Working with Illustration Students at the University of Derby

Mid- February 2020 now seems like a very different time in a very different world. For me it was a huge privilege to meet the second year students on the University of Derby Illustration course. My colleague Sian and Simon Duckworth of DBF’s design agency Burn the Book had issued our brief - to design a cover for the 2020 festival programme that celebrated books and reading to the widest possible audience across the city of Derby. All of the students were engaged and thoughtful and at varying stages in the design process. The winning illustration by Frazer Gee was a sketch in a notebook when I first saw it. The final decision on the ‘winning design’ was not easy and fellow students Nelly Parker and Josh Horner were both ‘highly commended’. All of their designs would have been celebrated at our programme launch Derby Reads. But due to Covid-19, this wasn’t to be. All three potential professional illustrators have also been commissioned to work on our upcoming Shared Writing publications. It was a real joy to meet that illustration class. I looked at other projects delivered and was inspired by the commercial mindedness, professionalism and creativity of the students. Thank you to all who took part and we wish you the very best of luck in your chosen vocation. Frazer, Josh and Nelly are now firmly part of the DBF story.