Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chase Lewandowski. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Chase, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I have worked on was prompted by a question I’ve been asked a lot throughout my life, and that is, “What is like to be a twin?” I mean, what is like to not be a twin? That’s always my response, and I wanted to create work that carried that same sarcastic, non-answer tone.

The work that resulted (and is still being made) is a graphic narrative about being a twin and the complexities of identity that come along with that. Titled “Extra, Extra!”, the narrative revolves around a single character who lives in a world where every living being has a twin – seemingly except for him. He goes on a journey through the land in search of his missing twin and to clear up his own identity. This comic, told blurrily through illustration and newspaper clippings from Twinland, is meant to poke fun at the mystical conceptions surrounding twinhood… for instance, that twins have special mind-reading powers, have some kind of extra-sensory level of empathy, and have the benefits of having an extra version of themselves. In no way was I ever interested in writing a story that had a clear beginning, middle, and end. My visual storytelling has a bit of a puzzle-like quality – it’s in the hands of the viewer to make sense of, which also happens to be how I see the concept of identity.

What turned out to be the focus of my MFA thesis work, the project started in the Fall of 2022 as simple pen & ink character studies. As it evolved organically from there, it gave me the time and mental space to reflect on my relationship with not just my twin, but both of my brothers. I also grew a lot as an artist during this process. It was a way to give my love for illustration a microcosm to evolve in. In a way, as the main character was on his own journey to better understand himself, I was on a similar journey in making the work (and still am).

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a graphic designer and illustrator — which to me is a specialized niche in storytelling. I am most passionate about my work when I have the chance to draw, or come up with witty ways to communicate visually through a combination of image and typography.

I have a background in printmaking (and I still have a strong love for making physical work), but nowadays I mainly complete my work using the holy trinity of the Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign) with an emphasis on Illustrator. I can and have designed logos, signs, booklets/pamphlets, general poster layouts, etc. Part of being a graphic designer is sometimes taking on monotonous jobs such as these, and I like the challenge of taking these monotonous tasks and making the designs look clean and communicate effectively. However, it’s when I’m given the freedom to play that I feel like I really come alive in my work. Beyond my own creative projects I set for myself, the more freeing projects I’ve worked on have been beer labels, t-shirts, and illustrative posters. I love when my work feels more like play than it does work.

One thing I like to ensure clients (and this is true even in a lot of my personal work) is that I am not pulling design from thin air. I do my research. Color choices, type choices, visual hierarchy, imagery, etc, are intentional and contribute to the visual story and graphic wit. However, I also like to loosen my grip on the steering wheel and let intuition take over. I have a body of abstract work that is solely intuitive. Sometimes it’s just really fun to play with shapes and lines and colors and patterns.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The act of creating is really personal to me. It’s introspective as much as it is reflective on the world I live in. When I fall into the zone, it’s weird because I feel like I lose myself and I lose sense of the world, but at the same time I come out of it with a richer understanding of both of those things.

When people see my work and like it, yeah it makes me feel great! But ultimately it’s not what brings me the most meaning. I even hesitate to put my work on social media, because there’s a big part of me that doesn’t care or wants it remain in solitude. It’s for me. At this point, creating is so connected to my own identity that I can’t not do it. I love being able to see my brain on paper. My work is a visual processing of my thoughts and feelings, and my mark-making is like my DNA. I see my creative life as a very reflective one, as much as it is about freedom and play and easing my anxieties about the world.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

It’s a very self-critical journey. Sometimes most of my process is spent staring out of the window or at a blank sheet of paper and feeling worthless. Often what people only see is a finished product. What they don’t see is all the times I started over or made iteration after iteration after iteration. They don’t see the studio visits I’ve had discussing the work, or the walks I took, or the coffee I drank, or any of the inspiration I’m drawing from. They don’t see the hours I laid in bed awake at night thinking about it. I have a standard, and if it doesn’t meet that, it feels as if it’s a reflection of my own character.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chaselewski.wixsite.com/chaselewandowski
• Instagram: chas.lewando