An illustration student from specialist art and design college, Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD), has already made his mark in the industry, having been commissioned for a weekly column in one of the UK’s leading national newspapers, The Guardian.
22-year-old Alan Vest from Eaglescliffe in Stockton-on-Tees, is currently on his final year of his Illustration for Commercial Application degree at the university-level campus in Hartlepool, and has been commissioned by The Guardian to produce illustrations for the newspaper’s new weekly column, ‘My Writing Day’. The column looks at various writers and authors, talking about their typical writing day and featured in a weekly column every Saturday.
Alan successfully secured the work after contacting the newspaper as part of his ‘Professional Practice’ module, as he explains: “We were set the task of making a telephone call to industry. Editorial illustration is an area I have become very interested in and I decided to call up The Guardian newspaper. Afterwards I contacted the art directors via email and sent through a few examples of my illustrations. I was very pleased when I received positive feedback on my work. They told me about an upcoming project and asked me to illustrate a couple of authors as a test run, so I produced a variety of illustrations in the hope of getting involved in the project.
“When I found out that The Guardian wanted me to commission me for a new a weekly column I was so happy, nervous but most of all excited to be recognised. Everyone in the CCAD studio was so happy for me, and my family were delighted about getting such an amazing opportunity. I’m so grateful to be given the chance to draw for such a prestigious newspaper. I intend to put all my effort into each illustration to produce the highest quality work I can, and continue to develop a professional relationship with the client.”