Who needs kidneys anyway?

My mum has always had problems with her kidneys since she was a kid but during the summer their 'functionality' dropped to a dangerous level and so it seems that she needs an extra one soon!
In the meantime she'll be starting peritoneal dialysis. Its scary stuff but shes got lots of love and support around her. 
For Christmas I was browsing potential dialysis safe cookbooks (recipes with low potassium, no fresh or dried fruit and no chocolate or marmite! etc, etc and etc) And there were bugger-all nice looking or well designed books to be had. 
I think it makes the whole restricted diet thing much more depressing when the design bores you to tears so I designed a happy colourful and fun cookbook! 
Bon Appetit!

Potassium is the major baddie in this. And its in lots of stuff that everyone likes to eat lots like potato and crisps and chips and lots of fruit and veg. Its sucks. But you can get rid of it via the Double Boil. It just means meals take a little while more to make.

I actually made and tested all these recipies and the the Pantzaroslata was by far the most fun.

Lots of pink and beets!

I'm massively happy with this, its a really lovely little (actually huge) book that I can give to my mum. It's not much but it feels like something towards everything. 

(I'll get better photos up soon! Promises!)

GROW! Seed Packaging.

Hello!

These happy chaps are a range of seed packets designed to fold out and grow! 

They'd be sold to children in newsagents like Pokemon cards as an alternative to sweets and as a little gardening projects to encourage environmental awareness.

Basically there'd be some sort of compact soil within the character and then you just add water, let it grow and then plant the whole thing in the garden or a big pot!

Suspiciously carroty looking cress...

Peek!

All finished on the far eastern front! 

Go to print on monday. The laws of Repro-graphics decree that I should cry at least once and print something the wrong way up with dodgy registration marks and then cry a bit more.

Can not wait. 

Three pages to be printed into a tiny, tiny zine!

A Thousand Nights

I'm currently working on a short 'comic' commissioned by my tutor who worked with me on my dissertation to be published in an anthology. As my dissertation was all about the illustrated map within literature novels he suggested I explore the maps effect of taking the reader on a journey, acting as a contents page for the novel to follow.  Here I am looking at presenting a story via a non-linear narrative told solely through pictures. 

At the moment it is based loosely on Arabian Nights or A Thousand and One Nights, suggesting the inspiration or origin of each fresh nightly tale.

I'm still trying to refine my technique of combining my chunky infant school pencil drawings with digital colour. I want lovely textures of the final image but without loosing he freedom of the colour tests from the middle two images. It's difficult to find the middle ground. But so, so much fun!

Deciding on colour is hard too. I love the back and white roughs but I'm too much of a sucker for brash rub your face all over colour! Perhaps I'll go back and greyscale the finals?

Degree show posters.

So I'm stilll working on my seed packaging. The major designs are there I just need to work out how to print the origami, say hello to indesign my new bestie.

The tutors spotted me working on these fellows and then decided to art direct me on another final show poster. So fun and productive but aggh I want to finish this brief now please.

 Take note of the little man pooping in pink...my tutors thought he was a blast...yeah.

They also picked one of my one day posters to develop for the show. Unfortunately they didn't like the title 'Umlaut (spelt in umlauts)' or Hergestellt and suggested WUNDERBAR!

Which makes me think or bras and drinking...