The new project is getting well underway and we still haven’t found out our grades for the previous print project, which is quite disappointing because I really want to know if I did well. On the plus side, the new project that we have been given seems to be really interesting and could help me to produce some decent work for my final portfolio, we have been asked to design a front cover and double page spread with spot illustrations for Little White Lies Magazine. Editorial illustration is a massive industry that has become increasingly popular over the years, it is used by art directors and publications to capture the essence of a piece of writing, as well as to break up the text and make a piece of writing more accessible and understandable. Admittedly, it isn’t an industry that I have ever considered going into or really thought about before, that is not to say that I am not looking forward to trying it this project, it would make for a good piece of portfolio work. I have also found out that it is quite often considered bread and butter work for illustrators, which makes sense because there is a huge demand for it out there and it seems to be a pretty good way for an illustrator to get out there and make a living out of in-between personal work.

So far this week I have managed to complete my initial research for this project, we were asked to research the Little White Lies magazine and Editorial Illustration as a whole, both of which I have done. I am happy that we have been asked to do a Little White Lies style cover because, despite not knowing what it was before the start of the project, it has quickly become my favourite movie magazine and I will most likely be buying every issue from now on. Each issue dedicates the entire first half of the mag to a carefully selected movie which the serves as the inspiration for the front cover design, the illustrators there are amazing, you can tell that they really care about movies because they capture the essence, tone and atmosphere of the movie in a singular piece of art. It’s just so unique and I can completely understand why my tutors have chosen this publication as the foundations of this project. It is our task to do the same as Little White Lies and create a front cover and a double page spread complete with spot illustrations that captures the tone of one of 3 given films, House (1977), Blade Runner (1982) and The Holy Mountain. Now, initially I’m thinking that I’ll choose Blade Runner because it is the only movie out of the 3 that I have actually seen, and I love sci-fi, though I could change my mind after watching the other two. I’ve watched the trailers for each of them and I must say that House looks absolutely bonkers in a good way, it could be quite a fun one to choose so we’ll see after I’ve watched them all.

I still have some other bits of research to do over the weekend too, I’ll need to research some artists that can inspire me throughout the course of the project, ideally ones that have illustrated for Little White Lies because they would be best suited to a project inspired by the magazine. As well as artist research, I am going to do my best to watch all 3 of the films, even Blade Runner because it has been many years since I have seen it so I need to refresh my memory. I am a bit worried about watching the Holy Mountain, not because it looks gory or anything but because it looks unbelievably confusing and bonkers in all of the wrong ways, plus, based on the trailers it seems to tackle religion a lot and that is one topic that I generally struggle with, but I’ll give it a go. I do have some concerns about this project, mainly the fact that the majority of Little White Lies front covers feature a portrait of the main character present in their featured film and I am notoriously bad at drawing people which could hold me back a lot this project and I really don’t want to produce an ineffective piece of work just because portraits are one of my weaker areas. I’ll just have to find a way to make the project work for me.