Common Island 2
For the community,
by the community.
On October 3rd, 2026, we returned to the legendary Conne Island in Leipzig for the second edition of Common Island. Organised by Pauper to the People, the tournament brought together 127 players for seven rounds of Magic, setting another attendance record for Pauper events in Germany.
Once again, I was part of the organising crew, helping to plan and run the event while also taking care of its visual identity. It was wonderful to see everything come together after months of preparation. Being part of this is incredibly rewarding — seeing all the happy faces of people travelling from all over Germany to our city, just to play Magic with us.
Thank you, Milan, TimTim, Eric, Marcel, and Tim, for being such an amazing crew. We should be proud of what we've achieved.
For this year's edition, I drew inspiration from both Kamigawa and Zendikar, two worlds from Magic: The Gathering. A floating island in a Japanese-inspired style, with a bathhouse inspired by Spirited Away as its centrepiece.
The artwork became the foundation for the event's visual communication — from the poster and stream assets to custom merchandise and playmats. My illustrations also made their way onto the engraved trophy, giving the winner a little piece of the island to take home.
Seeing the designs come to life beyond the screen, especially on the playmats, was one of the highlights of the project. This year, we gave participants the opportunity to preorder them, which led to record sales and made this one of my most rewarding design projects so far. It's crazy to see so many people playing their cards on something you created.
For this year's livestream, we were in cahoots with HTWK (Hochschule für Technik, Wirtschaft und Kultur Leipzig). They did an amazing job producing the broadcast and bringing my stream assets to life. It was a pleasure collaborating with them, and we're incredibly thankful for the masterclass in stream production they delivered!
Huge thanks to all the players, sponsors, judges, volunteers, and fellow organisers who made
Common Island 2 possible. It's still amazing to me what a group of people brought together by a shared hobby can achieve.
Pauper to the People!
Want something custom-made?
Whether you're planning an event, need custom artwork, or just have a weird idea you want to see illustrated, I'm open for commissions!
Retro cartoons? Fantasy creatures? Something completely different? Let's make it happen.