Biography
Simon was born on the Wirral near Liverpool and moved to London to study BA design then MA illustration at Central St.Martin’s College of Art. He now lives and works in London’s East End with a studio overlooking London Fields. His illustration work has been commissioned by a wide range of major design, publishing and advertising agencies worldwide.
Projects are as diverse as brand development, packaging, book covers, editorial and corporate literature. Simon has won many awards including the victoria and albert museum editorial illustration award 2015 and several association of illustrators best of british illustration awards for his advertising, design, book covers and editorial work, a D&AD in book award and was selected for AI34 the American Illustration Awards 2015.
See this video interview with simon from heart agency here where he talks about his working method and some of his most interesting recent projects
” I usually describe myself as a mixed media artist. I’ve always been obsessive about texture, mark making and colour and have always been happy using any media necessary to create the feel I’m looking for in an artwork or project. I use acrylic, water colour paints, inks and a wide variety of found textures and objects to paint, draw and collage with. I draw and paint from nature a great deal using materials found around me while drawing with final compositions, colours, brush marks and textures combined digitally with further collage and painting. Images are very spontaneous and the digital environment allows me to work extremely quickly to achieve that spontaneity while still allowing great control and flexibility to develop colour and composition. It means I can be bold and experimental with colour, texture and composition but still be able to work closely with clients to develop ideas. All images have to start with that strong idea or conceptual base then I try to use colour and texture in an expressive way to help reinforce the idea or the mood that’s needed within the image. Despite loving texture I’ve also always loved “empty space” within an image almost as much and I think of myself as a minimalist – an Expressive Minimalist! Though of course space is never really empty as it is full of colour! So even though it might look like there’s a lot going on in my work I think it’s always more important what you can take out of an image while still retaining the idea in it’s most expressive way. The areas of calm within an image become as important to me as the areas of drama and activity! I’m a great fan of minimalist musicians such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass and electronic music which shares the same philosophy of the hugely expressive complexity of minimalism and sound collage. Great music to work to in the studio!
I grew up on the Wirral near Liverpool, a peninsula surrounded by coastline with the enormous, dramatic skies and sweeping beaches of the Dee estuary overlooking the mountains and coast of North Wales. I think much of this clean edged, wide open space, and long horizons finds its way into my work. Though also the dense texture and hidden places of Epping Forest close to where I live now in London and of course the amazing geometrics and towering lines you see every day living in a city. There’s almost nothing I love more than a tower of glass against the sky and the complex texture of windows and flat geometric planes. The combination of living in a huge city then spending much of my time away up enormous mountains or along vast coastlines finds it’s way into everything I do”.
Clients include:
Pentagram Texas, Royal Mail, Folio Society, Taylor’s of Harrogate, Pearl Fisher Branding, AKA Advertising New York, Metaleap New York, Royal Opera House, Nottingham Playhouse, Leith Harbour Development, CDT, Lowe, New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, L.A. Times, Boston Globe, Guardian Newspaper, Observer Newspaper, The Independent Newspaper, Financial Times, Blueprint Magazine, New Scientist, Tatler, Harper Collins, Pushkin Press, Little Toller Publishing, Penguin Books, Hodder Books, Random House Publishing, Readers Digest, BBC Worldwide, Loyola Marymount University, New York State University, Texas State University, Stanford University, Waitrose, World of Interiors