The Business of Storytelling

We're all telling a story of some kind. The way we dress and behave, the words we speak and the way we say them, the way we wear a hat and sip our tea. We're surrounded by storytelling for entertainment, education, enlightenment and commerce. 

I recently completed a cover and interior commission from Riordon Design in Canada for their promotional publication Culture Cue. The article, by principal Ric Riordon concerned the use of imagery and words to enhance story telling for clients across a range of disciplines and utilising a variety of media. 
From initial brief I did 3 concept sketches for the cover: one focussing on different communication media in our everyday environment; another on different personal stories, every building being a book with a variety of chapters within. 
Think my favourite little bit was adding a TV thrown out of a window! Pretty sure the band had an added expense on the credit card after that one. (The third concept seemed like a good idea at the time, but seems to fall apart in trying to write it, so let's edit that paragraph!)
A great brief and Ric was a pleasure to work with! 

cover 

interior

State Trustees

This latest project for State Trustees was commissioned by Carolyn Simm of Simm Design in Melbourne. The task was to illustrate the many and varied services the State Trustees Office provides, from Wills and Executor services, Deceased Estates, Enduring Powers of Attorney as well as a conceptual overview of the function of the office. 

Carolyn and the client wanted a visual solution well beyond generic handshakes and photo stock libraries and were hugely encouraging and supportive, making for an extremely enjoyable experience. 

Overview

Overview detail

Enduring Powers of Attorney

Wills & Executor Services

Big Baby

Looking after newborn babies can be a gigantic task. May's AFP focus is on the first 3 months of a child's life. It's a pivotal time, and comprehensive examinations are crucial to determine any potential areas of concern.

Art Director Jason Farrugia and I discussed a few conceptual approaches, but really this one seemed to nail the scale and detail of the task, and still gave us room for both cute factor, care and a little bit of fun. 

Spotlight on Specialists Seminar

Photo: Roger Harvey

On Saturday May 12, I took part in Illustrators Australia first Spotlight seminar at the beautiful NMIT Fairfield Campus, along with fascinating medical illustrator Levent Efe, fashion Illustrator Angie Rehe (who very kindly swapped times so I could get to a family event), Kate Nolan and her exquisite sculptures, jewellery and natural history drawings, and primo editorial illustrator Jim Tsinganos.

Ran through a full gamut of work for an hour or so, picture book work, editorial and commercial projects covering 20 years, plenty of changes and some recurring themes.

Great to see some familiar faces, as well as many new ones! 

Roger Harvey snapped the attached photo and sent it through. Shades of Colonel Kurtz, '...the horror... the horror...' but am very glad the moment didn't end the same way.

Many thanks to Jody Pratt, Illustrators Australia and to hosts NMIT  for looking after us all so well!

More Spotlight seminars will follow in the coming months. 

http://www.illustratorsaustralia.com/news/spotlight_on_specialists_seminar_part_1

Alas, poor football...

T'is true, slip'd by. April's Publish'd Child did featured this tale of Australian Woe, this crisis existential caused by callous heart of child, resistant, nay rebellious, to his parents entreaty, their lofty ambitions for him as embodiment of sporting prowess. 

Ball of foot, oval and round; ball of basket,too; the eastern arts martial; see, a mountain, A Mountain yonder rises! Climb as it is there, they beseeched. To. No. Avail.

"Can't I just have Drama Lessons?" asked he. And thus were lessons for all well learned.

The rest was theatre.

Ouch.

April's AFP adds injury to injury. And then a couple more for good measure. 

Art Director Jason Farrugia tells me readers felt sorry for the fellow on the cover, but really it could've been worse. He might've broken his tongue. 

Party Guests

May's Child Magazine features a story on typical party guests, from 'Wallflowers' to 'Pied Piper' to 'Princess'. And, of course, 'Boys', who apparently act as one, rolling like a herd of buffalo through any house brave enough to host a kids party!

Little Deities

Sixty Artists! Sixty Gods! Artists including Sonia Kretschmar, Amelia Kelso, Andrea Innocent, Ben Johnson and precisely 56 others have each hand painted, sewn or sculpted 60 identical dolls, painstakingly sourced by curator Daniel Atkinson (well, ok, found grouped together on the reject table of a $2 shop) The above is my contribution, Caffeine Powered Luchador 'El Capitán Café'

Opening Night: Thursday March 8, runs 'til Sunday 18th March, details above. http://littledeities.com/

photo: Lisa Minichiello

Bones

The March focus for AFP magazine is on Bones, essentially osteoporosis, fractures, brittle bones. The demographic usually affected by the condition is generally 60+ and I wanted to represent that as well as the sense of vulnerability that comes with the condition.

Play By Design

The March Issue of Child Magazine features a story about the rise and rise of the designer playground. No more burning hands on the monkey bars, the new playground is international, interesting, interactive and for sure intersomethingorotherelse.

Down the Mines

Have dug up some precious metal the last couple of days, a very nice way to start the year! Got the latest 3x3 Illustration Annual from New York, and though I knew I made the cut, didn't know that the Long Story Shorts Series received a Bronze.

Closer to home, the last 3 books in the series received a GOLD, Gold Gold, in the Illustrators Australia Awards Yayyy I'm rich rich rich, seriously the awards don't really matter, hooo-hah i'm comfortably well-off, it's all about the work... But really, the recognition is very gratifying and none of it happens unless the client says 'yes'. Thanks Affirm!

Oh, plus got a highly commended for my book, The Search for Bigfoot Bradley!

Three Wheel Drive

Just did a fun illo for Oliver Towning at Boss Magazine for the article 3 Wheel Drive.

The thrust of the article concerns the requirement in the collaborative workplace to take a triple pronged approach to work. Which will help to accelerate through the ever changing terrain, navigate tight corners, turn quickly to avoid obstacles on the road ahead, ok, ok stopping now...

Keep Practicing

January's AFP magazine Feature is on Teaching in General Practice, and after a heavy few months of covers, it was definitely time to lighten up .

Soccer & Sweet Success

January's Child Magazine featured an article on the trials, tribulations and ultimate benefits a bit of sport in childhood can bestow. (I'm not speaking from experience here, I hasten to add!)

Yes, it seems all those cold, miserable, early morning starts, all the violence, the exclusion, the thrill of victory, the smell of the post sport socks, can all pay off in the end, with a beautiful deco styled desk and your very own skyline.

The Last Thread

From the wonderful Affirm Press comes The Last Thread, Michael Sala’s fascinating life in fiction. From his early years in the Netherlands to growing up in Australia during the 1980s, Michaelis recalls the secret surrounding his estranged Greek father and how scandalous events from the past fractured his family.

Affirms commitment to new fiction continues with this latest book. It's an inspiring often disturbing book and its challenge to me was to try and bring out the qualities of loneliness, sorrow, hope and ultimate strength of Michael's story.

Neurology

Decembers AFP magazine focus is on Neurology: Motor Neurone Disease, Traumatic Brain Injury, Frontotemporal Dementia and Multiple Sclerosis. The conditions are difficult to treat and devastating to live with. Not least because of the knowledge that in most cases the conditions are degenerative and ultimately incurable.

Fences

'Good fences make good neighbours' said Robert Frost. He was being ironic, of course, and this article in Novembers 'Child' magazine supports that stance. Too many fences it seems, cut us off from each other, the world around us and a terrific view just over the rise.

Violence

The theme for Novembers AFP magazine is 'violence', child abuse, spousal abuse, aggressive behaviours and how to manage or prevent them. And what I was attempting to bring to it was that sudden, frightening, often unexpected explosion of violence in the community. A line from The Last Poets just kept resounding: 'there are bombs standing on the street corners...waiting to explode at the slightest touch...'

Aspie and Me.

October's Child Magazine has a story from the parent of a child with Aspergers Syndrome, who discovered a help to her child learning to interact with others was to teach him a variety of appropriate responses.

Four colour fun

Finally got around to picking up Mike Mignola's and Duncan Fegredo's Hellboy The Fury #3. Achingly beautiful, story and art and dammit it's Fegredo's final regular issue! And if that wasn't enough, the sublime Guy Davis has decided to move on from sister book 'BPRD'. These two books, along with some Matt Fraction stuff for Marvel were about the only things sustaining a simmering interest. Ggggaaarrr.

BUT, just when the shoulders shrug: stumbled on Fraction and Gabriel Ba's CASANOVA. I'm probably the last person to know about it, but talk about renewing your faith. Chock full of mind expanding stuff, it's exactly like what it is. Lines like 'you're the linchpin of a cross-spatiotemporal assassination conspiracy no batch of N.E.T.W.O.R.K goons is going to stop' and beautifully imagined multiverse. Check out the newsarama interview.

Plus there's a letters section! CASANOVA Avaritia (the current storyline) Issue 2 has a take on digital piracy, pro's, cons thats worth the read in itself.

Germs!

Been sidetracked with some non illustrative projects for awhile and playing catch-up today. The above was for an article in Septembers Child Magazine on one parents attempts to keep her family germ free.

Romance not dead!

If you love books and book design that goes beyond the photo library and embossed foil type, take a look at The Caustic Cover Critic blog. (One mans endless ranting about book design...) CCC has a finger on the pulse, a sharp eye for a rip-off and a sharper turn of phrase for transgressors.

This item on Fabers recent series of collected poems (cover designs by Miriam Rosenbloom) of the great romantics is a treat. Check it out by clicking the headline.

Yes, ok, plumbing

Octobers AFP mag focus was on Urology. And reviewing the reference material the solutions analogy was unavoidable.

Interview with Cultura Impopular

I was recently interviewed by Óscar Palmer about the Long Story Shorts series for Affirm Press. Óscar runs a small publishing house in Spain, Es Pop Ediciones and also maintains the blog Cultura Impopular , which discusses design, Illustration, comics and the like.

The interview is published in English and Spanish (scroll down for the english version) and really gets into the process and journey of creating the cover designs for each book, as well as the overall aesthetic. Hit the title above to link to the blog.

If you scroll further down, you'll get to a fabulous interview with crime writer Lawrence Block, titled Eight Million Ways To Write. Great stuff, taking you from write for your life pulp style early work to New York Times bestsellers.

It's a terrific blog, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about the material, so I'll be following it keenly.

http://www.espop.es/

http://www.culturaimpopular.com/

Westgarth Primary School Book Week

On Monday I was at Westgarth Primary School as part of their Book Week and talked to years 3 to 6 on the process of creating a picture book from start to finish. I spoke about the differences between working with a writer, Matt Zurbo on 'My Dad's a Wrestler!' and writing my own 'the Search for Bigfoot Bradley', showing initial scripts, drafts and first sketches, working with editors and publishers and the whole shebang, (at least the bits of it I know about)

The students were great, very enthusiastic, asking lots of questions about publishers, writing for an age group, turning an idea into a story, pictures for the story and the whole thing into a book. We did 4 groups in two hours, which was fairly intense but is great for focussing. Will make sure I take a glass of water with me next time.

Many thanks to Principal Grace Conway, teacher Glenn Richards as well as the other teachers I met and the students themselves, particularly those who gave technical assistance when I got stuck swapping powerpoint presentations!