Blog

Hello. Welcome to my blog. This is where I post new projects and talk a little bit about my experiences with clients. If you are interested in any kind of commission please head over to the contact page.

Working with Disney

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I have been working with Disney for around 2 years now and it has been a fantastic experience. I wanted to write a bit about it and share the art I produced with the Disney team. I was emailed by a Disney Art Director after they spotted my work in a gallery show. I went to the Disney HQ and had a ball wandering around and discussing a few projects with ridiculously creative individuals.I was commissioned to work on three sets of art based on the Disney Villains, The Muppets and Winnie The Pooh.

The Villains were something I loved working on because I am a huge fan of Disney baddies! Redrawing these classic characters was humbling and exciting all at once. The final art was created using Illustrator and because I did so many sketches I decided to present those too. Recreating Winnie The Pooh was a challenge. A challenge I was up for, having read the stories a lot as a child. Staying true to the likeness of the characters but spinning a new style was the biggest challenge. I think I achieved what I set out to and kept true to that cute little bear. Finally, I was asked to work on The Muppets and that made me smile a massive smile. I had a blast working with Hensen’s original characters and adding my own style and twists. A perfect match for my style and I am very proud of the results.

This opportunity was huge for me and while it was humbling it also pushed me creatively to learn a great deal. The people at Disney were inspiring and very encouraging with an openness to creative ideas. I have other things in the pipeline with Disney and I relish every job they commission to me.  I’ll let you know what comes next….

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Imperial College London x wotto

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Imperial College London commissioned me to design their official 2015 Imperial Festival T-shirt. I mixed scientific events and fun nerdy icons in one large t-shirt doodle. The people at ICL were great to work with and gave me a very thorough brief. The tee was a big hit at the festival, selling out on day two.

Small character details were also used to make buttons for visitors. It’s always nice to work with an educational establishment but Imperial College London is highly respected worldwide so it was a real honor to work with them.

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Skelanimals x wotto

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Design By Humans and Skelanimals teamed up a few months ago and hosted a Skelanimals tshirts design contest. Skelanimals offered up eight of their cute dead animal characters for designers to rework for a T-shirts. I choose Diego the bat character. I applied a hand drawn Day of the Dead style using lines and icons from the Mexican Art style.

I won first place with my ‘Diego The Dead’ design. I also had a second design selected to be featured in this exclusive collection ‘Jack a Doodle’. This design features the Skelanimals bunny ‘Jack’ redrawn using my signature doodle style. Although I think Diego is a stronger design I also enjoyed working on Jack so I am glad he made it into the tshirt collection. Skelanimals was a cool brand contest to collaborate on that alligned well with my style.

About the brand : Skelanimals are adorable animals who have met an untimely end, mostly due to their own reckless and ill-advised behavior. Edgy but lovable, playful and irreverent, dark but not morbid–Skelanimals are so fun and adventurous that you just might forget they are no longer living.

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Diego The Dead – Available here

Jack a Doodle – Available here

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Obsessive Doodling

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For a long long time I have doodled. So much so it has kind of become an obsession. Every surface seems appropriate for a doodle-fest. I always want to doodle all over freeway bridges, walls, containers, etc etc. I doodle a lot in sketchbooks, nothing new there, artists everywhere do that. More recently I have enjoyed doodling on three dimensional surfaces. Coffee cups, gift packages and consumer product boxes have all fell foul to my doodling ways.

I don’t imagine they will come to much but I thought that way back in the early 2000’s when I designed a ‘doodle style tee’ which has gone on to be one of my most requested styles of work. So who knows where this doodle madness will go? One thing is for sure, I like it. It has a cathartic effect on me and I have noticed I concentrate much better when doodling. During a meeting I seem to take more in, on a phone call I seem to listen better and when I am done covering a surface I feel pleased with the results. Doodling is part of my routine. It’s here to stay and even if it doesn’t result in more clients I like it very much.
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Moment Watches x wotto

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Moment Watches are based in Korea and they invited me to make a watch face as part of their 52 watches line. One watch per week for one year, designed by a guest artist. My watch was a doodle faced watch with black, grey and red art. I have always tried to work with countries outside of the country I reside in because the wider spread your art the more people are likely to see it. Also what works in one country design wise might not work in another so there in itself is a new challenge.

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My design has gone over well and the company in general is seeing some nice growth. My payment is a percentage of sales which at first was a risk, especially considering these guys were a start up when I was asked along for the ride. However a year-ish on and this is one of those jobs that just keep on giving. Risks are sometimes worth taking, working for smaller brands in far away places can sometimes pay off. I also saw some success with the Korean suit suit manufacturer Aqus a few years ago.
The long and short of it is never look past an opportunity, some will fail but others will be worth risking your time on.  That being said make sure you have paperwork signed before handing over any art. I always ask to see a website, even if the company is just starting out. I always want to see where my art will be featured and a website will tell you a lot about the company. Where they are in terms of launching, style and whether they look legit. It’s a very good starting point. If a company can’t get a website up and running it’s likely they won’t host your work well.
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Formamentees x wotto

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Formamentees approached me last year for some designs for their new brand. I sold them a set of designs that they went on to feature. More recently I discovered they have started making all over printed versions of their tees. Two of my designs have been made available in this huge printed style and they look really cool.

It’s always nice to see companies take your art and produce new and exciting products. I really like how they printed the ‘Dreamer’ design off the sleeve, looks very cool.  The only down side to these kind of things is that the companies rarely tell you it’s happening. Annoying, considering you can blog and talk about their new product.

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