regular, it's always a process. So my foremost accomplishment is always the highest possible quality, dynamically and increasing.

I also provide my accomplishments under the aspects of "sustainable development", and I take this topic very serious! It's an integral part of my business, and clients who are concerned with this issue are glad to hand over the ecological, economical and social responsibility with a clear conscience: they are able to reach marketing goals without eroding their own sustainable strategy. At the end, I bear the responsibility that I did my best to leave a better world to following generations, and that's neither restricted to my spare time nor the amount of my contribution, as small as it ever seems to be.

Describe a special moment in your career.
I'd been working as a Call Center Agent for four years, and that time was a very tough lesson for me. It was a really exhausting job, and I tried to overcome the stress with humor: I drew small comics and caricatures for my workmates to motivate them, and they created a so-called "Wall of Shame", where they pinned my works. One day, the boss saw that and got really angry (well, most caricatures showed himself...), he ripped the works off the wall and claimed them. Many years later after I'd quit the job, I got a phone call from a Call Center Magazine: the publisher wanted a comic series for his magazine. I was really surprised when I asked the publisher how he knew about me, and he told me that he had met my ex-boss at an exhibition, where he was raving about my caricatures! That showed me once again that no one should judge people solely on the basis of their reaction.

History with CorelDRAW

How long have you used CorelDRAW?
I first came in contact with CorelDRAW back in 1995, where I absolved my apprenticeship in sign making and advertising. CorelDRAW was very popular in the sign making business, and it was easy to use and fast to learn. Over the years I was employed by several sign makers, so I've been working with CorelDRAW continuously. The first time I exhausted the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite fully for print and online graphics design was in 2007, where I was hired on as a corporate publisher. I found out that NOTHING is impossible to create with the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, and I remain faithful to it down to the present day. CorelDRAW always helped me to reach my goals, and therefore I have never doubted it won't satisfy my needs and demands in my self-employment business.

Do you have any interesting/funny/noteworthy stories?
Of course! In my employment as a corporate publisher, there was a workmate who had to technically process my raw designs, but he wasn't working with CorelDRAW! That was an insurmountable obstacle, it seemed. He was very biased and blockheaded, and I made a bet with him that I would be able to prepare my designs so everyone could work with them. You have to know: CorelDRAW isn't able to export files to the PSD extension without rasterizing text layers. I wrote a CorelDRAW macro, which exported the CorelDRAW files to the appropriate format, and the macro batch "injected" the text layers into the exported file. It was a challenge, but it worked great and super-fast, and my workmate lost his bias... and a crate of beer. We got on quite well with each other since then.

What are your top three favorite CorelDRAW features?
Mesh Fill is my favourite. I never thought it could be so easy to achieve reallistic illustrations within a vector editing application. Artistic Media brushes offer a lot of potetial, and with a tablet device, illustrations like comics are really fun to draw and it works a lot faster than drawing them by hand, scanning and tracing them. To be able to automate tasks within CorelDRAW is also a real time saver. This feature makes CorelDRAW not only easy and fast to use, it extends it's capabilities to incredible flexibility.

What are the CorelDRAW features that allow you to distinguish your designs/art?
My designs reflect the CorelDRAW advantages as well as my personality: I always try to do as much as possible but to keep it as simple as necessary at the same time - just like CorelDRAW is. On the other hand, I have a high quality standard of myself and I like to create my designs to be as detailed, but also tidy and clean as possible.

How do you feel about CorelDRAW?
CorelDRAW is like a good old friend for me: we had good and bad times, but I always relied on CorelDRAW and never regret it. Like in every good friendship, I've learned a lot, and patience, understanding and compromises keep the friendship going steady. The only thing I'll ever miss is having a beer with CorelDRAW!