[dropcap style=”font-size:100px;color:#992211;”]T[/dropcap]he Association of Illustrators (The AOI), in partnership with the Directory of Illustration, is delighted to announce Anna Mill as the Professional Overall Winner and Patrick Dias as the New Talent Winner. This year’s shortlist has been selected by the jury from a record 3,700 entries from 75 countries.
In addition, the first ever WIA cross category award winners are: Rod Hunt, who has won the Directory of Illustration Award; Thomas Paterson, who has won the AOI Members’ Award; and Abi Langridge, who works under the pseudonym Paperface and has won the Society of Artists Agents Award for New Talent.
Anna Mill’s epic 256-page graphic novel, Square Eyes, written with Luke Jones, published by Jonathan Cape, won the Professional Books category, sponsored by NoBrow. The novel envisages a near-future city saturated with augmented reality creating a bright, shifting, enticing mirage drawn over the crumbling remnants of the old physical world. The project explores the current trends, cultures and behaviours of the internet by manifesting them as spaces, objects and characters, while telling a story that had moments of mystery, comedy, action and contemplation.
Experimental New talent Winner Patrick Dias is a Toronto-based designer and animator. He has won the Overall New Talent award for his handmade sets and props for a short film that looks at the theme of ‘connectivity’, blending illustrative characters within the tactile world.
Rod Hunt has won the DI Award for his epic animated bumper for CVISION; he wins a page in the directory and consultation. Thomas Paterson’s winning project “Watching Brexit Fall Apart” has won him a year-long AOI membership and a suite of AOI publications. Paperface wins the SAA award, receiving a trial representation period with an SAA Agent with a focus on mentoring and career development.
Highlights among the category-winning projects include Sonja Stangl’s atmospheric, painterly illustrations for the marketing and branding for RAU, an Austrian restaurant located on the edge of a nature reserve; Astrid Jaekel’s wallpaper for the Wigtown’s Festival Company ‘book town’ celebrations, used to wrap 11 building exteriors throughout the town; and Fiona Woodcock’s charming children’s book LOOK, which features images and typography created from hand-cut stamps throughout, celebrating the shape and sound of words.
All of this year’s award winners are displayed alongside the full shortlist at the World Illustration Awards 2019 Exhibition, which runs at Somerset House until 28 July. The exhibition will then tour the UK throughout the year.
Naila Scargill is the publisher and editor of horror journal Exquisite Terror. Holding a broad editorial background, she has worked with an eclectic variety of content, ranging from film and the counterculture, to political news and finance.
