“It’s been my honor and such a pleasure to have brought IF to life and to watch it grow into what it is today. But most of all, I have been incredibly inspired by all of you, and all the artwork that you guys have contributed. You all are amazing. I wish you all so very well, and I hope that you continue to make beautiful art every week.” – Penny

10 years ago, illustrator Penelope Dullaghan started a weekly personal experiment as a way to explore and play with images and concepts outside the confines of commissioned projects.

She quickly discovered that other fellow artists wanted to participate too, and so she created Illustration Friday.

Although it started small, with about 10 or 15 people taking part in the weekly challenge, Illustration Friday grew quickly and organically into the thriving illustration community that many of us know and love today. With the addition of blog posts, artist interviews and resources for artists, it became one of the most popular online destinations for amateurs and professionals alike.

After 10 years, Penelope realized that the time had come to focus on other things, and handed the reigns over to Thomas James, illustrator and Creative Director of Illustration Age.

Illustration Friday is here to stay, and rest assured that much more will stay the same than will change. I’ll be talking more about minor improvements and additions in the weeks to come, but for now I felt compelled to take a pause to honor everything that Penelope has done for so many artists by nurturing a sense of community and participation here at Illustration Friday, and invite you to do the same.

AFTER

“With an opportunity to reposition and repackage their existing two-SKU line, Calbee North America sought to grow the brand by leveraging their small, but loyal salty-snack / salad topper customer base. Though intentions are to remain in the produce department of traditional grocery and the snack aisle of club and natural food retailers, the new brand position was the driver behind the expanded six-SKU line of multi-occasion snacks that deliver tasty, delicious, good-for-you fun from nature.”

“This brand positioning, the new umbrella brand name, Harvest Snaps, and the addition of a complementary Lentil Snaps product line was basis for the packages’ new, dramatic look and feel. Front panel graphics underscore the brand’s obsession with wholesome, natural ingredients while back panel content shares its fun, quirky product story.”

Client: Calbee North America
Design Firm: Catapult Strategic Design
Creative Director: Art Lofgreen
Art Director/Designer: Andrew Harrison
Illustrator: Michael Bast

Andrea Eberbach’s art in this book really addressed the idea of “healing the whole person” – physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually.

Thank you Heroes Foundation
The Reconfigured Goddess, Poems of a Breast Cancer Survivor

Excited to announce that Von Glitschka will be speaking at SXSW!

What’s the Vonster talking about? “Drawing Conclusions – Why everyone should draw.”

After all, everyone should be drawing! This session will show why creatives of all types should make drawing a regular part of their daily routine. How the power of the visual image resonates with your audience, and can be leveraged through drawing to improve the quality of a creatives work both aesthetically and effectually. Our industry may be digitally driven, but ideas are still best developed in analog form.

The balance between analog and digital skills is more important now than ever before. Our industry may be digitally driven, but ideas are still best developed in analog form.

“What will the future of advertising look like? The Last Advertising Agency on earth is a short film about what the future of advertising might look like if they don’t embrace the power of digital.” Produced by Saatchi & Saatchi Canada, Tool, Pirate, Rooster and Lunch.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh so true…

(Yours truly in my super comfy – and fancy – hotel room; day of arrival.)

Judging the illustration awards for Communication Arts was super fun. It was really enlightening to see the artwork submitted from the other side, and to get a better understanding of how the process works. I’ve judged a few other competitions before, but this was by far the most stream-lined and smoothest process yet. CA does it right.

The first round of work was judged rapid-fire. For the commercial-use categories (editorial, advertising, publishing, etc) we listened to the written descriptions of each project and judged the work based on the accompanying visual — assessing if it met the assigned objective and whether or not it was an interesting, well-executed visual.

For the non-commercial work (self-promo, unpublished, etc) there were no descriptions. It was simply judging the visual by sight alone, just like you would snap-judge a postcard sliding across your desk — you either like it (and will potentially hire that illustrator) or you won’t (and into the trash it goes.) I suppose that sounds harsh, but I guess you just have to be sure the work you’re sliding across that desk of the busy art director is your best. So strong visuals that stand alone and stand out are the way to go. Nothing less.

My fellow judges were top art- and creative- directors from a magazine, design firm, publisher and advertising agency. Fancy! They were all from downtown big cities and had the busy, exciting lifestyles to go with that. (I loved hearing their stories and viewpoints! So different from mine!). I was the only illustrator. And I was definitely the only stay-at-home, hippie mom who hikes through the woods every day and stops to take pictures of tree bark and jot notes about impermanence. hee hee. I felt a bit like an outsider. I am not super busy – by choice. (Been there, done that.) I like my pace of grace and hold it extremely sacred. I love my work as an illustrator, and I am in a fortunate position to be selective about the projects I take on. Woot woot! High fives to time-guarding, hippie moms!

Back to judging… I was very honored to be asked! What an awesome experience to look at stacks and stacks of amazing artwork! I loved asking the other judges about how they find the illustrators they work with and what they expect as they move through the process. I found out what they are actually looking at as far as self-promotion and what kinds of images catch their eye. It was super helpful — both asking my questions and being completely immersed in artwork for three days. So fun.

I think my work is about to become a lot stronger because of this experience.

Thank you Penelope!!!

“Health and wellness” are two key aspects in most everyone’s life. They also happen to be two key markets in today’s communication industry. So while the conventional model finds pharmacies pushing the pills, insurance companies offering protection and hospitals and doctors providing knowledge, the question remains: Is that really what it takes to get people well?
 
Just as I was wondering this, my good friend Jose Said Osio invited me to a conference titled, “Healing Journeys.” He said, “This will open your eyes to the value of illustration in this new Health 2.0 – a value understood by few agencies or design groups,” adding, “let alone healthcare providers.”
  
It was an amazing experience. Attendees were cancer patients, family members, doctors and nurses, and there was a presentation by amazing board-certified medical oncologists alongside caring nurses and psychotherapists. It really addressed the idea of “healing the whole person” – physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually.  
 
So where does art come in? What are our creative opportunities here? Well, plenty. Patients don’t stay in hospitals as long as they used to, and art may be part of the reason why. It’s been proven to accelerate the healing process and quicken turnaround. And that’s good for everybody.
 
Doctors like Jeremy Geffen, author of “The Seven Levels of Healing” and “The Journey Though Cancer”, and Bellruth Naparstek, creator and founder of “Health Journey,” emphasize the body’s physiology changes as we go from worry to relaxation, from fear to inspiration – and that the shift can be triggered through the use of art. Art, they say, physically alters the brain by accessing a different brain wave pattern. This, in turn, affects the autonomic nervous system, hormonal balance and neurotransmitters. Eventually (ideally), art affects every cell in the body and reshapes our physiology into a more healing environment. Pretty neat. Arching your eyebrows? Read this:
 
How Art Heals (Scientifically Speaking)

• · Exposure to art slows down blood flow, reversing a typical stress response. Normally agitated blood vessels can contract in response to images of imagination set to music, saving as much as 150cc of blood when administered before surgery.
• · Non-verbal, imaginative images evoke a measurable response – and one that is more universal than what is evoked by written language.
• · Color can be used to convey a sense of joy, beauty and simplicity – all proven therapeutic emotions for patients.

 
Need help making the case to your clients? Keep reading:

Value Points To Consider And Harp On

• · Art can be the catalyst in developing cultural programs for hospitals, helping expose the staff to the wide array of patients they serve.
• · No one would argue that our lives are bombarded with stress, which is known to trigger or worsen illness. By allowing and encouraging us to linger in moments of beauty, art can reverse this process.
• · Art is one way to make patients feel more comfortable and at ease when they walk into a hospital – a mind state that’s obviously much more conducive to healing.
• · Medical research proves that blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration are all positively affected by exposure to the arts. You can look it up and everything.
• · Art-related reduction of stress, lessening of fears and improved communication all contribute to the total picture of health.

 
The art of healing is all about building a more effective doctor-patient relationship. With illustration – a tool that can lift patient and staff morale while cultivating feelings of love, gratitude, protection and support – the arts create safer, more supportive and functional environments. And that goes whether you’re in a holistic wellness center or an old-school healthcare facility.
 
The science is there. Art has the power to heal and help. Will you use it as directed?

Curtis Parker has illustrated the New Year cover issue for Barron’s Financial Forecast over the past twelve years. So naturally, the creative challenge each year is to make sure it stands apart from all the previous years’ covers.

Facing a readership of predominately stock market investors, art director Pamela Budz has this to say about working with Curtis over the past decade, “I’ve worked with Curtis for many years. His illustration truly has a magical aura. It’s strong both conceptually and visually — with beautifully crafted lines, composition and color. It makes any project I’m working on look special. Additionally, he’s just the nicest guy who makes me believe that my ideas are wonderful.”

Curtis says, “I asked Pam a question regarding some aspect of the bear and bull behavior in the painting and there was a pause before she said, ‘How long have you been doing these?’ Meaning, ‘I should know by now.’ Of course that is part of the challenge– to keep it fresh and organic.” Obviously, through his decade of successful illustrating for the company, Curtis has no problem with that.

Word is out! Penelope Dullaghan was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville to create the poster artwork for the 37th Humana Festival of New American Plays. This is a huge honor because each year they select one artist to create a graphic image to visually represent the Festival.

The 37-year old Humana Festival is an internationally renowned showcase of stage premieres produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville, a non-profit professional regional theatre company. Many of the plays premiered in this celebrated annual event have had subsequent productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, on film, TV and at regional theatres across the country. And three festival plays have won Pulitzers. Previous artists include greats like Wiktor Sadowski, Brian Cronin, Istvan Orosz, Chip Kidd. (I have a print by Brian Cronin in my living room — It’s my favorite piece of art!)

I must have sketched several dozen ideas for this before coming up with this simple one of a sledge hammer breaking the mask. This concept speaks to the fact that many of these new plays push the boundaries of form and structure of a typical play. The playwrights are always inventing new approaches to story telling. For example, last year a play was “mixed” with turntables by a dj, and the year before there was a play with no props — but the actors acted like they had props — and there were sounds and other visual queues to back it up. Very fun.

“I was honored to be asked”, Penelope adds, “I really like how this piece turned out, and I think the art director and his team were pleased, too. ”

A little while ago, Scott Hull Associates and Meg Hunt were contacted by the lovely duo at Loveleigh Invitations to design a wedding invite package for a couple wanting a wintery barnyard and Golden Books-inspired look. Total joy— rubylith and animals and patterns and working with the couple’s really interesting palette of ivory, brown, rust and red! The bride and groom were thrilled, and Meg had a blast pulling it together.

Meg comments, “In a way, this was an interesting precursor for me— since I got engaged last week and now I’ve had some experience putting an invite together, I can’t wait to dive in and make one for us! (Though I’m relatively certain screenprinting will be involved.) More invites/cards in my future? We shall see!”

Von Glitschka has illustrated a lot of different things over the last 20 years or so but never Santa Claus? (At least none that I can remember) Von’s done elves and even Jack Frost but never the guy from the North Pole?

“I love Christmas and all it truly stands for. I know the character Santa is more a part of the commercial side of the season but hey, I grew up watching all those cheesy stop frame animations each year and loved them”, Von states. “Land of misfit toys and all the other fun memorable characters and stories. So I decided to finally create the fat man himself this year.”

Von’s not sure he’ll squeeze in another post before the end of the year? (There is the Mayans’ prediction) Vonster’s present to you: A stinkload of Jolly St. Nick wallpapers you can download. Enjoy!

RESULTS:
It took a little figuring out and a whole lot of sculpting, but once it was finished Mark’s idea turned out just as he’d planned. It also garnered a response way beyond what he’d anticipated: 1.5 million image hits in the first three months, write-ups in Wired, The Huffington Post, Fast Company, Gizmodo, DesignBoom, Booooooom, Glamcult, Buzzfeed and It’s Nice That, to name a few. Thanks to the massive viral response, Mark now has a growing following and an instantly recognizable face. (Sort of.)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

RESULTS
After four months of reading, sketching, designing and illustrating, Mikey had concepted and created a strong series of covers to interest and engage his audience. (He got his degree, too.)

The covers were also featured on prominent design blog The Daily Heller, and — this is maybe the coolest part — were recently chosen by Out of Print clothing for their first artist series, turning Mikey’s art into T-shirts. And not just any shirts: With every sale, Out of Print donates a book to an underprivileged child. So Mikey ended up getting kids reading after all.

All of the Bookcovers
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Out of Print T-Shirts

Scott Hull Associates artist Lisa Ballard got into the mindset of the 6- to 12-year-old target audience by interviewing kids, checking popular youth websites to make sure her artwork was on trend, and, well, by just enjoying the assignment. In Scott’s words, “The more fun Lisa had, the better the art kept getting.” A collection of stickers quickly revealed itself as an image library in the making, and the client ended up requesting additional art to complement the initial work.

The final piece was picked up by a fairly well-known, good-sized retailer by the name of Walmart, and sold so well in its initial run that they chose to offer it again the following holiday season. What’s more, Lisa’s art was a hit on social media and has found its way into numerous presentations and craft projects. Looking back, Design Manager Deidre Evans says “This project actually went really smoothly. The brand team was amazed at how quickly we got to something we loved.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

SHA artist John Maggard fit the bill and then some, creating ingenious artwork that launched a twelve-year (and counting) relationship that the client credits with distinguishing their brand in a competitive field and even helping (no kidding) grow sales by 500%. “The illustrations have taken on a life of their own* and elevated Hayward Baker to the status of #1 Geotechnical Engineering firm in North America.” John has enjoyed working on it, too: “It’s always a challenge … we’ve utilized many different points of view and themes over the years to provide something different and visually interesting, while keeping the informational component realistic and accurate.”

* He’s not kidding about the “life of their own” part, either. John’s artwork has gone beyond the annual calendar to be used as engineering aids in colleges and institutions around the world.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

John’s Final Sketch and Final Art
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Detail of Three Calendars
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

John’s Process of Building Illustration