Foire De Lyon

Danny Allison is commissioned by Publicis Lyon to create an image for 'Foire de Lyon'.
The event in March, which will be celebrating sixty years of Rock takes place annually in Lyon, France. Danny's cool lion illustration was born from this link to the host city.

Curzi Draws Live for Warehouse

Lucia Emanuela Curzi spent a Saturday in November drawing portraits at a live Christmas painting event for the clothing brand Warehouse. Taking place at a Manchester store, here are a selection of Lucia's pieces, proudly shown by the sitters.

Art Basel - Miami

a selection of Gustabo's photos from Art Basel - Miami

Gustabo gives us a snap shot of the latest Art Basel: Miami event, with some photos to illustrate the great time he had! 'Art Basel stages the world's premier Modern and contemporary art shows, held annually in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong. Founded by gallerists in 1970, Art Basel has been a driving force in supporting the role that galleries play in the nurturing of artists, and the development and promotion of visual arts.'

Gustabo says "It's filled with non-stop shows, people, parties, installations, promotions, films and events. It's a paradise for artists and art seekers alike. It has heaping portions of art fair with a sideshow of Electric Circus that has to be seen to be believed. The perfect storm of art, celebrity and commerce. The worlds eyes, ears and purse strings descend on Miami for 5 days and if you have something to show, want to be seen and/or heard, then this is the place !

From the Karl Lagerfeld / Marina Abromovich opening party, Pulse, Scope, PAMM, Jeff Koons, Louis Vuitton's La Maison au Bord de L'eau (at the Raleigh Hotel's beach front), Kanye West, Marilyn Minter and A Rod to the graffiti walls of Wynwood, whew!… to name a few, it was sensory overload!"

Live Portraiture for Frey Wille

One of the many portraits drawn by Miss Led

Two portraits drawn at the live event

Miss Led at work

Working with PR company Pink Umbrella, Miss Led is invited to draw live portraits at the InStyle Magazine launch event for the new Frey Wille products.
Miss Led used her great experience in this environment to create some fashion portraits of people at the launch. And working with new materials and at a larger size than usual, she says ..."the work was challenging but enjoyable. I met some lovely people who were extremely appreciative of having a free portrait".

VW Celebrate German Unity Day

Chris Ede works with The Gang in Singapore to produce an advertisement for Volkswagen.
Celebrating the 23rd German Unity Day, Volkswagen Centre-Singapore commissioned Chris to use his skills on this graffiti style illustration. The day consisited of 'great savings and fun activities for the whole family' whilst observing the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Mark Wiggins, head of Art at The Gang - Singapore, says of the result "Chris did a beautiful illustration for us that really leapt off the page and created great cut-through in the newspaper. He's quick, upbeat and enthusiastic. He made the whole process of working-with-an-illustrator-by-telephone-over-10,000-km-away extremely pleasant. Our client, Volkswagen Singapore, is very happy."

Zero2Illo Live Review

 







Written by Victoria Pearce

Saturday 5th October saw the second annual Zero2Illo Live, a conference held this year at Nottingham Contemporary Gallery.  Zero2Illo is the brainchild of graphic designer & illustrator Jonathan Woodward built as a supportive, active community of creative professionals to share their knowledge and experience.

I was flattered to be asked to be a speaker again, following the success of last year’s event. This time I was asked to review the portfolio/websites of three freelance illustrators live in front of the audience, offering advice on the selected illustrators work, style & website design.

Leading fashion illustrator & AOI Board member, Jacqueline Bissett, whom we have had the enormous pleasure of representing for 6 years, opened the event with her Keynote Speech. The event theme was how to build a long term sustainable career, so Jacqueline was well qualified to share her experiences, insights, advice & tips gained over the 27 years she has been freelancing. Jacqueline’s childhood was spent designing clothes for her Sindy Doll whilst listening to Blondie; this passion for drawing led her to Bourneville College of Art where she studied Fashion Design and then to Epsom where she gained a degree in Fashion Promotion. Here she learned that it was possible to make a profession from fashion illustration. With her mind focused on this path Jacqueline never looked back, her clients now include Giorgio Beverley Hills, Givenchy, Selfridges, Kurt Geiger, Thomas Sabo, Ted Baker, Moet & Chandon and Tatler magazine. Passionate in her delivery, Jacqueline recommended regular life drawing & stressed the commitment, hard work & tenacity that are necessary for success in such a competitive industry.

Keynote speech by Jacqueline Bissett

Next up was the “Strategic Planning for your Life, Career & Business’ talk by business strategist Lea Woodard. This took the form of a workshop with illustrator Joy Gosney to demonstrate the benefit of creating an OGSM, a one-page plan covering Objectives, Goals, and Strategy & Measures. Lea also recommended that illustrators differentiate between themselves & their creative output, that viewing their work as a business would help them become more objective in their planning.

Following lunch, it was my turn! I reviewed graphic designer & illustrator Fiona Gowen’s portfolio who creates illustrations for museums & public bodies. I felt she was covering a good range of subject matter from maps, architecture, animals & machinery and recommended she optimise this on her homepage, as it felt a bit tucked away in sub-portfolios & knowing how busy agents & clients are, I was concerned that it could potentially be getting lost. Secondly, illustrator Helen Nowell’s sophisticated, witty portraits of world leaders & dynamic sports personalities stood out to me, but similarly to Fiona they felt lost in her website sub-navigation. I’ve learned that there are 7 seconds to catch a client’s attention, so unless your website homepage has strong, immediate visual impact; you risk them passing you over. Finally, Milly Jackson’s portfolio ticked all the boxes in terms of visual feast. She has created pretty much a one page website which makes the viewer’s job easy. Her strong work is all upfront & confidently represents her talents in fashion illustration. I felt she could expand upon her men’s illustration, which is an under-represented area and therefore could create opportunity. Also to develop more full-length fashion figures which many commissioners will want to see.

Victoria Pearce

The next session entitled “Smarter Marketing for Illustrators” panel included illustrator & entrepreneur Alex Mathers, Jacqueline Bissett & Ross Macrae MD of Bikini Lists & sponsor of the event. Tips were shared on how to target & focus marketing activity on core clients and suggested techniques.

Alex Mathers, Jacqueline Bissett, Ross McCrae and Jonathan Woodward

Amy Taylor, spectacularly managed to make Accountancy & Tax, a subject often considered quite dry by creative types, into an interactive session with quirky props that actually succeeded in learning about the rules of tax deductibles fun!

The final speaker of the day was Claire Cheung, who is a digital platform designer with Esquire Weekly & previously at Wired. The session entitled “Animating your work – how to get started” Claire spoke of the opportunities for illustrators on digital platforms & encouraged them in terms of platforms, software & preparations.

The event was attended by emerging & established talent & so many I spoke with reported how inspirational & useful they had found it, to quote our illustrator & animator Tim Bradford:  
"I am now an illustrator with a plan! A business plan to be precise. The fantastic Zero2illo event has shown me how to get the most out of my career. With a new focus on exactly what my goals are and how to realise them, I just feel sorry for any Illustrators who missed it!"

And from Montana Forbes:  
"It really was quite exceptional and fun! The energy, spirit and genuine support provided by the organization was highly inspirational. I certainly would attend another event like this and wish there were a few more, throughout the year and in various locations. The presentations and speakers where in-depth, insightful and most importantly relevant to various forms of illustration and career stages. This in my opinion would be a vital resource for aspiring and professional illustrators alike. It’s a shame there won’t be another of its kind next year but I do hope it somehow garners enough fuel to continue, with all the success it deserves."

I was so pleased to meet our agency’s most recent recruit, James Grover – who had attended last year and as a result approached us for representation. Our entire agenting team share my enthusiasm for his highly decorative style, he already has some great clients under his belt including Zizzi Restaurant, so here’s hoping that we will enjoy future successes in partnership.

A huge thank you to Jonathan & Lea for their hard work in organizing such a positive event & I sincerely hope there will be future collaboration opportunities together.

Jacqueline Bissett and Victoria Pearce

Victoria Pearce.

BoomArtwork's Solar Weekend

 

The final  piece

BoomArtwork's lettering

 Eric at work

Boom Artwork aka Eric Van Den Boom recently participated in a music and arts festival entitled Solar Weekend 2013. Working alongside Maarten Berkers, Eric created an installation consisting of an interactive mural. Eric says "This year's theme was 'experiment'......(the installation) allowed festival visitors to create their own fantastical creatures by rotating three circular boards with different body parts illustrated on them. Visitors could place their heads through the holes in the mural, making a perfect photo opportunity". Eric used his skills to complete the lettering on either side, whilst Maarten created the central illustration for this theatrical piece.

Type Tasting

Ruth Rowland will be taking part in the Type Tasting Exhibition, run as part of the London Design Festival at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The exhibition and drop in workshops are ‘open to everyone with a love of letterforms’.

Ruth says “I submitted a piece of work for the exhibition, we had to choose a word that described London. I was drawn to the word 'expressive' as it reflects what I love most about London - its dynamic, ever-changing cultural scene. In addition, it's a term often used to describe the loose, gestural nature of much of my work. I like to experiment with mark making, tools can vary from the beautifully hand crafted ruling pen used here, to a piece of old stick from my mother's garden. Pens and brushes are the tools of my trade, I've been collecting them for years, I like the fact that each one has its own distinctive characteristics.”

If you’d like to see Ruth in action, the workshops take place on 14th and 15th September. Go here for more information.

Rusi Designs

Alyana Cazalet creates some striking drawings for RusiDesigns.

Commissioned to make promotional posters for their fashion stand at the 'Pure London 34 International Trade Show' last month, Alyana produced some engaging black line drawings for fashion posters. The illustrations also featured Rusi's colourful leather bags and accessories, bringing together both hand drawn and photographic elements.