A visual storyteller with roots in noise, ink, and late nights.
Some collaborations begin with emails and planning. This one began with a record sleeve that stopped us mid-scroll.
We first came across Manuel’s work on the cover of Gentle Beast’s Vampire Witch Reptilian Super Soldier from Outer Space. Wild, gritty, emotional, and completely unapologetic. The kind of artwork that does not just decorate music, but feels like it belongs to it. Naturally, we had to know who made it.
So we asked the band. They pointed us to Manuel. A little later, a couple of beers appeared on the table, the conversation started to flow, and something clicked almost instantly. Not in a “let’s do business” kind of way, but in that much better way where you realise you are talking to someone who lives in the same creative universe.
Ink, Noise, and Feeling First
Manuel comes from comics, underground art, and music scenes where polish matters far less than honesty. His work is rough where it needs to be, emotional where it should be, and never afraid of being intense. Faces are twisted, creatures are strange, and nothing feels neutral. Every line carries mood.
That felt very familiar to us.
At RhPf, circuits always come first, but they are never just technical objects. Every pedal has a character, a mood, and a story behind it. We are not interested in clean boxes with random graphics. We want each design to feel like it belongs to the sound inside. Manuel works from exactly the same place, just with ink instead of solder.
From Conversation to Character
After that first evening, the idea of working together did not feel like a plan. It felt inevitable.
When the time came to develop the visual identity for Mosphoros, we knew we did not want a logo or a mascot. The name itself already hinted at mythology, at something older and stranger than a simple product. We wanted a figure. A presence. Something that could exist in its own world.
That was where Manuel really took the reins.
Instead of illustrating the pedal, he started building a character that could stand on its own. Ancient but futuristic. Calm but powerful. Familiar and unsettling at the same time. The kind of figure you might expect to see carved into stone, or frozen in a frame of some forgotten sci‑fi film.
The result did not just look good on a box. It gave Mosphoros a face, and in a way, a soul.
When Art and Circuit Speak the Same Language
What we loved most about working with Manuel is that the conversation never stayed on the surface. We talked about mood, tension, softness, weight, and contrast. About how a sound can feel warm but still dangerous. About how simplicity can carry more power than detail overload.
That is exactly how we design circuits.
Mosphoros is not about extremes. It is about movement, feel, and that subtle moment where clean starts to bend into drive. Manuel’s artwork mirrors that. Strong shapes, controlled chaos, and emotion without clutter. Different tools, same instinct.
Nothing was forced. The graphic and the circuit grew in parallel, influencing each other rather than fighting for space.
More Than a One-Off
What started with Mosphoros did not stay there.
Since then, Manuel has become part of the wider RhPf visual world. Not as a contractor, but as a collaborator who understands what we are trying to build and helps shape how it looks and feels. His art is not decoration added at the end. It is part of the identity from the beginning.
And just as important, he is someone we genuinely enjoy working with. Conversations drift from pedals to bands, from comics to obscure films, from stupid jokes to serious creative doubts. That matters to us. Because the best work rarely comes from perfectly structured meetings. It comes from shared enthusiasm and trust.
Why This Collaboration Matters to Us
We talk a lot about community, and this is what we mean by that.
Working with people who are deeply rooted in their own scenes. Who bring their own voice instead of adapting to trends. Who care about expression more than algorithms. Manuel represents that spirit perfectly.
His art carries the same raw energy that drives the bands we love and the tones we chase. Putting that energy on our pedals feels right. It feels honest.
So when you step on a Mosphoros and see that character staring back at you, you are not just looking at a graphic. You are looking at the result of a shared language between sound and image, between solder and ink, between two worlds that were always meant to meet.
And honestly, this is only the beginning.
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