AOI Members Highlights from the World Illustration Awards 2020 Longlist
After launching the World Illustration Awards 2020 Longlist last week, our team were just as excited as everyone else to view the five-hundred-strong artworks carefully chosen by our independent panel of global judges. The longlist page has already been seen and celebrated by a record breaking 20,000 views and growing!
We think highly of the whole longlist and are proud to see a great number of AOI Member illustrators feature in the final selection. Following that theme, we would like to dedicate this feature to some of the great members celebrated across the categories!
In this article we highlight 14 longlisted projects, and share what we really love about each image. If you would like to learn more, click through to each page to see the full submission, artist’s text and contact details! Be sure to give a follow on social to the illustrators you like.
Yunong Xie‘s portfolio piece is a neon pink eclectic family dynamic, touching on themes of depression, mood disorder and high-pressure lives. It’s bustling with detail, making us glance countless times to digest it all.
Chester Holme‘s portfolio piece depicts an environment that births both players and fans, illuminating the ‘Grassroots’ of football in an 8-bit flat style illustration. If this was a retro game, we would put endless quarter pennys in to play it.
As the first commissioned piece of these highlights, Eva Cremers’ images for Volkskrant Magazine take a playful approach to more sensitive topics; such as the reality of eating disorders. We are charmed by her character expressions which are worn by both people and their objects.
Eleni Debo creates a very clear visual campaign with Ledereen Leest a Belgian platform helping readers find the story they are seeking. An Illustration that inspires both young and adult readers – in an inclusive and intriguing way.
Cast your eyes closer into this editorial piece by Andrea Ucini for The Pharmaceutical Journal. At first glance a simple graphic – but on closer inspection a sharp symbol of the risk of opioid abuse. Quite the powerful image.
Peter Strain‘s commissioned feature on ‘The Lighthouse’ for Empire U.K is an impressive grayscale, handcrafted in pencil and ink, and finished digitally. It hints at tale filled with excitement and drama, and we like the satisfying way the lighthouse beam-of-light aligns with Willem Dafoe’s gaze.
New talent, Grace Lanksbury brings touching tales of our elders together in a series of panels – with the prospective goal to publish as a graphic novel. Inspired by hues drawn from 1940’s WW2 posters, it’s a silent and gentle narrative recalling moments in time.
Cathal Duane captures that feeling of internet rage in this personal piece. Big clenched fists, contrasting red and blue hues – with an arm reaching out of the phone screen to actively change the characters expression. We love that the eyebrows are a key feature in conveying mood here.
This lighthearted image by member Carla Lucena, shows a deconstructed and neatly stacked ‘flawless burger’ for a report for Ethic Magazine on meat alternatives. Food textures made with china ink and modified photos, enhanced digitally. Yum!
Alex Green commissioned by Waitrose for an editorial about a childhood memory of financial educator ‘Alvin Hall’ at Christmas time. We’re invited to view the scene from the perspective and height of a child in the room – which we feel makes the scene more personal and inviting.
Karolis Strautniekas’ ‘Struggle’ is a poignant piece. Initially a rejected illustration for a commercial project, it depicts a successful metaphor for struggles and rejections. Karolis feels this is important to share that even the pro golfers (and, also illustrators) experience these things. Ironically, we feel this piece is more effective as personal work.
Matt Murphy‘s gold embossed design for Jonny Walker limited edition bottle packaging, stands well as both independent pieces, or together as an impressive series showcasing glamorous landscapes in international cities such as London, Dubai and Bangkok – appealing to both the patriotic residents and tourists visiting.
Our final highlight is Jason Lyon for Popshot Magazine, illustration inspired by a quote from Ovid’s Heroides poetry collection; “Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.”
We would love to find ourselves here – exploring remote mountains and liquid clouds, but for now viewing this illustration really fills the gap!
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