Bringing illustration communities together
We reflect on a joyfully inspiring day spent with (almost all) our amazing Meet Up Hosts in Somerset House
Bottom (L to R): Naomi Clarke, David Barrow, Rachel Mills, Becki Harper, Mhairi Braden, Dave Bain.
This week is Volunteers Week: a UK-wide campaign held on the first week in June to celebrate and recognise the contributions of volunteers. Here at the AOI we’d like to get involved by acknowledging and celebrating our amazing Meet Up Hosts.
The AOI Meet Ups were born in 2018 out of a strong desire from our members for illustration events to be more physically present in their local areas. This was something that we really wanted to make happen but found logistically challenging as a small team in London. So then we wondered: what if we could invite and support illustrators to lead these events in their local communities? We tested the ground with the very first AOI meet up group in Bristol (hosted by Dave Bain), and its success spiralled to an unstoppable movement.
Fast forward to 2025 and we now support 15+ Meet up groups across the UK and beyond, with our first international groups popping up last year in Copenhagen and Belfast. Not limited by geography, we also help support an online meet up group for illustrators interested in Children’s Picture Books. As a non-profit we empower these groups with tools, direct guidance and promotion, giving them complete freedom to decide their own programming. Any income generated from the Meet Ups is reinvested back into them to help pay for venue hires, guest speakers and generally grow these communities further.
We facilitate virtual coffee meet ups to gather our Hosts together, but our Meet Ups taught us that it’s also incredibly important to be able to make connections face-to-face. So a few months ago we invited all our Hosts to travel up or down to Somerset House to spend a day together to catch up, exchange, generate ideas and facilitate conversations, before later heading to the pub.
Below we summarise the happenings of this day and reflect on the value our volunteer hosts bring to our illustration communities.
We welcomed our Meet Up Hosts in Somerset House with tea, coffee and hellos before getting started with the day. While some Hosts were not able to join us on the day they still sent over lovely videos introducing themselves to everyone in the room – so big thanks to our folks in Falmouth, Belfast and Copenhagen, your presence was felt!
Part of the AOI team was also present and introduced themselves to the group, touching briefly on AOI initiatives like Inside Illustration as well as the newer Illustration Pricing Survey, Animation Resources and Event Recordings.
Once all introductions were over Hosts were split into four groups and presented with different questions, providing time to reflect on the opportunities and challenges present within their own communities. No matter the location, illustrators feel common pressures in the face of cost of living crisis, budget cuts, rise of AI, work/life balance and lonely work patterns. Nevertheless, they are still able to find local in-person opportunities through fairs, markets, mural commissions, independent businesses, workshops and more.
Hosts also reflected on logistical and organisational challenges of running some meet ups, including catering for a wide range of personalities and professional levels. Yet the wins and successes are many to count: learning from industry experts, providing practical ways to unwind and connect with others, and most importantly, creating a space for illustrators to enjoy themselves without any work stress.
Everyone then moved to the second activity: to pool ideas of how to strengthen their respective Meet Ups, empower attendees, connect them closer to the AOI and expand their reach to as wide an illustration audience as possible. Gathered in groups again, Hosts were asked to write down their ideas in colour cards and include them on their respective ‘Flowers’ – each representing different prompts and points of reflection.
This activity further helped our hosts generate new ideas for future events, engage new and old attendees and ways to make the sessions as valuable as possible for everyone involved. Ample time was given to share all findings with the rest of the room and discuss them together, an action which in itself helped spark even more suggestions.
We were also present to ask how the AOI can help support Meet Ups further, helping us understand areas to be strengthen and tools we can further develop to further communicate our resources to future attendees.
After finishing our Q&A, we packed up and headed to our last activity: further chats at the pub! Thus concluding a riveting day.
We get reminded that illustration can often feel like a very lonely profession, but magical things happen when a group of illustrators come together. We’ve seen time and time again how these first meetings can evolve over time and lead to new ideas and lasting collaborations – as evidenced in this collective day spent together.
At the very heart of each Meet Up event, no matter where or in what format, is a passionate individual or small group who do their very best to provide a safe space for all illustrators so they feel welcome, understood, connected, supported, inspired and motivated to continue creating. Our hosts are the eyes, ears and hearts of each creative corner of the UK and beyond, further helping us in our mission to connect and champion all illustrators.
We want to give a big thanks to all the Meet Up hosts who joined us on this day, and a special shout out (as always) to our Events Coordinator Dave Bain for facilitating such great activities and running of the day.
Keep track of our Meet Up activities and get involved:
Do you feel like starting an illustration Meet Up group in your local area but need some support? Get in touch.
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