Graduate Hannah Cousins interviewed by Passion Passport magazine

Hannah Cousins  has specialised in making linoprints, a process she first learnt about whilst studying for her Illustration degree here in Hastings. In this article, she is interviewed by the online magazine Passion Passport about her prints inspired by her travels down the west coast of America.

http://passionpassport.com/printmaking-with-hannah-cousins/

HIFEST 2017 2nd & 3rd November

HIFEST is Hastings very own illustration festival which will once again be hosted by the Printworks just next to Hastings Library in the town centre. There will be  lots of illustrator's stalls selling everything from books, greeting cards, badges, ceramics and much much more. Charlotte Rose and Kate Bruce both graduates of the HE Illustration programme will be joining them. They'll be talks, screenings and workshops as part of the event. Entrance is £5 and this covers the whole weekend. 

Last chance to see Quentin Blake's exhibition at the Jerwood Gallery on Hastings seafront

It's on until the 15th October and highlights supersize artworks which veer between the whimsical and the profound.

Print and Illustration Fair at the Towner Gallery, Eastbourne. Sunday 15th October.

Designers' and Makers' Fair will be held at Eastbourne's iconic Towner Gallery. There will be 60 exhibitors showcasing a range of printmaking, artist's books, 20th Century design, ceramics and contemporary crafts. This is an exciting opportunity to see contemporary makers showcasing their latest work in one of Britain's leading galleries.

There will be two exhibition halls. The first hall will be for new printmakers, design collectives, university illustration departments, zines, riso prints, and fresh talent.

The second hall will be for established print makers, mid-century prints and ephemera, fine press 'artists' books, patterned paper, and those artists and publishers who are influenced by the 20th Century artists whose work is celebrated within the Towner collection.

Accompanying the Fair will be a series of engaging talks and behind-the-scenes tours of the Towner.  Hear some of the UK's leading illustrators discuss their work and see behind the scenes of the Towner and its unique collection of 20th Century British Art.

Batch Project

Every year students have to design and produce a commercial product which they can sell. It's a real challenge to make a collection of identical products within budget and to a standard where they can actually be sold. 

Lisa Parker's response was brilliant.  Her design was based upon the Garden of Eden and was unashamedly decorative. She made a card which made a little set within which you could place small cut-out animals and Adam and Eve. Exquisite.

Charlotte Brooks created a brilliant body of work including 2 books and 2 badge cards...pure genius. Charlotte has an interest in medical illustration and education. She is currently developing a range of merchandise including books which is aimed at a younger audience. 

Kate Bruce or Kate Monstrous as she likes to market herself produced a strange creature all cut from plywood using a laser cutter and then painted. The hinges were made from pins and cogs and allows the legs to be moved. It was a labour of love in that the technical demands were unfamiliar and had to be learnt in order to make five animals all fully working.  The yellow friend is much more humble made from painted card.

And where are they now?

Successful graduates include Jake Macdonald who since  graduating Jake MacDonald has worked really hard to establish himself as a successful illustrator. This is a screen grab of a selection of his work for sale on Amazon. He has authored some of the books but has also collaborated with others. Whilst studying Jake kept a blog on monsters. Every day he would add a new character. This was the beginning of a network of artists and writers interested in monsters and which eventually led to a first commission with Dorling Kindersley to illustrate a book on monsters. Since then he has worked on a range of subject matter and has found himself an agent.

A contemporary of Jake's was Nina Jorgensen who went on to study at the Royal College of Art in London. She has now returned to her native Sweden where she works as an illustrator and designer and has exhibited her work across Europe. To see more of her work go to http://www.ninajorg.com

Keith Hau was shortlisted for the V&A Student Illustration Awards whilst in his second year. A few years later he illustrated a book for the Folio Society. The book was a collection of African stories and Keith used lino print to create his dramatic images. What is so successful is the way in which images are embedded within other images, they almost have to be unpicked by the reader. Folio specialise in publishing very crafted books, beautifully printed and produced so to gain such a commission so early in Keith's carreer is a real tribute to his talent.

Hannah Cousins has specialised in relief print working for such interesting clients as Do Book Co., BBC Radio 2 and The Letterpress Collective. Her website is http://www.hannahcousins.com But here's a taste of the quality:

Tatiana Butt secured a place to study on the MA Sequential Illustration at the University of Brighton. Tatiana has a real facility to find quite eccentric stories and tell them to others in a quite magical way. Her final project rested on interpreting coffee grounds found at the bottom of a cup in a range of fanciful ways and often including a wandering bear.

And now we're a BA!!!

We have successfully delivered the Foundation Degree programme for ten years and have now been awarded validation from the University of Brighton for the new BA Visual Communication Illustration programme starting in September 2017. 

We've taken the best of the FdA Illustration with its support for each student in finding where their creative interests really lie and the strength of its live projects and work experience and combined this with more time to access workshops such as print and 3D. 

Illustrators, in essence, are interested in telling stories or communicating messages. Generally they work within the context of book publishing, advertising or editorial and this means that you take your brief from someone else, usually a designer.  However, increasingly illustrators are finding themselves able to be more in the driving seat through self publishing, production or exhibiting their work in galleries. So the scope for an illustrator today is very large and involves you making a choice about what works for you. The BA Visual Communication Illustration course caters for this breadth.

We're in a brand new studio on the 5th floor overlooking the delights of Hastings and the sea. Hastings is a great place for an illustrator to be.  It is an inspiration with its dramatic panoramic views and quirky culture.  Many places just do not have this and it’s one of the reasons why so many creative practitioners whether illustrators, fine artists, craftspeople or designers are moving here. It has a buzz and as a student you can be a part of this.