Mental Flexibility

Here's a set of feature illustrations for a BBC Science Focus issue from last year that slipped through the blog net. They're for an article on the idea of Mental Flexibility being the 'blueprint for true resilience' rather than dogged pushing through at all costs. The illustrations are digital collages created from supplied photography mixed in with various textural and design elements. I love working in this style and making the compositions fit specific spaces in the print issue. Thanks again to Joe Eden for the commission. See the work on the main site here.

Trip To The Titanic

Here's an enjoyable commission for Reader's Digest and a great piece by sitcom writer Mike Reiss. It's a humorous and bittersweet look at his experiences in the infamous Titan sub a year before it's fateful last trip to view the Titanic wreckage entitled My (Reluctant) Trip to the Titanic. The brief required an opening spread illustration setting the scene with the sub and Titanic and two collages depicting details and photos from the story. I turned to Cinema 4d to create the opener and sourced a good 3d model of the Titan sub to use throughout, the porthole proved a useful feature to connect the collage images. For the Titanic wreckage I looked at reference imagery and modelled a rudimentary front portion of the doomed ship with distressed textures and lighting to add depth then further Photoshop tinkering for final compositing with the Titan sub. For the collages I adapted some of Mike's photography with other elements to capture some of the humorous tone of the piece. I've posted here an alternate opening illustration of the Titan exploring the bow and development of the 3d model Titanic wreckage. Overall, a great job to work on and big thanks to Jessie A. Sharon for taking me on for this. You can see them on the main site here also.

ABRSM Revival

Happy 2026 to all. For the first post of the year I thought I'd write about the recent work I've been doing with wonderful long-time client ABRSM. At the end of 2024, and after twelve years of illustrating their music exam book covers, ABRSM notified me that they were looking to rebrand and would be inviting new designers to tender for the work. I was a little deflated but figured that nothing lasted forever. I was offered the chance to pitch for the new work and didn't want to give up without a fight so took the opportunity to see how I fared with a new approach.

The initial pitch designs were to be for the Woodwind books and the chosen style would be rolled out across all the various instruments over the coming years. Working with the supplied photography of Clarinet, Flute and Saxophone players I developed a number of illustrative approaches presented with ideas for typographic layouts and was chuffed to make it past the first round. Over the course of the three month process my big breakthrough came with a wave design I created, based on an existing marketing asset, to define the lower illustration and upper title areas. With that direction as a basis it was the consensus to simplify the illustrative approach and have the photography cleanly presented on colour gradients chosen by ABRSM to represent the instruments. This resulted in a more graphic approach than my previous work and felt like the rebrand they were looking for. When I finally heard that I had won the pitch I was over the moon that I'd get to keep the job and continue to work with ace Content Operations Manager Darren Ellsmore and the ABRSM team.

So, presented here are the first pitch-winning Woodwind book cover designs and final typographic layouts with some of the initial illustrations put forward during the development process. Looking forward to the next performance. You can see other ABRSM work on the main site here also.

Merry Xmas 2025

The First Stars

Here's my latest cover illustration for BBC Science Focus on the theme of the hunt for the First Stars and how they are Lost in Space. The brief was to depict these mysterious first stars based on descriptions from the article so I worked through various interpretations, posted here, to send over and get the process started. As can often be the case the first 'first star' visualisation was chosen to develop as it conveyed more of a sense of a consuming gas ball rather than an emitter. I refined the digital illustration, made with Cinema 4d/Redshift and lots of Photoshop texture compositing, and ended up with the chosen final plus a more wispy alternate version, also above. Thanks to Joe Eden for another great commission. See further Focus work on the site here.

Thirsty AI

Here's a new cover illustration for the University of California, Riverside's UCR Magazine on the 'Unquenchable Thirst of AI' and the alarming reliance on fresh water by Big Tech companies. The brief was to depict the large waste of fresh water used in cooling AI server systems and its environmental impact in particular. I presented a few first visuals, shown here, featuring a leaky AI server bucket, a data centre waterfall with the researcher Shaolei Ren, and water rushing down an AI drain. The drain idea was chosen and I expanded the concept to include the power stations, servers and environments that get impacted by the water waste. The illustration was created digitally with a drain/plughole created in Cinema 4d and composited with elements in Photoshop. Thanks to Jessica Weber for the enjoyable commission. See it on the main site here also.

Car Talk

Here's a little catch up on some commissions for longtime client Car And Driver magazine from the last year. The most recent was for an article on the state of data-hungry connected vehicle technologies such as OnStar in the US. The illustration was designed to work for a specific page layout with floating elements and a full bleed background as well as a more open online format. The second was also an unusual vertical format for a rather niche sidebar tracing the history of Mercedes Benz naming schemes since the first vehicle in 1886. Always enjoyable commissions, thanks to Darin Johnson and Nicole Lazarus for these. See more Car And Driver work on the site here. 

Energising The Future

Here's a recent illustration project for the University of Houston's publication Energy@Scale on how the 'Energy University' is shaping the future of global energy. The brief required a cover and feature collage plus individual portraits of four of the main figureheads of the University's energy programme. I devised a visual approach and palette that could work consistently across all the illustrations and enjoyed digitally collaging the Houston cityscapes with energy and fuel production imagery in Photoshop. You can also see the illustrations on the site here.

Saudi Entertainment

Here's a recent commission for Al Majalla on the current state of Saudi  Arabian entertainment and the expansion of country's culture and the arts. A large part of the article looked at the film and television industry so I focussed on that for the main illustration, particularly the burgeoning cinema and film festival scene. The digital collages were created in Photoshop. Thanks to Sara Loane for the commission. See more work for AL Majalla here.