Guardian Work cover : The Happiness Business

Been meaning to post this job for ages, especially as I was asked to do this by my Facebook page fans/likers/you know who you are!
Sarah Habershon asked me to illustrate the theme of happiness at work, called The Happiness Business written by Cary L Cooper and Stephen Wood. Basically the article discussed that a lack of workplace wellbeing costs the country £26bn a year and questioned the government’s new measure to make our offices nicer environments.
I must admit, I was inspired by all these groovy (yes, I said groovy) open plan offices, such as at Mother, London and well, all the places I see in my stockpiled copies of ELLE Decoration and Living etc. Everybody is happy, hip and they rollerskate to work, you know the type. Please don't dry boke :-)

Stylewise, this is developing a slighty new approach: drawing with special pens (not pen and ink) but also having some quite geometric, sharp-edged shapes in there - the desk, the laptops, paper etc to act as a contrast.

I am quite obsessed with drawing with calligraphy pens and have developed a serious habit buying them up. They give a great line and I don't have to wait for it to dry before scanning! Textured, sharp areas of shape and colour come from I do not know where, but I am doing a lot more digital collage - basically drawing shapes with the lasso tool in Photoshop but using all sorts of textures I have scanned in.
I'll be honest, It's rather refreshing to be developing my style and trying new things, but at the same time not scaring off clients who love my loose line and inkiness. I do love ink and it will continue to make a special appearance in both illustration and lettering but in the meantime I am having fun experimenting.

On a completely different note, I am also quite obsessed with this food blog I discovered called Recipe Rifle written and cooked by Esther Walker. It is full of lovely stuff, honest opinions and swear words and I would recommend checking it out.