James and the Giant Peach: My final design for book cover

Here is my final design for the Puffin competition.

All of the elements are hand cut using a scalpel. I considered type, I wanted it to look hand generated and playful because it's a children's story. I wanted to create a whimsical feel to my design, which I feel I have achieved. 

If i could change my design I would focus on the skyline, but as this is a photograph I obviously cannot change this in Photoshop and so it would mean me having to set up and photograph the whole front cover again! I am working on a new project now and unfortunately I don't have the time!! It was my first time experimenting properly with photography and I have learnt a lot, which I can take with me when doing future projects.

I will be entering the Puffin competition after seeking advice about the computer generated text on the back of the cover, as this is not my strong point!! 

My personal work: cushion cover design

My design for a cushion cover, (pencil and sequins). I will photocopy this and make it into a screen, which I can then use to print onto fabric (screen print).

Here is one of my screen prints on fabric. This was made into a cushion. I made a few in different colours and sewed lots of pearly beads on for added detail..this took me ages but I loved doing it! 

I love designing cushions, I am currently working on more designs!

Penguin Design Award 2011: book cover for 'James and the Giant Peach'

I am currently working on a design for the Puffin Design Award 2011.

 The brief is to design a book cover for Roald Dahl's 'James and the Giant Peach'.

I had several ideas for this brief regarding techniques. I wanted something 2D but layered or suspended (I love hanging things!!) to create shadows and a feel of depth. I want to keep it naive as it's a children's story but at the same sophisticated.

I tried to create a little scene like a stage, I set it up in the photography studio with adequate lighting and then took some shots. It's been a productive day today!

I am happy with these shots! My design is still in progress and the next step is to play about on photoshop, I think I will add more of the New York skyline. I also have ideas for the text on the spine and the back. These photos are very clean which is my style however, I will experiment with adding some collage to add extra detail.

I will upload my final book cover very soon!

Berlin...Olaf Hajek

Sorry for my absence!!! I have been so busy doing many things over the past couple of months.. which i will update you about later!

I recently visited Berlin which was so exciting! Really, I had the absolute time of my life!

Whilst I was there I was lucky to have the opportunity of meeting the very talented illustrator Olaf Hajek at his studio. He is one of the world's most successful illustrators, so meeting him was a huge inspiration to me. He was great at giving advice and so friendly!!

Olaf Hajek is a painter, his paintings are amazing, they are so colourful and detailed. There is magical feel about them, they are dreamy. Olaf has a broad range of clients; his work has been displayed in publications such as The New York Times, and even on postage stamps. I looked around his studio and just wished it was mine!!! 

I came away from his studio feeling totally refreshed and inspired, it made me think that anything can be achieved if you try hard enough. This was definitely the highlight of my visit to Berlin.

Association of Illustrators: Business Masterclass with Jenny Bowers and Garry Parsons.

Last night I rushed down to London after uni to attend a Business Masterclass featuring Jenny Bowers and Garry Parsons. They are both very successful illustrators who I have admired from a far for quite a while! 

The main purpose of the Masterclass was to get advice and tips on how to find work and progress as an illustrator. Advice was given about working freelance and also in a group. I came away with a better understanding of how industry works. I found it very helpful and inspiring! 

Jenny Bowers

Jenny Bowers and myself.

Jenny Bowers is part of 'Peep Show Collective' who do some very cool design work, including animations. They are a group of 10 illustrators working together but all contributing their own style. Here is some of Jenny Bowers work.

Jenny's works are fun and playful, they have a childlike innocence to them.

Garry Parsons

Garry Parsons and myself.

Garry Parsons is a freelance illustrator (and a very funny guy)!! He does editorial work (newspaper's and magazine's), and also children's books. Garry has two very different syles of work, he adapts to suit the client. 

Brick Lane

I recently took a trip to Brick Lane in London to see what's going on!! There are many trendy vintage shops with some lovely bits in, nothing I could afford!! Here are a couple of photos I took of random stuff! 

Love these cassettes, they are so retro!

Current group project 'kinetic'

Working in a group we were given the word 'kinetic' and sent away to do what we wanted with it! Quite an open project with no limits. Despite a few blips we are very happy with our outcome!

Our idea stemmed from looking at kinetic energy and sound waves. We chose to have ink dripping and splattering onto a space, which we filmed to then make into an animation, played to a soundtrack. We wanted the ink to move to the music, representing sound waves. The experience is quite hypnotic and relaxing. 

Here are some stills of our outcomes, I will hopefully upload the final piece in the very near future!!