OUGD502 - Studio Brief 01 - The Happy Newspaper

In May earlier this year I saw a post on Instagram from Emily Coxhead, a graduate graphic designer/freelance illustrator who I had been following on Instagram for a few years. The post was doing a shoutout for any illustrators who would like to submit a piece of work for the new project/buisness she had just set up called 'The Happy Newspaper'.

Immediately I sent her an email showing her a range of my illustrations in different styles in the hope that she was still looking for applicants. This was the email:

Thankfully I got a reply almost straight away:

From there we emailed back and forth a few times to establish the deadline for the illustration and confirm styles etc. This was the finished drawing (featured in the newspaper):

Emily credited my drawing in the newspaper by putting my design instagram's username on the page so readers had a direct link to more of my work, getting my name out there.

A few months later in August, completely out of the blue I received another email from Emily asking if I could do another illustration. Obviously I jumped at the chance. It was also really lovely to think that a creative who I looked up to had thought of me and liked my work so much that she got back in touch to do another drawing. This was the email: 

My response: 

And the drawing:

The other week Emily got in touch with me again for the latest issue of the Newspaper to celebrate it's first birthday! She wanted a drawing of Freddie Mercury and the comet that had been named after him.

This was the final drawing as seen in the newspaper:

I've really enjoyed working with Emily on this amazing project for such a lovely and worthy cause. It's been so nice to feel part of the design community and actually contributing my work and getting it out there into the world rather than just sitting in my sketchbook. 

Supporting small businesses is something which I am always proud to do and watching Emily's grow into a small empire since I first came across her work on the MMU Art school's graduate show is something that I'm always impressed to see. She now has over 11.9K followers on Instagram, a book which has been published by Penguin, shoutouts from the likes of Richard Branson and a whole range of her own products from cards to mugs. 

She is one of my main role models and is the definition of how hard work and passion for doing what you love seriously pays off. I hope to collaborate with her more in the future.