Archive for the ‘What’s Inspiring us now’ Category

Simon Mendez Christmas Sample!

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

Have a look at this lovely changing picture book sample we received, illustrated by Simon Mendez and published by Sterling Children’s Books. This beautiful novelty book tells the story of a tradtional children’s Christmas and is accompanied by a selection of enchanting paintings that link each scene to the next with the pull of a tab. Watch the night skies transform as santa flies over, this lovely interactive picture book takes us on an exciting journey through the most wonderful time of the year!

 

Have a look at more of Simons amazing work by clicking here to see his portfolio on the Advocate Art website!

New Summer Moodboards

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

Have a look at these beautiful new mood boards designed by agent hannah. She has been taking them to meetings to showcase what we think are some great new themes and trends that our greetings card illustrators and image licensing artists are really getting right!

Fun Fur features cute bears and other fluffy animals set off by lovely pastel and ice cream shades. Some of the illustrators whose work inspired this mood board are Anna Shuttlewood, Martina Hogan, Tiago Americo, Ellie Jenkins, Rachel Green, Sarah Goodreau and Sonia Possentini.

Modern Florals features bright floral designs with vibrant patterns, folk influences and shocks of colour on neutral backgrounds. The artists inspiring this trend are Victoria Nelson, Amanda Hillier, Darren Pindar, Nicola Evans and the Pope Twins.

Willow features beautiful blue designs with loose floral and oriental influences. Butterflies and hearts are a key feature is this trend. Artists getting it right include Amanda Hillier, Kim Hankinson, Anna Staub, Louise Angus, Nicola Evans, Mat Edwards.

Summer 2012 Colour Palette

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

As fashion and art licensing begin to merge more and more, Advocate, as an image licensing company, appreciates the benefits of staying in touch with fashion and trend forecasts, particularly when it comes to colour! One of our illustrators, Janes Heyes, spotted this Louis Vuitton advert and sent it in to us. Here at Advocate Art we think that they have got the colours spot on for one of the summer 2012 palettes. We think the mixture of green, red and pink is gorgeous. Open this image in adobe kuler to play with the palette for yourself!

To see more of Jane’s work visit her portfolio on our website by clicking here.

Christmas Mood Boards 2013!

Friday, March 9th, 2012

At Advocate art we have been very busy creating these great new Christmas mood boards incorporating all the elements we think will be on trend for Christmas 2013. Below each one we have written a description of the colours, tones and imagery we are looking for – this is a perfect brief for all you greeting card designers out there are and we can’t wait to see all your fantastic illustrations in response to them! We have two more mood boards to come so we will keep you posted! We have also posted these on Pinterest, click here to  visit our page and spread the word!

Chocolate Christmas

Warm tones of burnt gold, bronze and deep red inspire this look. Metallic finishes are mixed with natural wood textures to give this trend a homely appeal.

Snowflake

Light, dreamy and soft – this look is defined by the unusual mixture of mint green and muted teal. This is paired with iridescent finishes, and delicate snowflake, star and woodland motifs.

Midnight Velvet

Sumptuous, rich and elegant – this look draws inspiration from the glamour of the 1920′s. The colour palette is limited to deep purples, indigos and black, with metallic highlights.

What’s Inspiring Jane Heyes . . . . Fresh Spring Colours for 2012

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Advocate artist Jane Heyes sent us this fabulous colour palette which she found on the Pantone website – full of bright, optimistic, and sophisticated colours bursting with energy and vibrance, it has thoroughly inspired us! Thank you Jane, if you want to see more on the Pantone website then click here.

What’s inspiring Jane Heyes

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

At Advocate we often ask our artist’s and illustrators what styles, artwork and products are inspiring them. Advocate artist Jane Heyes has found this brilliant website which is inspiring her work at the moment. It has some really funky designs; using bold colours and block prints, the artwork looks great on tea towels, mugs and cushions. We can see why Jane likes it! The top four images are Jane’s illustrations and the bottom four are pictures off the website; to visit the website click here.To see more of Jane’s work on the Advocate website click here.

What’s Inspiring Ed Myer Now

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

Advocate Artist Ed Myer has found a cool site that is inspiring his illustration work at the moment. Apart from being a very nicely designed website It allows to create different colour pallets as well as see and array of different colour pallets other people have created.Take a look and have a play by clicking on this link.

What’s Inspiring Jane Heyes

Friday, February 18th, 2011

It’s always good to be inspired and know what is inspiring other people, Advocate artist Jane Heyes is being inspired by this image and this is why:

Lacroix took inspiration from flowers being thrown in the air at Spanish fiestas when he created this design.I love the uplifting space, movement & freedom which is cleverly balanced in this image, with swallows arcing through cascades of bright flowers tossed against a clean sky – simply fresh air on a canvas.

If you would like to see Jane’s work please have a look at her online portfolio here.

Trends for 2011

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

This year Advocate Art has designed mood boards in order to brief our artists, depicting trends that are emerging in 2o11.Advocate sends it’s agents out to search the shops for trend indicators, uncovering new looks that are going to be huge in 2011-12. We have broken them down in to the following categories;

Highland: deer, tartan, craft
Pink and Blue / contemporary cute: kitsch, japanese characters, soft, foamy graphics
Peacock Jewel: feathers, jewels, rich opulent colours, geometric, metallic
Vintage pink: soft pink, hard edge graphics and stencil
Charming souvenir: 1950s, ice-cream colours, lemon yellow
Nostalgia: tourist souvenirs, flags (especially union jack), city landmarks (especially eiffel tower)
Candy-cane / red and white: red and white, minimal, laser-cut, intricate
Fluffy fawn: white on white, natural, wood/feather/fluffy textures