Four students from a north east art and design college have impressed a regional comic and games retailer so much that two of the stores have decided to sell their artwork in Newcastle and York.
Andrew Counsell, sales assistant at independent comic business, Travelling Man, was approached by the illustration department at Cleveland College of Art & Design to help second-year illustration students with their commercial brief module, as part of their degree course.
The students were tasked with creating a piece of illustrated artwork of their own design, with the possibility of being sold in-store.
Matti Walker, 22, Emma Barnes, 23, Daniel Waugh, 23, and Michael Louden, 21, who are currently studying for their Illustration for Commercial Application degree at CCAD’s university level campus in Hartlepool, submitted their designs and impressed Andrew with their creativity, originality and talent.
The brief from CCAD was to produce a comic magazine, often referred to as a fanzine or ‘zine’, of the student’s own work, which could be reproduced for the increasingly popular niche comic market in the region and the students had complete creative freedom on the subject matter.
The students were required to research their subject well, with a concept which took into consideration both historical and contemporary zines and comics. The message, format and techniques used also had to be distinctive to the target market.