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World Book Day edition with Aart-Jan Venema
Can you tell me a little bit about your World Book Day illustration concept and process? I'm actually quite fond of reading. I think a good book is more immersive than a series or movie, so I wanted to do something with that, and let the characters get outside the book, instead of me getting into it. It's also a small homage to one of my favorites of the last years, Butchers Crossing by John Williams, which isn't as much a wild-west book as you'd think from my drawing. You should read it!
How do you drink your coffee? Cappucino or cortado when I'm out. At home mostly Nespresso. I actually drink a lot of the vanilla variant to be honest :)
What is your favourite coffee place? Blackbird coffee in Utrecht! I did their branding, but apart from that I really like the vibe of that place and their coffee. It's a shame I don't get to come there that often since I don't live in Utrecht anymore.
Any interesting upcoming projects or events? I'm still working on the branding for Greenman Festival which will be in August. Will be great and a bit weird to see this huge event all in my style. I might be doing a kids book too, but the last time I talked about that for a newspaper it didn't happen in the end, so we'll see.
Aart-Jan Venema
We've had Aart-Jan on our list to collaborate with for quite a while and are excited it finally worked out. His style is two-fold: Detailed, textured, layered analog artwork based on scanned-in pencil and ink drawings, and digital artwork that's actually detailed, textured and layered as well. Something exciting happens when a naive drawing style meets real concepts, subject matter and clients, which is why Aart-Jan always keeps us looking forward to more goodness to come from his studio.