What is your favourite card you’ve designed for Sunshine Llama, and why?
I really enjoyed drawing the Schitts Creek cards, a set of 4 designs, one for each member of the Rose family. I liked working on a project that was more than just a singular card. It felt more of a project and I really enjoyed seeing them all side by side as a set when they were complete.
Can you tell us a little bit more about your design process? What do you enjoy most about the design process?
Once I have an idea of who I’m going to be drawing, I start with a draft where I map out what I’m going to draw into simple shapes, smoothing out harsh edges if there are any. Sometimes If I draw an image and I dont think a certain area of the drawing works, whether its a limb or a prop in the image, It will be changed or removed. I then block in each section of the image with colour, working from the biggest areas and leaving the details until last. I change the colours a lot until they work well with the brand – and with each other!
How did you get into illustration/design?
From a very young age, my mum has pushed me in an artistic direction. Through school it was always the thing I was best at. When I left college, I was thinking of studying fine art at university, but when I realised there was an illustration course, I thought that was a better fit for what I did. I graduated and continued to keep working on my drawing. I tried lots of other jobs but had very little interest in jobs that weren’t creative.
Where do you find inspiration?
It’s sad to say but most of my inspiration or where I find it comes from instagram. I follow a lot of people who inspire me in many different routes of creativity, whether it’s fashion, illustration or graphic designs, even down to make-up artists!
Who is your favourite designer/artist/creative person?
My favorite artist is probably Tishk Barzanji, a Kurdish 3D designer who creates these amazing images with a great use of colour. I also love the photographer Nadia Lee, who brings a great aesthetic to every single image she takes. They can both create a scene or atmosphere that I want to be immersed in.
Do you have any top tips for aspiring designers?
Don’t get too fixated on styles that you like or artists’ work you enjoy. I think when you get too much inspiration you can often lose track of where your style is meant to go and you create something too much like someone else’s work. Also, don’t get down if you don’t think you have a ‘style’ because you’ll want to keep developing over time it anyway. It will evolve naturally.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself 🙂
I was born on Christmas Eve.
What is your favourite film?
I have a few: Shrek 2, Electrik Children, About Time or maybe Forrest Gump? Bit of a mixture.
What is your star sign?
I am a Capricorn