KATIE SMITH FESTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS
We are super excited and proud to have worked with Glasgow illustrator Katie Smith on the design of our Festive Dust Bag, designed to accompany our new Soft Case. The bags have been printed locally at The Glasgow School of Art, where Katie studies and creates her amazing illustrations while wearing her Hoy frames.
HEY KATIE, WHAT COULD WE TYPICALLY FIND YOU DOING DAY TO DAY?
I study Communication Design at GSA, so I spend most of my time in the studio. I hang out with my art friends, attend design festivals, events and volunteering. I am currently working on my graphic design skills so anything that will help that. I am always in some sort of creative bubble and doing things like people watching from a Starbucks window. I work for Pandora and part of my job I love is that they show us their style books before every collection, this shows us where their ideas come from and what inspires them.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU ILLUSTRATIONS FOR THIS COLLABORATION?
I always start with research, so I read that IOLLA means sight in Gaelic and started drawing some iconic Scottish landmarks. I made a mind map of the words that come to mind when I think of IOLLA such as fun, fresh, quirky, modern and thoughtful. They are also a playful company that are create, so I started to be more loose with my character design. The element of hands which is seen throughout my festive illustrations, reflects to the idea that IOLLA are very helpful and hands on with our customers.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU SAY TO OTHERS WHO LOVE ILLUSTRATION?
Illustration is really good because it has changed so much! About 10 years ago, people were saying illustration was dying out and everything is going digital. It has done the opposite. People are enjoyed it even more, it can be used in such a range of mediums and different styles such as posters, murals, books, jewellery, textiles and lots more. It is more of a specialism now as people have adapted to give illustration even more purpose. Everything is so unique and there only seems to be more and more demand for bespoke goods. There is no going back now.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH IOLLA...
It has been an amazing opportunity! As I am still practicing design it is surreal to see my work out there and printed. With IOLLA being a local company and already being a customer, it feels much more endearing as a project because it has been friendly and working with a brand you really like. I loved working with a modern design as I could play with my style and be myself, the brief was so good and I was so well informed so always knew what I was doing. So exciting to work with such a lovely brand and that comes across in my final work. I really love adapting to change and like to incorporate other people's work with my work. The IOLLA team were so open to all of my ideas and helpful with feedback, thats why it worked so well with good communication!
CHECK OUT MORE OF KATIE'S WORK @_KATIESMITH_ILLUSTRATIONS_