Introducing… The ineffably awesome Berlin illustrative duo Doris Freigofas and Daniel Dolz, aka Golden Cosmos

Since coming across Golden Cosmos – the dream team combination of illustrator-designers, Doris Freigofas and Daniel Dolz – earlier "this year:http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/golden-cosmos, we’ve never looked back. The Berlin-based duo produce an extraordinary and prolific output of primary-coloured, screenprint-style works that draw from their shared love in a carefully balanced world they’ve created for themselves.

The characterful confidence of their distinctly European looking illustration has been recognised widely and appears in such print behemoths as The New York Times and DIE ZEIT, and their latest offering for London publishers NoBrow sees them complete a staggering panoramic history of aviation, from Icarus to jet aircraft. High times indeed for this game-ready doubles team of talent who have very kindly agreed to be part of our Introducing… feature.

Where do you work?

Our studio is in a former kindergarten in the deep east of Berlin. We share the house with other designers, illustrators, writers and two dogs. Moreover we have a brilliant infrastructure in our house – all studios share the machines, computers and workshops like in a small community and sometimes the sudios work together on projects.

In the next weeks we’ll set up a new silk-screen in the cellar together, so hopefully we will make a lot of print-editions in the future. But another important thing about the house is the large garden, where we grow our own vegetables and relax after the working day. It’s like a city idyll among the multistorey buildings.

How does your working day start?

After we’ve taken our dog for a walk and cycled to our studio, said hello to our friends in the house and checked the mail, we can finally start working.

How do you work and how has that changed?

We talk a lot about our ideas. For us it’s absolutely crucial to have a ping pong situation at the beginning of every job. It’s like juggling with ideas. Conversation is the key to our work.

Quite often we work together on one illustration project, sometimes even on on single image. First we develop the idea, make a concept and draw sketches, before working on the final artwork together. It’s somehow a symbiosis of two individuals; if you have total different beliefs you can’t work together like that.

Maybe we used to work rather impulsively and not so strategically when we started. However we have become more and more organised over time. It’s essential to be well structured if you want to work together. On the other hand we also try to leave room for spontaneity and experiments.

Where would we find you when you’re not at work?

Either you can find us in the Swedish woods – probably floating in a boat on a lake – or, if we’re not there, look for us in the Alps. We will be sitting in front of a little old hut watching the cows gazing.

Would you intern for yourself?

We both have done internships at ZEIT Magazin, HORT or ZIP Design, for example, and we’ve gained many valuable experiences. We could learn how to organise ourselves and how clients communicate with designers or what editors expect from an illustrator. So I think it is important that we share what we have learned on the one hand. On the other hand we too can learn if we employ an intern!