Born in Vienna in 1993, Tobias Raschbacher is an Austrian graphic designer specializing in graphic design, 3D animation and typography. After studying at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and the University of the Arts in Berlin, he worked with a variety of studios including Cin Cin, Studio Es, Studio Schlagschatten, 101, moodley, brand unit and Matinée London.

His work is characterized by compositions combining typographic elements and abstract forms in incredibly crazy universes, evolving over the fields of electronic music and art. As a genuine talent, Tobias had the opportunity to work with various international electronic music clubs and labels, such as RSO, Watergate, Rote Sonne, BCCO, HEISSS Berlin, Tessellate London, 5AM Tel Aviv, Herrensauna, Berlin and many others… He is also part of Apartment Acht label in Vienna, where he now lives and works, pursuing his career as a freelance graphic designer.

Tobias answered an interview for The Next Cartel in 2021. He discussed topics such as his vision of the future, the themes of his projects, and his ambitions. In the meantime, Tobias has come a long way and published a number of projects. So we’re interviewing him today so you can find out a little more about him and his evolution.

Where does Tobias stand today?

Going back a bit in the past, can you tell us about an unforgettable event or your first memory of design? Did it give you a sense of direction for the future?

“I grew up without having a TV or any game console at home, so I had to kill my time differently. I was a huge fan of lego which probably laid the foundation for my passion for 3D design. Also drawing was a way visualize my childish brain activities and I remember drawing about 200 different little cars in a grid on a sheet of A4 paper.”

Can you tell us about your background and how it led you to graphic design and 3D? Is there an anecdote related to your apprenticeship and years of study that you’d like to talk about?

“In school I always wanted to become an interior designer and as a teenager I also shot short films together with my friend Philipp. So my interest in doing something creative was always there. However, I was unsure whether I could make a living from something like that, so I studied something else first. When I spent one semester in Utrecht back then, I started to play around with Illustrator, drawing some random illustrations and designed covers for papers which was, of course, way more fun than actually writing these papers.

One year later I did an internship in Vienna at a startup company where I basically had all the freedom to represent the brand visually – so I took photos and videos for social media, created illustrations and watched many youtube tutorials during working hours. I felt confident to apply to the uni of applied arts in Vienna and they accepted me. Suddenly I was in an environment where it all was about concepting, designing, and presenting your work. Since I was always motivated to learn stuff on my own, I more and more got into the 3D world and today I use 3D in 99% of my work.”

In your interview with The Next Cartel in 2021, you said you devoted most of your time to graphic design, but that you were also interested in photography and video. Where do you stand now?

“I am a full-time graphic and 3D designer but rarely I also do some photography or videography jobs. As mentioned already, I created short videos while I was in school before I even knew what graphic design actually is. But today I am more than happy to focus on 3D because you basically can create anything you can imagine and your skills allow you to do. Also the things you can explore and learn are almost endless and every week I find something that I haven't been aware of before and that's what makes it so exciting.”

At that time, you said you wanted your creations not only to be “beautiful” but also to make people think. Are there any subjects that affect you now? Are they the result of new projects? What’s the challenge for today’s artists?

“To be honest, the more I work on commercial projects, the less of my brain cells are available for free projects. While I was in uni, I had ideas for visual pieces that contain twists of real-life objects or topics every day but since I am working full time for money, that kind of stopped. Of course, I try to give most of my client works my handwriting as well and at the moment I am very much influenced by product and industrial design, e.g. space age and bauhaus furniture. The beauty of 3D is that you can take elements from anything and integrate them into your own work and mix stuff together.

I think a huge challenge for today's artists and designers are to compete with AI. More and more organizations will use image generation for smaller and larger projects. So it gets more and more important to have a unique style that separates itself from the often generic visual style that AI often creates.”

Your work features compositions from elsewhere, unexpected abstract forms. Do you have any particular methods for finding inspiration, where the hell does it come from?

“It is mostly a quite intuitive process since I use a lot of VR sculpting for my organic models. In many cases I have a rough idea what I want to achieve and do some moodboarding. Then I put my headset on and sculpt whatever feels right. The first time I used this technique was like an epiphany since it felt like a childhood dream came true – just draw what you want into the aether and it turns into an solid object. Lately I really like to combine these organic and abstract shapes with more constructed, hard-surface models which are influenced by furniture design and technological components and machines.”

Apartment Acht is a Vienna-based events organization, record label and studio. Can you tell us about it and your place in this collective?

“We started as a small recordshop and event space and we also hosted parties in Vienna. Later the project became bigger and so our space did. We closed our last shop in October 2024 which we ran for 1.5 years and we hosted about 50 in-store sessions, vintage fashion pop-ups and art exhibitions. Since I am the only member with a graphic design background, I did all the visual stuff, beginning from the branding to every single artwork. For me it is a playground because I can try out new visual styles and techniques and in the past 1.5 years I created about 60–70 artworks for different events. Currently we're looking for a new space in Vienna to continue this project.”

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience as a designer that could help our community and emerging designers?

“I don't know if this is a no-brainer anyways but look for inspiration anywhere, not just graphic design. There's so many disciplines like architecture, industrial design, fine arts and technology where you can get new ideas from.”

Thank you Tobias! (Interview by Angèle Bigot)

Explore Tobias Raschbacher