Michael Jan Penserga

Hi there, I'm Michael Penserga. a Graphic Designer at heart and has been for 5 years now, recently started studying Concept Design for Games and Movies, but I'm not in the phase yet that I'm ready to publish those, well perhaps just for fun maybe.

Ever since I found out about design, way way back in high school, my world couldn't be same anymore. However I've always been an artist/illustrator at heart, my dad was a illustrator and i wanted to follow in his footsteps. When i was on my 10th year in high school my friend introduced me to his graphics design teacher, Mr Lev Vykopal, down at Melville Senior high school in Perth Australia. I showed him my art portfolio and, he then told me to attend one class the following day if i had time. I felt quite cocky that time because I didn't know anything about design, and from where i come from, we used to throw that word around as a mockery to a certain style of clothing that looked stupid, and also maybe because i was young.

The short story is that I did go to his class the following day. It was an hour and a half lesson about the fundamentals, at first it was very boring he explained why things are the way they were. why the street signs were blue or green, why bus stops are in a certain way. i was bored out of my mind and i found myself starting to draw on my "note book" like i always do when I'm bored. However on my way home that day, i started to think about it, the bus was full and i was holding on to a yellow bar standing up. I realized what Mr. Vykopal told me, about why things are the way they are, so the artist in me analyzed why the bar was yellow. and then the floor and then the signs outside. the logos the text, things were spinning. it was like a revelation.

ever since then i could not stop thinking about it, it was the first and only time I've felt such power in an epiphany. and i haven't stopped drawing or designing since then. The following year I did take his class. I wasn't really the top student but that didn't stop me from having fun with it.

so there you go a few paragraph of my boring origin story. maybe next time i write this i should add in a few zombies trying to chase me down to class.