Step in to the world’s most emotive zoo with Charlotte Ager’s new book

So often do we find it hard to make sense of the mess of emotions that run through our minds at any given moment. There are, however, illustrators such as London-based Charlotte Ager who make it all make sense. Charlotte’s new book Zoo caught our attention for its deft ability to portray complex emotions and feelings through various funny (and poignant) images of animals and their interactions with humans. “Zoo is about the animals that take up space in our heads and how their demands on our time can feel confusing and exhausting,” Charlotte tells It’s Nice That. “The idea had been ruminating in my sketchbooks, from the slightly mindless drawings I’d make in-between other things.” The "slightly-mindless: drawings of animals Charlotte had been producing in her free time eventually became “placeholders for different emotions” without the artist realising. So, when publishing house The Pound Project approached Charlotte to make a book, she thought no better than her animal placeholders to take centre-stage. “The Pound Project gave me so much freedom and lots of encouragement which meant I felt very supported,” Charlotte says. “It felt easy to make, the drawings came very naturally and I found myself smiling when they’d appear.”

The book is a beautiful elaboration on Charlotte’s classic style: one that is equal parts sweet as it is moving. Yet still, the illustrator feels her visual language is ever-changing. “I feel I need different voices to express different ideas,” she says. “But I think the tone is similar, that my work puts the feeling of something over a true depiction, to express something honest and sometimes playful.” It’s what Charlotte accurately summarises as “emotive” work, simply because she finds it “hard not to be” in the modern world.

On where her inspiration can be drawn from, Charlotte turns to the everyday. Whilst Zoo may certainly feel whimsical and magical, it has its roots firmly in the grounds of reality. “A lot of my inspiration simply comes from drawing and observing everyday life,” Charlotte explains. “I used to feel kind of embarrassed by that fact, that I didn’t have these weird unique things to point to.” Now, Charlotte’s realised that the key to making accessible and reflective work is by having “the everyday as a pretty good starting point for that.” In these universal experiences of life, Charlotte finds the most relatable aspect and transmutes it in to a feeling. Stories are woven in to all of Charlotte’s illustrations, which make for a richly rewarding viewing experience. “I often think of how something small can be more important if it’s told in a thoughtful way,” she explains.

With Zoo now in print, we eagerly await Charlotte’s next move, as well as The Pound Project’s stream of beautiful releases. “I really like The Pound Project’s approach to working on books, having small volumes that are sold for a fiver, working out how many are sold before printing so none are wasted,” adds Charlotte. It’s a match made in heaven, and we think there’s certainly more to come.