VIEW: Abe Borst

Every now and then I interview creatives (with a focus on those who create images) about their profession.

Vocation: comics and illustrations, infographics

Interests: science, cooking, (kitchen) garden

Expresses himself by being: ambitious, social, empathetic

Web: squabe.nl

Where does the name Squabe come from?
It was a nickname at the art academy, that’s what friends called me. I started publishing diary comics under that nickname, and they stuck. I see it as an combination of Abe and square: I make a lot of comics and comics are in square boxes. I still think it’s a nice name because I get a lot of inspiration from my friends. The people around you matter.

I studied in Zwolle (the Netherlands), started with the Illustration major but I was allowed to transfer to the new Comic Design major. I was 50% of the first class, haha. Graduated in 2012.

What were your first jobs?
The first major assignment was a live job. Then I thought, “ah, the job inquiries will continue to come in”, haha. But clients have to be able to find you. One job is not a guarantee for more jobs. The first more solid assignment was a comic for Kidsweek, together with Ype Driessen (from Fotostrips). Kidsweek is a very nice newspaper for children. We first had an idea of a story where the parents were always on vacation, and the children were a bit on the loose. This pitch was rejected because readers would need to follow the storyline every week. Then our project turned in to Zoo&Zo (about a zoo). The idea was very basic at first, but working on it really made it come to life.

You can read the comic every week, and don’t have to keep up with the storyline. Zoo&Zo has been published for about five years. That is very motivating, because it has to be made weekly. Building up to, working towards a book is also very cool. Very fruitfull. Many children who read it have recognized me as the maker. It’s very nice to be on the receiving end of that recognition, haha. For example, I was asked to draw live during a book reading at a library. I was annoucned as “the illustrator of Zoo&Zo”. Some kids even asked for a signature. You don’t always know what the effect of your work is when you publish it. It’s very inspiring to get (this type of) feedback.

Ype does the writing. He is a great writer. I notice a constant improvement e in his works, I also learn a lot from drawing his scenarios. It is accessible, but does not lose any level or content. We have been working on it for a while and we have enough content for a second album. We want to publish that soon. It is coming, we have found a publisher. Now we just need to find the time to actually do it, alongside all the other projects that we are working on.

How do you usually describe your work?
I’m still looking for the right term. For me the following applies: making comics is a profession. People are quick to define their idea about “comics”. But my understanding of “comics” is broader than that of the average person. Most people see the medium as something funny, only think of Donald Duck, while the options are much broader. Which term do I use in my communication so that it is clear to everyone? You can use comics to convey information, tell stories.

I want to focus more on the business-to-business market. For example “mapping information”. Comics are suitable for this, but people often do not immediately think of comics. For example, I was allowed to explain what kind of space research has been done with Rosetta Space Craft for a large audience. That was a lot of fun for the ESA — European Space Agency. I studied Biochemistry for a while before I went to art academy, and find science interesting. Finding out which information is essential is something I love to do — handling data in such a way that it becomes attractive for people to absorb it.

Together with a friend I made Smikkelen & Smullen (Dutch for “feasting on food”). This book is published by Syndikaat. They are all our own recipes, dishes that we like. Illustrated in clear steps, with a side of humor. Illustrating recipes is another way of conveying information in comics. It’s very nice to draw, but it’s also nice to eat everything afterwards. Our book was showed on Dutch national television, at De Nieuwe Lekkerbek. André van Duin (a famous Dutch presenter) read it aloud during the third episode.

The collaboration was with Esther van de Bund. We initially published the images on Facebook, but we also want to have enough new content in the physical book for the people who had already seen everything on our Facebookpage. We may want to make new recipe comics again, but we’d need to reconsider how to organise it more efficiently. But first, other things have priority. As a creative, I sometimes want too much at the same time, and I need to make choices.

The images are made together, by the both of us. In the beginning, we searched for the right collaboration formula. Esther and I are two very different artists. Our skills melt together into one creation. Esther draws more aesthetically, I draw more functionally. I think it’s great how we came to one style together. We also learned a lot from each other. I have also made progress in my own work: “okay, it is functional, it works, how can it be nicer?”. And she: “This is a beautiful drawing, but what do I want to tell with it?” Her work has become much clearer. Collaborations are educational, I can recommend them to every artist. Not every collaboration works; there must be a certain chemistry.