Ailish Beadle is an illustrator and recent graduate from Norwich University of the Arts. Her brilliant portfolio showcases her playful, fresh and humourous style, which mixes her interest in cartoons with witty use of type and bold colours.
Like all new graduates this year, Ailish had to face cancellation of her degree show, not being able to exhibit work at events such as D&AD New Blood and missing out on face-to-face interactions with the design community. However, she realised that the hurdles of lockdown were also an opportunity to find different ways to showcase her work so she focused on building her portfolio and online presence.
For her final university project, she completed the ’36 Days of Type’ challenge and this success led to her landing a feature in Intern Magazine. Part of this project was setting time limitations and creative restrictions for her work, which, helped Ailish to achieve consistency across the series and learn how to develop her ideas quickly. She also utilised opportunities to speak to creative directors through the Intern Magazine mentorship scheme, the Big Book Crit and D&AD New Blood online. As she tells us it gave her the, “chance to speak to creative directors who would have usually been far too busy to give me advice. I just have to look at the past few months as an alternative way to finishing my time at uni and take the positives from it.”
Since graduating, Ailish’s work output has been impressive, often using mock-ups effectively to visualise her illustrations on magazine covers, billboards, packaging and murals. Her Instagram feed and website are full of witty illustrations that explore a range of techniques and ways to hone her practice. For the future she would love to collaborate with an animator to see her work in motion, be represented by an illustration agency and to continue creating illustration projects for advertising, events and editorial commissions. We’re excited to see what the future holds as Ailish develops in her career.
We chatted with Ailish about having a creative family who supported her passions, where she finds her creative inspiration and her advice for current design students.
Why did you decide to become a illustrator and how has that ambition evolved over time?
I have a creative family so it was normal growing up to be drawing and making stuff all the time. When I was at school that I was SO excited about double art every week and nothing else. Then along with the encouragement from my parents, I realised that I could actually have a job that makes me that excited. It was they who instilled into me from a young age that my happiness was more important than a big paycheque so when at secondary school they encouraged me to stay and do A-Levels for an academic education, I ignored them and went to Art College for 2 years to get my extended diploma. College was a dream. At 16 I was in 5 days a week studying 8 different creative subjects for 2 years. I’ve still never had as much fun as that. So my work has evolved from the environment I put myself in. It only works when I’m having fun and am excited by what I am doing. Hopefully that is shown in my work too.
Where did you study and what do you know now that you wish you’d known when you started your design course?
I have just finished a degree in Illustration at Norwich University of the Arts. I wish I had known at the beginning how important it is to put work into contexts such as mock-ups of billboards, packaging, etc. I didn’t know that everyone can already draw before they get on an illustration degree. I know that now. The degree is for working out WHERE your work can fit in the “real world” and the earlier a student figures this out the better. I guess the main thing is thinking: where do I want my work to sit? And then it’s having the skill to adapt the work to fit that context. I also wish I had known that the weirder my work is, the better. But I think that is just something that comes with confidence.
Can you tell us a bit about how you’ve grown and developed throughout your education/career so far?
My work has developed over time by going round in a big circle. When I was younger I saw a lot of cartoons and watched my older brother drawing comics, which I think heavily influenced my style. I thought that ‘doodle’ style wasn’t serious enough to sustain a career, so I experimented a lot at college and university trying to see if there was a serious way to portray my ideas. But I just kept wanting to do weird and funny characters. At the same time I was going through this, I also became more interested in design and type. Basically I have gone back to the way I drew when I was 14 or so. I still use bubble writing and patterns but I’m thinking a bit differently about where my work could actually fit.
Recently, there has been lots of discussion in the design industry around the gender pay gap, how few women progress into senior positions. As a young/new creative do you have any thoughts on how we can counteract these inequalities?
It is really sad that very few women make it into senior roles such as creative directors. I think the only way we can change this is if current creatives (all genders) call out in the workplace. I think it may take a long time. But I hope there has been some change even over the last five years.
Has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted your career and how have you managed this?
COVID-19 had an impact on the start of my career in both a good and a bad way. It impacted me negatively because when the first lockdown started I had two months left of my degree course. This meant I missed out on valuable time with tutors, access to facilities, and all the guest lectures I would normally have heard. Not to mention missing out on the degree show, graduation and D&AD New Blood Festival, which were all opportunities to get my work out there. However, I have come to realise that while these might have been the old fashioned way to get my work seen I could use the lockdown as an opportunity to build up my portfolio.I have gained around 500 followers on Instagram from consistently posting my new work. Not to mention all the amazing video calls I’ve had from opportunities such as the Intern Magazine mentorship scheme, the Big Book Crit, D&AD New Blood going online which gave me a chance to speak to creative directors who would usually have been far too busy to give me advice. I look at the past few months as an alternative way to finishing my time at Uni and take the positives away from it.
Where do you get your inspiration from and how do you approach a new project?
I don’t get my inspiration from anywhere specific. The main thing I have realised is that I have no motivation when there are things playing on my mind. So rather than finding inspiration I need to work out ways to have absolutely nothing on my mind. Going outside for a walk or a bike ride is the main way I do that. I’ve also got into Wasgij jigsaw puzzles over lockdown and that has certainly helped to empty my head because they’re so hard! I think the endless hours of cartoons that I watched growing up have embedded in my imagination and are definitely present in my work now. I approach a new project in a very structured way. I need lots and lots of thumbnails decent ideas. My work is so busy anyway that if they aren’t in boxes in the beginning stages, it would just be a big mess and I would get confused.
Do you have any female role models or mentors who have shaped your career?
The only person I can say that for 100% is my mum, soppy as that sounds. I got my creativity from her and this itch to always be doing something creative. She is talented in many areas from making sculptures out of fabric which is dipped in hardener, designing clay pots, knitting, painting, latch hook. You name it and she’s given it a try at some point! Not only that, but her positive attitude also helps me with my somewhat realistic (sometimes negative) way of thinking about the future. Both my parents are just there for me all the time. They also convinced me to not study Landscape Architecture at Uni thank goodness.
Who would be on your list of dream collaborators?
I would love to collaborate with Kate Prior and Hattie Stewart one day as I would love to see their process of working. I know that Hattie Stewart uses Posca pens and works physically. I really respect illustrators who have made it like this and have not turned completely to digital art. I would like to collaborate with Kate Prior because she seems to have a wild imagination. It would be cool to see what we came up with together.
What top tips would you give to current design students or women considering a career in the design industry?
Start reaching out to people asap and build relationships. I can’t stress this enough. I started this in my first year of uni just because I was itching to hear from professionals. But only now (two years later) are those messages and relationships paying off. So if you wait until the end of your degree to do this (when you have a million other stresses on your mind) who knows how long it will take to get to know people. Also, opportunities may arise whilst you are actually studying which is amazing!
Do you have any female role models or mentors who have shaped your career?
I struggled with this question because when it came down to it, pretty much all the people that first came to mind were men. I really hope this changes one day! One person that always stuck out to me was Lou Bones. When I was in my first year of university, we had a talk led by Lou as she was with the AOI at the time. It was this really motivational lecture urging us to start NOW. For example, start reaching out to people, get a website, and, most importantly, just because we were students didn’t mean that we can’t call ourselves illustrators. I went home that day and started making lists and a plan, and really cracked on with everything. Obviously, nothing happened straight away from it, but that one lecture really did impact me to kickstart everything.
Where so you see yourself in five years time?
I hope to be a freelance illustrator (full-time) with Jelly London as my agent. I hope to have developed my style, which I accept will change and hopefully for the better. It would be great to have flexibility to work and travel but I don’t know if that will be achieved in 5 years’ time.