In this new category for WIA2020 we celebrate all non-traditional types of publishing. Over the years, we’ve identified an increasing number of illustrators using zines, graphic novels, comics and artist books as formats for narratives that go beyond the book, so this category was created to give a platform to diverse forms of publishing.
Many of the projects here are handmade or hand printed, and utilise wordless, visual ways to tell stories and communicate ideas. Often originating from personal ideas and interests, these projects offer a way into new worlds.
Explore just a few of our highlights of the entries shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards 2020 Alternative Publishing Category below. If you would like to learn more about a project, click on the image or title to see the full entry.
Thanks go to the three Alternative Publishing Category judges:
The World Illustration Awards 2020 Shortlist features 200 hundred projects by New Talent and Professional illustrators from all over the world organised within 10 industry relevant categories.
If you would like to learn more about a project, click on the title or image to see the full submission.
Yoss chose the concertina as a format for this book as a way of thinking differently about narrative and composition. The book was printed at home using a digital screenprinting process, with the limited colours allowing the characters and story to shine.
Yoss is a graduate of the Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University MA Children’s Book Illustration Course. She is based in San Jose, Costa Rica and is represented by Astound Agency.
Social Media:
twitter.com/YossSanchez
instagram.com/yoss_s
www.behance.net/YossSanchez
Personal Website:
yosssanchez.com/
This illustration was made for a zine, celebrating the retirement of a professor, James, at United International College. The portrait of James and his wife is made from a reference photograph, with an imagined, romantic image of a sunset added to represent the new stage in their life together. The work was made using Procreate following an initial sketching process.
Cadie Can Long is a freelance illustrator and fine artist based in Los Angeles. She grew up in China, studying Film as an undergraduate, and earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting in 2018.
Social Media:
cadielong
instagram.com/cadielong
behance.net/cadielong
Personal Website:
cadielong.myportfolio.com
This digital illustration was made for a limited edition fanzine, celebrating the carefree joy of vogue dancing. Created digitally, the black and white drawings offer a fun series of portraits, brought together in a narrative format.
Antonio Uve is a Spanish illustrator based in Madrid. He is a self-taught illustrator and his background in advertising and graphic design is apparent throughout his illustrations. Antonio is represented by Colagene.
Nicoletta’s illustrations offer a reworking of the story of the pirate Sandokan, reimagined using digital drawing overlaid on found footage and home movies. These reworked images find new meanings and narratives to tell the story.
Nicoletta Traversa is an illustrator and animator based in Venice. Since many years she has dedicated her artistic research to the reuse of archival images, creating new narratives from pre-existing images, carrying on the idea of a “visual ecology”.
Social Media:
instagram.com/nicoland_me/
Personal Website:
nicolettatraversa.tumblr.com/
This project is based on a fantastical Chinese novel and animation titled Rubik’s Cube Building, reimagined for now, with the COVID crisis playing out. This highly stylised work and uses imagery from science fiction with an architectural structure. The work is made using watercolour and collage, which are then recreated digitally.
Ding Ding is from China and currently lives and works in Berlin and Beijing. She graduated in 2012 from China Academy of Art.
Social Media:
facebook.com/Ding Ding
instagram.com/dingdingseven
dribbble.com/7RMB
Jeff’s series of illustrations were made for a limited-edition zine for an art exchange project. It looks at how queer people get involved with sport, based on the artist’s personal experiences. The illustrations are taken from vintage instructional books on gymnastics, first made using pencil sketches, and then worked up digitally to create stylish, graphic images.
Jeff Kulak is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Vancouver, Canada. Past clients include The Walrus, Nouveau Project, and The Art Directors Club Global. His work in publishing has been recognized with two Alcuin Awards for excellence in book design.
Social Media:
twitter.com/jeffkulak
instagram.com/jeff.kulak
Personal Website:
www.jeffkulak.com
Kyeong Mi Lee’s picture book communicates the joy of playing and listening to the guitar. Each digital illustration is structured around the six strings of the guitar, and the format of the book allows for a mix and match narrative.
Kyeong Mi Lee majored in visual communication at university, and is a freelance illustrator based in Seoul, Korea.
Social Media:
instagram.com/kyeongmileee
behance.net/kyeongmileee
Personal Website:
kyeongmileee.com
This work is based on the artist’s experience of living in New York in late 2017. The Audience is a composition of the many diverse, interesting and stylish individuals the artist observed in the city. The portraits are individually drawn from photographs using pencil and paper. They are then outlined in pen and coloured in Photoshop, and then collaged into the final scene.
Fil OK studied Graphic Design in Manchester in the 90’s and has since been living and working in London, Berlin and Los Angeles.
Social Media:
twitter.com/filok
facebook.com/Fil OK
instagram.com/fil_okay
Personal Website:
www.filokmusic.com
Anna’s project was made as part of a professional course, in response to a task to illustrate a bookstore of dreams. She came up with a story about The Cosmic Bookstore, an imaginary planet where adventures happen that were turned into a graphic novel. The work is made using two complementary colours, and rounded shapes, inspired by research into the planets in our solar system.
Anna is a freelance illustrator based in Moscow, Russia. She graduated from MA Illustration course at Moscow State University of Printing Arts. She likes to mix traditional, digital illustration, and linocuts to tell stories.
Social Media:
facebook.com/anna.vasilieva.148
instagram.com/sketchnote
Personal Website:
/www.behance.net/sketchnote
Roozeboos’ project is an artist book, based on a story about the artists’ lost, beloved pencil case. The illustrations are hidden within each pencil to tell the story, with an energetic mark making and vibrant colours. The images were made using risograph printing, taking advantage of the bold colours and overlays to create tonal, striking images.
Roozeboos is an illustrator from the Netherlands. In 2017 she graduated from a Bachelor in Illustration at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam has recently completed an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art.
Social Media:
instagram.com/roozeboos
behance.net/hoianneroo020e
Personal Website:
www.roozeboos.com
If you enjoyed these highlights, why not explore the full WIA2020 shortlist, for more inspiration!