A painting of a crowd of blurred, grey figures looking upwards. Behind them, orange buildings with dark, rectangular windows stand against a pale sky.

V&A Illustration Awards 2012 has announced its shortlist and it's a cracker

Words: Rebecca Fulleylove
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Date: 14 May 2012; Work
Illustration

It sounds silly, but sometimes it’s too easy to forget or dismiss the work that goes into the visual elements of what we’re presented with everyday in various publications and books. But an excellent illustration is like a brilliant side-dish, enhancing the experience of the main course (text) and contributing to the overall effect, sometimes even rescuing the (metaphorical) meal.

The V&A Illustration Awards help remind us of the incredible illustrations of the past 12 months and this year’s shortlist has just been announced. Recognising the potato dauphinoises of the illustration world, 14 artists have been chosen from over 1,000 submissions from UK illustrators. The awards have been categorised under Book Illustration, Book Cover and Jacket Illustration and Editorial publications, with a fourth category for Student work being judged by the winners of last year’s award. The winners will be announced on 11 June, and the shortlist is a gentle nod to all the beautiful work that’s been produced over the past year.

Book Illustrations

In this category Laetitia Devernay has been nominated for her book The Conductor, Cathy Maclennan for Bunny Bunny Catkin a sunny and lastly Rob Ryan’s A Sky Full of Kindness done in his paper-cut style.
www.chat-terton.over-blog.com
www.cathymaclennan.com
www.misterrob.co.uk

An illustration of a small figure standing atop a large, dark green spherical tree, pointing towards a flock of birds. The birds fly across a white sky in a sweeping curve. Below, several other rounded trees are rendered in detailed, linear patterns of green and brown. — Above
Laetitia Devernay: The Conductor

An illustration of small, fluffy white creatures with pink and blue accents perched on thin brown branches. The figures are scattered across a plain tan background. — Above
Cathy Maclennan: Bunny Bunny Catkin

An illustration of a city skyline with a tall chimney and a house with a patterned roof. A block of handwritten text describes a bird waking up and being cared for by city birds. — Above
Rob Ryan: A Sky Full of Kindness

Book Jacket and Cover

Petra Börner for her cover of Jane Austen classic Emma, Matthew Richardson for his cover of existenialist novel, The Outsider by Albert Camus and Vicky White’s cover for Can We Save the Tiger written by Martin Jenkins have all been nominated.
www.petraborner.com
www.matthewxrichardson.com

An illustration of a white hand reaching through a dense thicket of stylised flowers and green leaves. At the bottom, the text reads “EMMA” and “Jane Austen”. — Above
Petra Börner: Emma

A collage of a person in a dark suit and tie, looking off to the side. They are set against a textured beige background with abstract geometric shapes, a single palm tree, and a small red circle. — Above
Matthew Richardson: The Outsider

Editorial Illustrations

Luke Best (who we’ve featured on the site several times) for his illustration in an article called Chilvaric Fiasco that featured in Harper’s Magazine, Nick Lowndes for his Financial Times’ image in Small Businesses and Stefano Morris for Henry’s Demons in BBC Radio Times are all nominated.
www.lukebest.com
www.eastwing.co.uk/artist/nicklowndes

An illustration of a person in a white and green outfit holding a sword, standing in a surreal city. The background features a purple sky, a pink sun, and a building with striped awnings. — Above
Luke Best: Chilvaric Fiasco

An illustration of a tiny silhouette of a person carrying a briefcase. They walk between the giant legs of three figures, whose trousers are red, pale green and pinstriped grey. — Above
Nick Lowndes: Small Businesses

An illustration of a headless figure floating in a deep blue void. Concentric circles ripple outwards from where their head would be, like a stone dropped in water. — Above
Stefano Morris: Henry’s Demons

Student

Last but not least, Daniel Clarke for Heygate Memories, Faye Coral Johnson for Nonsensical Thoughts, Rachel Lillie for Born Fighiting, Joe Lyward for Fear and Holly Mills for Hothouse have all been recognised in the student category.
www.daniel-clarke.com
www.fayejohnson.blogspot.co.uk
www.rachel-lillie.co.uk
www.joelyward.com
www.hollymills.org.uk

The front and back covers of a book in a deep teal green. Small, scattered illustrations of houses, anchors and dinosaurs surround the title “ma peur” and the author “joe lyward”. — Above
Joe Lyward: Fear

A black and white illustration divided into four horizontal panels. The scenes feature stylised figures, plants and a sun with a face, with a signature at the bottom reading “Faye Coral Johnson 2013”. — Above
Faye Coral Johnson: Nonsensical Thoughts

A black and white illustration of a three-storey apartment block. On the top balcony, one figure reaches out to another who is falling, while on the middle balcony, a figure pulls another person up. — Above
Daniel Clarke: Heygate Memories

An illustration of a person floating in dark blue water, reaching upwards towards a column of bright blue bubbles. A large whale swims horizontally across the scene behind them. — Above
Holly Mills: Hothouse

Further Info

www.vam.ac.uk

About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

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Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

V&A Illustration Awards 2012 has announced its shortlist and it's a cracker

Book Illustrations

Book Jacket and Cover

Editorial Illustrations

Student

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Further Info

About the Author

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