LIFE OF PI BOOK COVER

When I first started considering illustration as a career many moons ago, I wasn’t into books, so illustrating for publishing related work didn’t really interest me. However, over the last few years, this has shifted a lot, and I’ve gotten quite into reading. And I can confidently say that reading both fiction and non-fiction, has been incredibly beneficial for me. Naturally I feel it only makes sense that this translates into my work as well… so recently I finally started on a personal project that’s been on my agenda for blooming ages, and that’s to re-design and reinterpret alternative book covers for some of my favourite novels, with the aim of creating a small book cover portfolio to show publishing houses and authors in the hopes of being commissioned to create a cover!

I have quite a few ideas and plans in the works just from being inspired by books I’ve read, but I’m finding without the kick of motivation from a client or editor, progress is slow… However I’m happy to say the first design is done!

I went for ‘The Life of Pi by Yann Martel’ and instead of doing a design completely from my own interpretation, I more just replicated the existing cover in my own style, which isn’t necessarily very challenging or ground-breaking, but feels like an appropriate way to get the ball rolling! I also used a mock-up Photoshop file to showcase how it would look actually printed as a cover and it defiantly helps with my personal motivation, seeing how it might look in the real world! I’m hoping to continue on this trajectory and have more designs to pitch to publishers in the near future, watch this space :)

WIA SUBMISSION

In my last blog entry I mentioned submitting my animation to the World Illustration Awards as I was super proud of it, and having just made it, it was fresh in my mind. However, submitting this also made me reflect on other proud projects from the last year, as you’re encouraged to submit multiple entries, so I did exactly that!

I ended up submitting 3 separate projects, the first part of the current WIP On The Road series, Nonesuch portrait commission, and some of the AUS travel series, these fell within the categories of animation, editorial commission, and self-directed, respectively.

After my project FLORA being shortlisted in 2020, I thought I may as well give it a whirl again this year, especially as I’m really trying to invest in, and boost my illustration practice at the moment. Fingers crossed they gain some interest with the judges!

Bulletin Magazine for Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists

I recently illustrated the cover and a bunch of interior illustrations for Bulletin Magazine from Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.

Not only was this my first published cover illustration, but it was also for a publication close to my heart, as my mum is a speech and language therapist. Growing up, we always had copies of Bulletin magazine floating around the house, so it felt like quite a full-circle moment when I received my copy in the post!

The article I was commissioned to illustrate is all about looking at apprenticeships as an alternative to traditional degrees, to train as a speech and language therapist. Victoria Lundie and Hazel Richards worked with apprentices and mentors at Birmingham City University to explore the pros and cons of apprenticeship-based degrees. For the cover, I was directed to show an apprentice chatting with a mentor, then throughout the main spread of the article I used hands with varying gestures and tools commonly used with SLT work to demonstrate a ‘hands on approach’ that was frequently mentioned with the text. As usual, I drew with a mixture of ethnicities and skin tones to ensure openness and inclusion, and then for the final spot illustration I wanted to suggest a juggling of responsibilities that is required within apprenticeship based learning, such as time-management of personal life alongside studies. 📚