An illustration of a busy city street corner dominated by a newsstand. A person in the centre holds a magazine, surrounded by others browsing titles and walking past bold signs that read “Design for the iPad” and “Master Magazine Design”.

Killer portfolio updates from Brighton colour-wizard Matt Taylor

Words: James Cartwright
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Date: 6 July 2012; Work
Illustration

Masterful colour-wizard Matt Taylor has just updated his website with an overwhelming amount of new work. The Brighton-based illustrator has clearly been in high demand over recent months, completing projects for the likes of Computer Arts, Wired and Penguin US, where he’s been revamping the covers of John Le Carre’s much-loved thrillers. Matt’s crisp vector drawings and impeccable use of silhouettes provide a refreshingly engaging twist to a high-profile literary catalogue.

The astounding thing is, this isn’t even Matt’s day job; between the hours of nine and five he can be found working on equally beautiful commercial work over at Ilovedust. What a talented chap he is.

A book cover for the novel “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” by John le Carré. Stylised silhouettes of people in shades of green, red and grey crowd the top half of the frame. — Above
Matt Taylor: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

A book cover for the novel “Our Kind of Traitor” by John le Carré. An illustration shows a silhouetted figure in a dark coat, with a hand wearing several gold rings reaching into the frame. — Above
Matt Taylor: Our Kind of Traitor

An illustration split into two panels. On the left, two figures stand beside a large, winding red dragon against a dark background. On the right, a close-up of a face in shadow shows a pair of glasses reflecting a glowing orange flame. — Above
Matt Taylor: Penguin covers

Two illustrations side by side. On the left, a figure in an orange dress and sandals is partially visible against a dark background with thin, white linear patterns. On the right, a blue silhouette of a person sits on a park bench reading a paper, with two other figures walking in the distance. — Above
Matt Taylor: Penguin covers

An illustration split into two panels. On the left, a dark figure reaches out with an open palm; on the right, a crowd of people stands before a red skyline of London. — Above
Matt Taylor: Penguin covers

An illustration of a person with glasses and a pencil behind their ear reading a book. Vibrant, abstract shapes and swirls in teal, orange and yellow float around them against a pale background. — Above
Matt Taylor: Computer Arts cover

A copy of Computer Arts magazine featuring a colourful, stylised portrait of a person wearing glasses. Overlapping the magazine is a green book titled “The Designer’s Lookbook”. — Above
Matt Taylor: Computer Arts cover

Further Info

www.matttaylor.co.uk

About the Author

James Cartwright

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James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

Killer portfolio updates from Brighton colour-wizard Matt Taylor

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