I adore the delicate line work and pastel colours of Marguerite Sauvage’s illustrations. Based in Paris and professionally illustrating since 2001, Sauvage has worked with a host of big brands including Elle Magazine, Mattel, PlayStation 3, Apple Computers, MTV, just to name a few. Her work, at times, can be overtly sexual and the juxtaposition of Sauvage’s ethereal style for such graphic images make it some of her most engaging illustrations. She of coarse has plentiful amount of G-Rated illustrations over on her website, which you should definitely visit. I will finish on one of Marguerite Sauvage quotes, regarding what inspires her, which I agree with completely:

“Happiness and anti-stress: I just want to make things prettier.”

In Phil’s ‘Printed Portfolio’, you’ll find what is probably his signature style. It’s ‘Where’s Wally?’ but with a clear message. There are loads of things going on and some of it is even quite abstract in order to send the message home. It is colourful work, off-the-wall and loads of fun.

On his website, Phil also has a ‘Collage Portfolio’ section, which is completely strange and brilliant. Perspective is played with, things that don’t go with other things are stuck together in interesting ways, 2D and 3D world come together and in general it breaks all the rules in the best way possible. It breaks the rules with purpose, or with intelligence.

Phil also has an excellent hand-written type section on his website as well as some black and white work. All in all it is well worth clicking here for a visit. Very inspiring!

Jess Douglas is currently based in Lyme Regis, but grew up on party island Ibiza. Jess mainly creates drawings from life, with a splash of personal style thrown into the mix. This is a person who I imagine carries a sketchbook around all over the place, ever improving. Probably as a direct result of this, cars, buildings and people make up the majority of Jess’ portfolio. It is like a mini-document of urban culture, which is fascinating to me. I wonder why the illustrator chose to draw this particular building over another for example. There seems to be something interesting about every subject chosen and that comes through to us, the viewer.

Thanks for getting in touch Jess!

Joel and Ashley, otherwise known as ‘This Paper Ship’ are an illustration studio who specialise in hand lettering and branding. They have a studio in the woods (sounds fun) near Hillsborough, North Carolina. Their clients include American Greetings, DIY Bride and Cincinnati Magazine. They have a great little Etsy shop here, for those who like prints, greeting cards and the like.

Belgian illustrator Mister Melvin creates wonderful illustrations with a unique style. He knows how to create illustrations which make you chuckle, that’s for sure. Comprising of mainly editorial and children’s’ book work, he also has some graffiti and other bits and pieces on his website. Mister Melvin contributed to our book ‘100% Recycled Paper’ (soon to be published). When I first saw his comic strip for the book, it made me laugh out loud to the point of crying! Such is his excellent sense of humour. Additionally, he has an intelligent way of getting his ideas across in his work with wit and charm.

On a personal note, I found Mister Melvin to be a true pro and he doesn’t do anything half-heartedly. Visit his fantastic portfolio here.

Ben Steers is based in Bristol, south-west England. In his portfolio, you’ll find an impressive array of works including character design, t-shirts, Mac skins, jigsaw puzzles, editorial illustration and much more. Ben seems to have a great sense of design which comes through in a lot of his work. The various 2D and 3D canvasses he applied his illustrations to are a testament to the adaptability and versatility of both him and his illustration style.

His clients include Channel 4, The Sunday Times, The Carbon Trust, NHS AND Spunky clothing label.

Neil Duerden creates super-punchy advertising illustrations and designs for clients such as Nike, Virgin, Sony Ericsson, Costa Coffee and loads of other big brands. He combines photography and vector graphics with digital effects to create collages that jump out at you. It’s all about grabbing your attention and keeping it for long enough so that you register the product. This style is absolutely brash, but with reason; I’m sure it is very effective advertising.