Ben was one of the youngest artists to be taken on by Heart. His maturity and depth of understanding of picture making caught the attention of Darrel his then External Assessor during his final year at Bath Spa University.

A project which perhaps captures the essence of Ben’s working method is the book, ‘Uncommon Practice’. Produced by branding consultants, Interbrand, the book reviewed a range of companies that offer ‘a high quality brand experience to the consumer’. The book looked at all aspects of branding from logo to consumer environments and highlighted how much consideration goes into the creation and maintenance of a brand. The project by its very nature demanded very detailed illustrations, interior and exterior scenes. Ben’s illustrations brought these environments (and brands) to life by including a wealth of detail and the minutiae of little human dramas taking place. Within a given scene, there were often secondary and tertiary scenes, each filled with detailed activity. Consequently, the book can be studied repeatedly and fresh details can be spotted on each viewing, which makes for an unusually entertaining brand communication.

The portfolio of work created for the ‘Uncommon Practice’ project caught the attention of Adobe in California, who needed an illustrator who could showcase the new features of Illustrator CS (Illustrator 11). Ben decided to use an art gallery scene as the setting for an image that could convey the range of the new programme’s capabilities. The 3D features were shown with sculptures, the ‘symbols’ tool (a way of repeating artwork) was suggested by Warhol style images, the transparency tool was used to create a glass display case with a statue/bust….etc. The final artwork was used in demonstrations of the new programme, on the packaging of the product and in the product brochure. For Adobe it was a successful departure from the standard demo artworks.

Whilst enjoying slipping in lots of subtle details into a scene, thereby encouraging the viewer to look into an illustration rather than just at it, Ben has also been produced more iconic imagery. His regular column in the Guardian Weekend magazine ‘A Day in the Life Of…’ (a spoof diary of the latest celebrity who has hit the headlines each week) requires him to create iconic ‘star’ portraits. These not only capture a likeness but also some of the personality, be it forthright or slightly sheepish in the face of the latest notoriety that has brought them to the attention of the worlds media.

Whether detailed or simple and iconic, Ben continues to strive to create better and better images, fully tested and water tight, which continues to impress his clients.

Clients

Adobe
People Magazine
Lloyds TSB
The Sunday Times
Mastercard
Men’s Fitness
Nickelodeon
The Guardian
Interbrand
Random House
The Financial Times
Penguin
Management Today
The Independent
Cargo
The Boston Globe
Wessex Trains
Vodafone
Power magazine

Links