In this edition of our Community Highlight this month, we chatted with Lucas Geor, a painter and graphic designer who founded Best Visual Solutions, creating unique designs for brands and businesses inspired by the 1980’s & 90’s. You’ll recognize his amazing work on our Scout merch as he designed our fun SCOUT t-shirt graphics!

Hi Lucas, can you share a little bit of your background and what brought you to your passion for graphic design & illustration?

My main occupation is actually as an artist (painter) and graphic design and illustration is something I picked up to explore interests outside of the studio as well as a way to supplement my income between shows. My work is heavily influenced by animation from the 20th century and I often spend free time drawing my own sketches and cartoons, which naturally led in to commissions and creating images for other people.

Can you tell us more about the story of Best Visual Solutions?

BVS takes a unique approach to helping businesses and brands reach their marketing and identity goals by creating personal connections, exploring not only the brand itself but also the people involved and who it connects to. The name is influenced by computer and tech ads and graphics from the 1980s. I am a big fan of everything 1980s and 90s. I take an old school approach to illustration and design and hand draw everything, even font and layout, with an HB pencil first which I then fine-tune with a black ink pen before putting it into the computer and recreating it digitally. I feel like this gives the image an added element of life.

What does your typical week as an artist & graphic designer look like?

Each day is mostly the same, I wake up daily at around 5am, have a cold shower and some coffee and a snack and then do some exercise. After that some breakfast and a little more coffee and then get into the studio around 830 where I will work till around 5, taking a lunch and snack break. Then I will head home and work on design and illustration work in the evenings. I do this 6 days per week. Usually, Mondays are a work from home day for me where I will do admin and prepare any design work for the week.

What do you most love about your job?

Creating. I love thinking up an idea, figuring out the best way to execute it and problem-solving until I get the desired outcome.

How do you find new inspiration for creating graphics?

I like to look at a lot of old business and brand mascots and logos. A lot of advertising from the 50s to the 90s was heavily character based, especially in the food and service industry.

What past projects are you most proud of?

The most recent design for "Goods" that I did for SCOUT (coming out soon!) is up there with one of my favourites this year so far. Last year I painted a 9m x 8m creeper coming out of the wall in a beer garden at a brewery in Abbotsford, that was one of my favourite mural jobs to date.

What qualities are required for your job?

Creativity, thick skin and patience.

What goal do you hope to achieve in 2023? Any exciting projects coming up?

I hope to continue growing the business, using my graphics and illustrations to help businesses stand out and communicate their message to the world. I have a few exciting projects coming up that unfortunately, I cannot talk about right now. But they are super fun.

When you’re not working, how do you like to spend your free time?

Free time is very rare and very special, It is usually spent hanging out with my wife, KB, we like to listen to jazz and make food. I also like to draw and paint in my free time, things that are unrelated to my professional practice.

Finally, where can we find you if we’ve got a design request?

DM @bestvisualsolutions or email best@bvsstudios.com for design or howdy@lucasgeor.com for art!

SCOUT COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT - Artist Lucas Geor