We are proud to announce that Oscar Wilson’s illustration for Canongate Books Gil Scott Heron Memoir: ‘The Last Holiday’ won the Best Jacket Design category at last night’s British Book Awards.
The judges commented on the work: “This arresting design evokes 60s counter-culture art in a contemporary and well-realised concept, with front/rear covers and spine working together to create a powerful and effective image.”
Oscar worked closely with Art Director Rafi Romaya to deliver this winning piece of work. As a massive fan of soul / funk / jazz music; Oscar was delighted to be involved with the project, and very proud that his first ever typographic portrait was of such a great as Gil Scott Heron.
Rafi explains the project and why she commissioned Oscar: “The plan was to create a bespoke and personalised jacket befitting for Gil’s memoir, The Last Holiday. Taking inspiration from Gil's landmark collection 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised', we wanted to create an image as iconic as photographer Chuck Stewart's album cover shot whilst also representing Gil's poetic lyricism and artful use of language throughout his music, poetry and books.
Having seen Oscar Wilson's 'street-art style' visual work, which we felt might complement Gil's poetry, we approached him to attempt a typographic portrait using a mixture of Gil's album titles, song titles and most iconic phrases.
It was a gift of a book to work on and I hope we have a created a jacket Gil himself would have liked, had he seen it, and that winning Best Jacket Design Award at the British Book Awards 2012 would have made him smile!”
We definitely think Gil is smiling at the news, as are we. Well done to Oscar, Rafi and all at Canongate Books.
Limited edition screen prints of the cover art are available to buy from Canongate's website
Alan Kitching was commissioned by Cadogan Estate to create a mural in central London. The mural celebrates Mary Quant’s fashion work in the building in the 1960’s. Originally created in letterpress then translated into paint onto a 40ft wall by Will Impry. You can view the artwork on King’s Road near Duke of York Square in Chelsea, London.
Début Art is very excited to welcome in Jay Gordon. Jay Gordon is a Cape Town based illustrator with 14 years experience creating artwork for a spectrum of clients ranging from editorial illustration to product campaigns, packaging, poster designs and everything in-between. His twin passions are draftsmanship and storytelling inspired by great cinematographers, novelists, golden age illustrators, comic artists and graphic designers. You can find Jay's full portfolio here.
Lisa Sheehan has picked up two 'Awards of Excellence' at this years Communication Arts awards in the typography category. Have a look below at the two winning pieces; 'Beyond Obesity' and a cover for Internazionale.
Doug John Miller's cover for Chemistry World magazine has recently been shortlisted for this year's Association of Illustrators World Illustration Awards. Doug was commissioned to create 3 illustrations for Chemistry World's May 2023 issue on energy storage. The illustrations detailed the potentiality and production of lithium-based storage.