On Wednesday 09 August I had a meeting with renowned Berlin illustrator and artist Georg Barber alias ATAK at his studio in Prenzlauer Berg.

Georg works exclusively with analogue tools and there was not one piece of electronic equipment in his studio save a centrally located hi-fi system. The bookshelves were filled with books ranging from artist monographs to comics while the walls of the studio were home to a wonderfully eclectic collection of objects. There was a beautiful hand painted barbershop sign from Cameroon and various cabinets that were home to countless dolls and puppets.

One of the most interesting objects in the studio was the reference book that Georg maintains. This large format document was in essence an elaborate scrapbook.

The reference book was meticulously ordered with various chapters covering topics such as colour, fauna, flora, texture and typography. The references ran the gamut from exquisitely rendered botanical studies to a variety of outcast print ephemera collected from the street. This reference book was a thoughtfully documented catalogue of resources and inspiration and functioned as a visual encyclopedia for Georg.