About the Project
The project was made by Patkós Stúdió and comissioned by Balaton Uplands National Park. Before this project I already worked on several other ones with Patkós Stúdió as a freelancer. The goal was to create 5 resting areas in the nature conservationist Farm of Salföld with double sided interactive boards.
Brief
The boards in the resting areas across the farm meant to introduce the indigenious livestock of the manor, the herbs and bees of their garden alongside the world of shepherds in a playful way. When making the illustrations, the goal was to catch the characteristic of the country.
Research
The main part of the research was made for the content of the boards and interactive elements, because I also took part in the developement of the overall concept of the project. We read a lot about the flora of the area and about the life on the farm. I also searched a lot of photos of the species for reference, because the goal was for them to look biologically and botanically correct.
Materials
For the illustration I used only Adobe Illustrator, they were printed by Patkós Stúdió on vinyl and mounted on PVC. The construction of the resting stations are made of wood.
Process
When I started working on the illustrations I first looked at photos of the scenery, then tried to catch its vibe only with a color palette. After that I drew the elements that appear on several boards (mountains, trees, flowers) Than I finished the illustrations according to the educational content and concept.
Challenges
The hardest part was for me, not to be a perfectionist and to let something go if the others didn’t like it.
Insights
This was the first project for Patkós Stúdió, where I also took part in the developement of the overall pedagogical concept. Since I study education in arts it suited me really well. Since than it became part of my job, so I’m really glad that I could parctice it with the help of my dear colleague.
Distractions
Luckily there were no big distracions at all. The client gave us free hands, so the workflow was extra smooth.
Numbers
The folder on the computer of this project contains 15 subfolders 305 files which is in total 4.2 GB.
Reflections
Next time I will consider it a little bit earlier to send my work to an award, so I don’t have to start hunting for photos from colleagues in the evening on the day of the deadline.
Advice
Am much as cliché it sounds, please trust yourself. I never thought that I could be even longlisted for an award like this and here I am. Just do what feels right and don’t compare yourself to others.
Future
In the short term future I will start working with Patkós Stúdió not „only”’ as an illustrator but as a project manager, which sounds super exciting because it will enable me to contribute to similar projects to this one in its whole complexity.
Dream Commission
I would give my soul to design the cover of train seats. I have a folder with photos of almost every train seat I ever sat on. It would be a beautiful concept to design the covers with the visual elements (architecture, flora and fauna) of the region the train goes through.
Favourite Thing to Draw
Birds. Since the time I can hold a pencil with my hand I draw birds. They are such a magical creature, almost transcendent. I feel like their symbolic can be used for almost everything that I would like to express as an artist.
Workspace
I feel very lucky to have a separate room to work, with a huge desk, all of my plants and with my light box, my parents handmade for me as I was about to start my carreer.
Thanks
This is the first anything I won since I work as an illustrator, so I’m still in a huge shock that professional people think that my work is worthy for an award like this. My impostor syndrome started to collapse, which I of course don’t mind. I would like to thank to my art teacher who said to my parents that I should go to her class as I was 4 and to Patkós Stúdió who trusted me with our first project together with zero experience 5 years ago.