First, I did a short research on Varoom and its content to better help me craft my user personas. 

INTRODUCTION TO VAROOM

What it is: Magazine commenting on and discussing illustration, featuring longform articles, opinion pieces, interviews and image-based articles

When is it: Published twice a year

Who is it for: International audience, but probably appeal more to groups of people who are interested in illustration, i.e. illustrators, designers, commissioners and people interested in contemporary visual culture. Tone of the magazine aims to be accessible rather than academic, to be relevant to a ‘broad range of readers’

ARTICLE REVIEWS

I picked two articles from two different issues and read them to get a clearer sense of what kind of content Varoom would publish.

The first article, titled The Body in Motion, was published in their Rhythm Issue.

  Rhythm Issue Cover

The article features an interview between the editor and three artists, and they talk about their own job experiences and how it relates to the issue’s theme of ‘Rhythm’. It provides different perspectives from three individuals who are working in various fields of the creative industry, but are strung together by the common theme of ‘Rhythm’. This allows readers, whether they are in or out of the industry, to be exposed to the workflow of individuals in the creative industry they may not necessarily meet often.

The second article is titled Top 10 Cover Stories and was published in the Storytelling Issue.

  Storytelling Issue Cover

The article features 10 book cover designs to highlight the ability of a book cover to frame the narrative within the book. These types of articles might appeal to people who are generally interested in art and design, but also to illustrators who might get their work featured in the magazine and gain commission opportunities.

Combining the research and article reviews, I came up with my user persona, and my negative user persona. Click here for the pdf version!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ILLUSTRATION INSPIRATION

Next, I researched on some illustrators to get some inspiration. Here are some illustrators I really admire:

First off, is Qu Tianran, who is currently doing her Masters at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). You can view all her works on her website here. Here are a couple of my favourites:

 
Las Vegas (2019)

Eat Well (2020)

Things I like about her illustrations:

• Variation in line-weight of outlines, giving the work a hand drawn, comic-book like style
• Colour palette works well to convey mood of the illustration
• Extensive detail which makes the illustration really interesting to look at

Another illustrator I really like is Hattie Stewart. You can view more of her work here.

 
VOGUE Magazine Cover and sketchbook doodles

• Her work has a lot of character, expressed through the quirky shapes and lines
• 80s/90s inspired graphics and colours, bright and really attractive
• All-overness kitsch that works really well with clean digital photographs

Thirdly, is a YouTube animation channel called kindoflinc.

 
Stills from animated videos

• His lines are fluid but decisive!
• Characters all look really quirky and unique and I like the way he draws facial features 
• Everything is sketchy but also clean, which I want to emulate.

Lastly, I am a huge fan of Phil Noto‘s work. He is a comic book illustrator and you can find his works here.

Cover illustrations for various graphic novels

• He has a huge amount of technical skill!
• I really like the sharp lines in his illustrations and it gives his style a very distinct look.
• Minimal but effective use of colour