On the Virtual Newsstand
Cover illustration by Christopher NielsenThis morning my first issue of Illustrator Australia’s magazine Outline was published! It’s a quarterly magazine, and was three months in the making; the last two weeks in particular a period of intensive work as all the material from my contributors began to land in my inbox (some of them skidding in at the very last moment). The last three days – really squashed into two – I spent laying out the magazine and completing the final edits, checking all the hyperlinks were working, proofing etc.
At 38pp, thank goodness I didn’t have to write the bulk of it: only one story, a book review and an exhibition review. Plus all the heads and standfirsts, the editor’s letter and a number of short news stories, and the back page… (Okay, I wrote quite a bit of it!) My contributors wrote the majority of the articles: either as interviews, or a few paragraphs on their chosen topic.
Opening page; Gregory Baldwin, whose illustration features on this page, uses both traditional and digital methods in his work
Five illustrators tell us that the digital vs. traditional illustration controversy is over!
That was always my motto when designing magazines: “Make it fit!”
However there was quite a bit of editing involved, including cutting on the page and some judicious squishing of text to make all the copy fit. That was always my motto when designing magazines: “Make it fit!” Editors loved me. It’s even more fun when one is both editor and designer.
Opening spread of profile on illustrator Gregory Baldwin
Second spread of profile on illustrator Christopher Nielsen
I kept the layouts fairly simple and straightforward to fit in with the budget. They were also based on earlier incarnations of the magazine: the same masthead, three-column grid and fonts were used; red, the corporate colour of the IA was kept, but I added a secondary taupe. Creating the Click! and Flick! boxes and icons was fun too.
A number of illustrators tell us about their 2011 IA Award-winning work
Second spread of ‘To market, to market’, a story about four illustrators who sell their work online or at designer markets
The back page was fun and not as gratuitous as it looks. As the magazine is published via PDF and emailed to all members, it doesn’t really need a regular back cover. It would have been a bit silly to include just a blank page with the IA logo on it, for instance – a waste of ink if anyone printed it. Instead, I decided to create a new regular section called ‘Vintage’ about illustrators from the past. It would be mainly image, with a little bit of descriptive copy. I chose Ida Rentoul Outhewaite, an Australian illustrator from the early twentieth century, famous for her fanciful and detailed fairy illustrations.
I hope the 300+ members who receive the magazine enjoy reading it as much as I did putting it together.
The fanciful and detailed work of Ida Rentoul Outhewaite, an early Australian illustrator
Blue Orange Tree
Recently I purchased a beautiful book on George Barbier, the Art Deco artist and illustrator.
I was inspired by some of his illustrations to create some yardage pattern designs of foliage to use in my own illustrations. Here’s my never-ending blue orange tree. These ink drawings of leaves and oranges were tiny, under a centimetre in size, and have been enlarged about 400% to create a chunky effect.
And here's a detail of Barbier's gorgeous original that inspired it.
What’s this font?
I like this font, and have done so for a couple of years since I first saw it in someone’s logo. But I can’t track it down! Here it is in the window of Country Road, proclaiming the ankle boot. It looks like Didot or Bodoni, but the K has a bauble instead of a serif (and probably the C, S, etc). Does anyone know what it is?
It’s a Book, No it’s a Card
‘The Lady of the Hundred Dresses’, by S.R. Crockett, 1911. Published by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
How perfect for me is this birthday card from my sister? She told me she found it many months ago and has been eagerly waiting to give it to me. (I must be conscientious and mention that my niece also assisted in its choice.) I particularly love that the dress the languid-eyed Lady is wearing is striped. I imagine that those long gloves she is wearing are black kid.
I love this series of notecards, having come across them years ago myself, in a quaint Bondi bookshop. The Bodleian Library online shop has many more to choose from, all charming. For the designers of these delightful cards it is most imperative to for once entirely judge a book by its cover! (Scroll down below for more lovelies.)
Krafty birthday wrappingsMy clever sister also wrapped the present in red and cream striped wrapping paper. Printed on plain Kraft paper, it matched the brown self-striped Kraft paper envelope.
What is so enticing about Kraft paper? Somehow it is promising, smacking of all sorts of untold excitement. Perhaps it makes me
think of ‘brown paper packages,
all tied up with string’, and a few more favourite things, such as art materials – paints and pastels and other goodies. And that does make an enchanting birthday present.
More cards from the Bodleian Library Online Shop
Buds and Blooms
Myer Melbourne is currently running a competition to design a new shopping bag for the opening of their new flagship store next March. It’s a great opportunity for budding (and fully bloomed) designers to get their work out into the larger world.
Speaking of blooms, here’s my design: a striking pattern in black and white of giant chrysanthemums. The reverse side of the bag has a smaller coloured version of the pattern, in a non-gender specific blue-grey.
My hope was to create a bag that was a little decorative but stylish; that would not be repulsive to carry around the city; you know the ones that you have to hide between your other bags? Not one of those. I also preferred the notion of a repeat pattern rather than a placement print; it seems a little more appropriate for a corporate retail giant like Myer.
Check out the other offerings in their online gallery.