Bo Lundberg's artworks perfectly encapsulate retro glamour and style. We talked to the internationally-renowned artist about favourite moments in his career, the creative process, and how he managed to make his childhood dreams come true.
Bo Lundberg has been drawing for as long as he can remember.
“I grew up in a small town in northern Sweden, and didn’t even see a creative career as something one might actually pursue,” He recalls. “But my girlfriend pushed me and said that I at least ought try, so I decided to study art just for one year.” It was during that first year at preparatory art school that he realised that life as an artist could become a reality and signed up to Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm.
Study was of course just the beginning, and he has never stopped learning along the way. “I joined a studio where the leading illustrators mastered just about every style,” he remembers, “and I soon realised that I didn’t have that set of skills…my limitations forced me to find a way to solve many different problems in my own way.”
My limitations forced me to find a way to solve many different problems in my own way.
Embracing his limitations as creative catalysts led to Bo developing a distinctive style, and he was commissioned by Wallpaper* Magazine early on - an ongoing collaboration that kickstarted his international career. Some of his most enjoyable projects have been working on Broadway posters, and transporting a large painting via plane for the Time Warner offices in London. “I painted it here in Stockholm and flew it over to London with one of my friends. I had ordered a customised frame in London and I was rather nervous when we mounted the canvas on the frame, but it fit exactly and we were able to hit the town - a fun weekend.”
Bo’s signature style combines high-saturation, perfectly balanced colour palettes with crisp, clean lines and pared back graphic shapes. But don’t mistake his minimalist focus with simplicity - he often goes through endless iterations of a design before locking it in, relying on his masterful eye to ensure that all the elements are balanced, and to know exactly when the work is complete. “It’s like reducing a sauce,” he says, “You need to boil it down to make the flavours to stand out, but if you cook It for too long it just gets dry and dull.”
A perfect example of Bo’s keen eye for composition and colour are his ‘Around the World’ posters; a series of retro motifs of locations that capture the essence of each place, and sit perfectly alongside each other. This series has featured in homes, workspaces, restaurants and many other locations all around the world (of course), and the timeless feel of the work means that they add a retro elegance wherever they are placed.
Leaning on his strengths, and learning along the way has led to a fulfilling career. “I have been able to make a living my whole life doing what I loved already as a four-year-old,” he says - a testament to being bold and following a clear creative vision.
I have been able to make a living my whole life doing what I loved already as a four-year-old.
There have been other lessons learned along the way. “I don’t really trust inspiration,” he says, “it’s a like soap bubble. As soon as you try to grasp it, it bursts”. Instead, he has focussed on developing a robust work process, which enables him to consistently produce high-quality work. On self-doubt, he says “I have learned to live with it. In a way, I think self-doubt is necessary in order to evolve. You will likely not get any better at what you are doing if you are content. But you have to find a balance where you don’t beat yourself up if you don’t quite get there…I have figured out that I need to accept that and lean back, eventually I will get through it.”
For now, looking back on his career, he is happy both with where he is right now and the journey he has taken to get there. “I might be way off but I am happier with the quality of my work now than when I was younger,” he says. “With time I have learned that an image is never as good as right before the first stroke. On the other hand - what I like about my work is that it rarely turns out the way I had hoped.”
Right now he is working on six audiobook covers, and exhibiting his work in an art gallery in the south of Sweden, with more projects and potential exhibitions always in the pipeline. He is taking the current market challenges as an opportunity to slow down and reflect; “I have been working against deadlines my entire life and perhaps not been able to reflect as much would have wanted, so now I am taking it slower am focusing on trying to stay relaxed. I no longer worry about work so much. What happens, happens.”
You can find Bo’s latest projects on his Instagram page @bolundbergillustration, view his portfolio on his website www.bolundberg.com, and you can buy officially licensed prints of his work from Posterlounge, Printler and iCanvas.