Creative Review Brief: Editorial Illustration for Inkygoodness's 28-Day Challenge
Overview
Over the course of 28 days, I participated in an editorial challenge hosted by Inkygoodness—a global community dedicated to connecting, inspiring and developing artists and creative businesses. During the challenge, artists were given three briefs covering varying subject material for three award-winning publications—Frankie Magazine, Creative Review, and Anorak.
The Creative Review brief was set by Art Director, Paul Pensom, for their August issue dedicated to Creative Leadership. Illustrators were instructed not to summarize an argument or an angle, but rather try to encapsulate the theme as a whole.
Services
Creative Direction, Editorial Illustration, Editorial Design
I chose to use an ant farm as a metaphor for Creative Leadership, highlighting the omnipresence of design and its often unseen influence on society. By depicting a hidden world of diverse jobs and hierarchies within an ant colony, I aimed to illustrate the significance of the creative industry, which can sometimes feel overshadowed or disconnected. Creative leaders face the challenge of ensuring that design and creative thinking are integrated at the foundational level of every endeavor, despite frequently being pulled at the last minute or lacking the appropriate resources. However, the impact of creative work is immense, akin to ants aerating the soil and enabling the growth of plant roots.
Ants, functioning as a 'superorganism,' exhibit a remarkable unity in pursuing shared goals of survival, growth, and reproduction. Similarly, creative leaders across disciplines and industries understand that cultivating and championing creative thinking is crucial for societal progress. While our day-to-day tasks may seem small in scale or inconsequential, as a collective and industry, we form an interconnected whole. Our designs may not directly save lives, but the principles of good design have far-reaching effects. Through inspiration and support, we elevate fellow creatives and contribute to the transformative changes being made in society.
