Date
20 October 2017
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The Igor has landed: Igor Bastidas on our animated cover for Printed Pages AW17

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Date
20 October 2017

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Kicking off the AW17 issue of Printed Pages, our chirpy cover star was created by illustrator and animator Igor Bastidas and sets the tone for what’s in store for this issue. Below we find out Igor’s inspirations and what he wanted to portray with the cover.

For Venezuelan artist, animator and director Igor, the 1990s were a time full of great visual culture, which inspired him to study graphic design and start on the path of illustration. The poppy styles and zany characters he was exposed to back then are still present in his work now, but instead of a simple pastiche, Igor has adapted his influences into work that feels refreshingly modern and punchy.

Across the year, Igor’s work has made such a great impression on us, we asked him to make an impact on our AW17 cover. Depicting a character physically breaking through the mag, Igor sees the illustration as “being bold, breaking the calm and being fearless. For the look and feel I was inspired by the joy and dynamism of 90s cartoons mixed with a sort of punk attitude,” he says. “It’s like The Racoons were at a Fugazi show.”

The illustrator’s colour palette matches this energy, and he uses zesty tones to convey “fun and surrealism” for maximum impact. Clean lines and solid colour epitomise Igor’s portfolio and he’s keen to make his work as communicative as possible, which stems from his time as a designer.

Especially for our online audience, Igor has also animated the cover for us. “This cover idea is perfect for animating, the falling movement works as an adrenaline-fuelled piece by itself, testing the limits of what is not possible in real life. It’s the kind of project I love to add movement to,” he says. Igor has continued the story inside the pages of the mag, with our protagonist adopting a similar disruptive spirit, bursting through other surfaces like a pool, a wall and some stretchy fabric, “simply for the joy of impacting in every situation”.

“I believe that the simplicity of an action can inspire you to change the way you think at some point, which was maybe my personal challenge with the cover illustration and animation,” Igor says of the brief. “I was looking for something exiting to catch people’s attention, making some noise and shake things up.”

Pre-order Printed Pages AW17 from Company of Parrots today! All pre-orders will be sent with the following goodies:

- Litho photographic poster by Carlota Guerrero
- A screen print by Mariano Pascual 
- Five postcards featuring some of the best images in the issue
- A “Nice” sticker by Loïc Movellan

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

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.

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