EVENT

What's Next in Illustration?

Earlier this month we were thrilled to host our first in-person Creative Cuppa event here at Somerset House; where we heard from three brilliant artists from the Grand Matter roster, who delved into particular aspects of their practices while we offered up our insights into the recent shifts and trends we've seen in the illustration industry.

Creative Cuppa began in 2021 as an online artist talk series, where for each instalment we'd chat to a different creative to find out about their work, all in the time it takes you to drink a cup of tea. 

Since then we've been itching to bring this format off the screen and into the physical world, and so on the morning of 17th October 2024 we opened the doors to our current home at the iconic Somerset House in London, and invited an audience of people from across the creative industries who have worked with artists and illustrators.

First up we heard from illustrator, muralist and typographic artist Gemma O'Brien all about her work as an artist, but also on working with like-minded brands as an ambassador as we see a shift away from mega-influencer appointments in favour of more targeted, authentic relationships – a role we're seeing artists take on more and more.  

Next, the brilliant Charlotte Mei introduced us to her ways of working and journey into experiential art collaborations – working with brands to create immersive and engaging experiences for their customers – and the value it can add to in-person events going forward.

Last but by no means least, we heard from multidisciplinary artist and illustrator Thomas Hedger who delved into his own experiences of the ever-evolving relationship between illustration and animation and how more than ever, there is a stronger emphasis on ensuring a collaborative approach between the two. He gave us a special insight into a recent project for Fintech brand Wero, his most involved animation project to date.  

In addition to our wonderful guest speakers, we had the brilliant Lena Yokoyama live-illustrating beautiful flower paintings throughout the event. The pieces she created were then sold to raise money for Agents For Change; an initiative we set up to help in diversifying the creative industries and making it more accessible for people from underrepresented backgrounds.

Over the course of the morning we were lucky enough to gain a rare peek into each of the artists' individual worlds, and came away having had some insightful conversations about how the future might look for the relationship between artwork commissioners and artists. We're looking forward to the next one!

To be the first to hear about our next event, sign up to our Creative Cuppa mailing list here!

All photography by Joseph Madden

– Creative Cuppa
– Gemma O'Brien's Portfolio
– Charlotte Mei's Portfolio
– Thomas Hedger's Portfolio
– Lena Yokoyama's Portfolio
– Agents For Change

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