My next victim was Annie Dornan-Smith or shall I say Annie the Illustrator! She creates such simple, charming and beautiful designs that are fit for students and being a stationary freak, I was impressed by this and wanted to find out what was the inspiration behind her ideas?
Photo Credit - Annie Dornan-Smith
So Annie, when did you first find out you had a passion for illustration?
I have blogged about this a lot, so I won't make the story too long, but it began at the end of my 1st year, and into my 2nd year of University. I had chosen to take Graphic Design (I actively sought out courses that were ‘just’ graphic design and notIllustration!) because I felt like I couldn’t draw, so I wanted to do something creative that didn’t involve drawing. It wasn’t until I discovered what Illustration could be – it didn’t have to be realistic or lifelike, it could be squiggly and wibbly and weird and wonderful – I fell in love with the idea of making fun, beautiful things. I realised I was way more into making pretty lovely things, rather than agonising over typefaces or target markets.
What are the biggest inspirations behind your work?
I have a few Illustrators who I really admire – Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co, Tuesday Bassen and Emma Block. There are tons of illustrators out there in the big wide pinterest-y world who do amazing things with shapes, colours, textures, etc, and it would honestly be easy to get sucked into comparing ourselves to them. I admire these illustrators because of the way they have built their ‘brand’ – not only do they make amazing work, they have created things ‘bigger than themselves’, which is something I really aspire to. As far as physical inspirations, I am very inspired by nature – I am a serious plant-lover and I love to draw them, but I also find nature’s colour palette to be super inspiring – the green and burgundys of certain leaves, or the soft pinks and orangey-ochres of blossom trees.
I have a few Illustrators who I really admire – Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co, Tuesday Bassen and Emma Block. There are tons of illustrators out there in the big wide pinterest-y world who do amazing things with shapes, colours, textures, etc, and it would honestly be easy to get sucked into comparing ourselves to them. I admire these illustrators because of the way they have built their ‘brand’ – not only do they make amazing work, they have created things ‘bigger than themselves’, which is something I really aspire to. As far as physical inspirations, I am very inspired by nature – I am a serious plant-lover and I love to draw them, but I also find nature’s colour palette to be super inspiring – the green and burgundys of certain leaves, or the soft pinks and orangey-ochres of blossom trees.
What made you decide that you wanted to focus on stationary and homeware?
I started my shop with the intention of selling prints of my work, and didn’t think much else beyond it. But once I sort of ‘entered that world’, I started discovering all these amazing illustrator-y people who were taking their designs beyond just a print, and onto an almost limitless amount of ‘stuff’. Once I realised that you could source someone to print anything you could imagine if you looked hard enough, it was really just a case of imagining the possibilities! That’s the direction I’ve taken my shop, Annie Dornan-Smith Design, but as far as I go as an illustrator, I’m also really excited to see where my degree will take me in terms of more traditional illustration subjects.
I started my shop with the intention of selling prints of my work, and didn’t think much else beyond it. But once I sort of ‘entered that world’, I started discovering all these amazing illustrator-y people who were taking their designs beyond just a print, and onto an almost limitless amount of ‘stuff’. Once I realised that you could source someone to print anything you could imagine if you looked hard enough, it was really just a case of imagining the possibilities! That’s the direction I’ve taken my shop, Annie Dornan-Smith Design, but as far as I go as an illustrator, I’m also really excited to see where my degree will take me in terms of more traditional illustration subjects.
What advice would you give to people entering their third year at university?
It is going to be hard. And it’s going to be stressful. It will feel like you are never going to be able to do it. But you can and you will – because you can’t not, really, can you? You’ll find yourself re-starting a project with two weeks to go until hand-in, but it will all happen. Trust me. I walked around the previous year’s Degree Show wondering how the hell we were all going to be ‘good enough’ to meet that standard in just 9 months, but we did, and our show looked great, and I’m really proud of myself and all of us.
It is going to be hard. And it’s going to be stressful. It will feel like you are never going to be able to do it. But you can and you will – because you can’t not, really, can you? You’ll find yourself re-starting a project with two weeks to go until hand-in, but it will all happen. Trust me. I walked around the previous year’s Degree Show wondering how the hell we were all going to be ‘good enough’ to meet that standard in just 9 months, but we did, and our show looked great, and I’m really proud of myself and all of us.
Luckily, I was chosen to exhibit at New Designers, so in a week or so I’ll be taking this years’ projects down to London to hopefully schmooze some industry creatives. I’d love to be a freelance illustrator, and spend some more time growing my shop. I’m launching a kickstarter in a very short time, to hopefully publish one of my uni projects, House Jungle - an illustrated guide to indoor gardening, so if you’re interested in hearing more about that, you can join my newsletter!
What is next for your brand?
I just launched two new lines – Confetti’d and Illustrated Affirmations in my shop, so at the moment I’m working on bigging those up! But like I said, I’m working on a super exciting new Kickstarter, and I have an additional product in the works to add to my Confetti’d range. I’ll be sharing everything on social media and with my newsletter so do check it out if you’re interested!
Photo Credit - Annie Dornan-Smith (Confetti’d range)
To browse more of Annie's work, visit: http://www.anniedornansmith.co.uk
Instagram: @anniedornansmith
