Cosmic inspiration has art critics seeing stars

Simon Messer, who is in his second year of studying HND Computer Arts and Design at City of Glasgow College, presented a piece of visual artwork to two of the company’s most senior members of staff at Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts.

The 26-year-old aspiring animator, who already runs his own advertising agency, was delighted to be given feedback by Cryptic as he believes their advice will help improve the quality of his work in the future.

The former Williamwood High pupil said: “It was great to get some feedback on my work from Cryptic as they have been in the industry for a long time so know what works and what doesn’t.”

Simon told The Extra of the inspiration behind the artwork, saying: “My piece was inspired by planets and I was really pleased that Cryptic were so positive about it.”

Unlike many talented ceratives who have difficulty in promoting themselves, preferring the relative seclusion of their studio, Simon’s charming demeanour is an important asset in a world that thrives on networking and making the right contacts.

He said: “I love networking and meeting other creative people so I really enjoyed the project as a whole.”

Caroline Thompson, head of planning at Cryptic said: “We wanted to collaborate with the students from City of Glasgow College as it gives them the chance to find out what working to a real, professional brief is like.

“We were really impressed with how hard they worked on the project and were pleased to be able to offer some feedback and constructive criticism to help them with their studies.

“Working with students is also beneficial for us as a company as it gives us an insight into what students are capable of and lets us see how creative they are.”

As well as contemporary artists, Cryptic art studio also supports performances that fuse music, sonic art and multimedia.