Dazed and confused characters in retro-futuristic landscapes occupy the world of illustrator Derek Ercolano

Date
3 August 2016

Illustrator and designer Derek Ercolano has long been interested in drawing mischievous and playful characters. In his MA project at the Bergen School of Design, Derek designed characters who interacted with their environment and public space in a way that disrupted the landscape – whether as giants with upside-down faces lifting the roofs off homes or shooting lightning from their fingertips, or slithering snake people who weave between the streets.

Since he graduated in 2014, Derek has been working as a freelance graphic designer, producing record and magazine covers, as well as comics and copious amounts of weird and wonderful character designs. It is the latter that we are drawing focus to today, as we have done before, in all their jiggly glory. Set within postmodern, 70s sci-fi landscapes, with psychedelic squiggles and sunset fades; the people occupying this strange world have small heads, sometimes lacking key features, often with confused or hazy expressions, and consistently giant, bulbous hands. All we need now is for this world to come together, so that we can see up that pastel pink staircase all the dozy smilies are falling down, and establish why the fruit pastel people are seemingly spontaneously combusting.

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Derek Ercolano: Fragile Magic

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Derek Ercolano: Fragile Magic

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Derek Ercolano: Fragile Magic

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Derek Ercolano: Fragile Magic

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Derek Ercolano: Fragile Magic

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Derek Ercolano: Fragile Magic

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About the Author

Billie Muraben

Billie studied illustration at Camberwell College of Art before completing an MA in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art. She joined It’s Nice That as a Freelance Editorial Assistant back in January 2015 and continues to work with us on a freelance basis.

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