Illustration: French illustrator Alain Pilon wins us over with his snapshots of daily life

The very pleasingly-named Alain Pilon (say it aloud with a precocious French accent, it’s lovely) isn’t an illustrator we were familiar with until this week, but his super-nice work begs attention and we’re duly delivering it. He creates characters who, in spite all of their sweet naiveté, still capture something of the anthropological awareness that makes simply-illustrated portraits so interesting. His style is caught in a not unpleasant spot somewhere between the quaint, minimal children’s book illustration of yore and a far more contemporary slant on comic book arts, with half-tone dots and monochromatic palettes a’plenty. The result is aesthetically pleasing and easy to digest, without losing out on any of the inherent humour. Which is a mighty impressive feat, don’t you think?