Come and see ‘House Style’ at the Edinburgh International Book Festival -and maybe pick up a card or two!
House Style came about as a way of uniting all the staff and students of Illustration in a collaborative project. The staff came up with suggestions for a list of novels which was assembled by George Douglas, (GSA 2015-16). Each participant chose a book for which to make an image. Sarah Bissel, (artist in residence), put together the plan for a limited palette, a clever idea which has given a unified aesthetic to the considerable variety of imagery and use of media in the illustrations. It was felt to be a great thing to celebrate the literary connections with Illustration, particularly in its relationship to the novel.
Our programme director Jonathan Gibbs has made a number of commissioned pieces for the Radio Times in illustrations for novels to be read on Radio Four. These are illustrations on a miniature scale, but with a vivid and particular role within the printed page. The House Style brief emulated this process, with the results comprising the design of a 2017 calendar to be launched in December 2016. Alan Walker of Allander Print visited the Illustration studio several times to comment upon work in progress for House Style, and the visual result has been made possible by him and Allander Print.
With many thanks to him for making this possible, the seventy or so postcards of all House Style illustrations have been displayed for sale at the Edinburgh Book Festival. Thanks must also go to Nicky Regan for her excellent design of the calendar and postcards, with thanks also to Alan Ramsay for designing and constructing the display stand.
