Graphics duo have designs on illustration careers

A pair of design students from Teesside earned national recognition for their work in illustration and typography.

Final year BA (Hons) Graphic Design students Laura Richardson and Natalie Larkin, who graduate later this year, are now aiming to embark on careers in design and illustration fresh from their success.

Laura, 23, from Bishop Auckland, is celebrating having achieved recognition in the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD) Award Scheme. For this she produced a booklet looking at different forces such as gravity, magnetism, tension and compression, using typography and text to represent each one.

She said: 'The brief was to choose a subject in one of ten categories and I chose science as I have an interest in the subject from studying it at A level and my brother is a physics teacher.

'I sourced the text for the booklet and then had to think about which typography and design to illustrate each different force. I also produced the covers for two other booklets on other science subjects.'

The ISTD Student Assessment Scheme seeks to promote the highest quality of contemporary practice among its international membership.

Laura, who can now use MISTD after her name to signify recognised skills in typography, added: 'I’m hoping to go into editorial design on magazines or illustration. Using the MISTD initials after my name will show potential employers that I have attained a standard in typography.'

Children's book illustration Meanwhile Natalie Larkin, 20, from Guisborough, has been Highly Commended in the Macmillan Prize for Children’s Book Illustration for her children’s book Bertie the Albino Hedgehog.

It follows on from her success last year when she was Highly Commended in the same awards for her updated version of Hansel and Gretel. Natalie is now pursuing her aim of getting her book about Bertie published.

Natalie said: 'My story about Bertie was inspired by a story I read in a newspaper about an albino hedgehog which was rejected by its mother. In my story Bertie is picked on by the other hedgehogs for being different, so he goes on a trip around the world before accepting that there is nothing wrong with being different.'

She added: 'There is a happy ending for him and the story also gets over the message that being different is not always a bad thing. Children’s illustration provides an opportunity to be creative and explore ideas in a more imaginative way.'

Barbara Usherwood, Head of Design said: 'Laura and Natalie produced excellent work for these highly regarded awards. We are delighted with their success and wish them both well in their future careers.'

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