Emily Forgot - Graphic Artist/Illustrator Research

Emily Forgot is a Graphic Artist and Illustrator. She graduated from Liverpool School of Art and Design in 2004 and has been working within the creative industry since then.

She has worked with a range of clients across different fields of graphic arts and illustration. Her international clients are from cultural institutions, advertising, retail, publishing and editorial. 

I decided to research Emily Forgot because I think her work is unique and skilful. She has a good eye for detail and I like her choice of colour palettes that seem to work well for each of the briefs she has worked in within the fields of illustration and graphic arts.

Emily likes to explore odd and unusual themes, both in everyday life and more surreal experiences. She has quite a playful visual language, she tries to create works that have innovation, can evolve and a sense of surprise. 
The fields that she works in within the creative industry include illustration, installation, print design and visual identity. She has created work for companies such as Creative Review, Vogue, ID and Grafik magazine. 

ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION

A project that I particularly admire is the series of Illustrations that Emily Forgot produced for Rumpus Room, a cocktail bar within the Mondrian Hotel. She was approached by a design agency called Magpie and they asked her to create an illustration that had a 'whimsical deco feel' to them. This was so the new illustrations would work well with the 1920s inspired interior of the cocktail bar. 
Emily created a master illustration for the menus and some of the single motif illustrations she produced were chosen for coasters, flyers and matchboxes.

The image above is the illustration Emily created for the cocktail bar menus. 

Emily Forgot's Coaster Illustrations for the Rumpus Room cocktail bar

I think these illustrations are quite striking and they suit the theme of the cocktail bar well. The use of pink card with a dark blue tonal image is quite an unusual colour choice but it works well to create a 'vintage' feel. I think they could be screen prints or riso prints, they  are of a high print quality. 

These are examples of self-promotion in some ways because they show the sort of work that Emily Forgot can produce as an illustrator but they also serve as a purpose.

The bar name and some other details are written on the back in contrasting ink, with the background being predominantly blue ink and the text being the pink tone. I think this is a clever way of creating a slightly different mood but not in too much of an obvious way, it is quite understated and each of the separate images on the front of the coasters fit together well because they can all be associated with each other as objects from the 1920s. 
Emily Forgot also created a stop frame animation using 2 of her motif illustrations that was shown on a phenakistoscope (an animation device that created a fluid illusion of motion). It was designed and shown at the Rumpus Room launch party.

EDITORIAL  ILLUSTRATION

Cover for the August 2016 issue of Creative Review magazine

Emily Forgot has worked on quite a few editorial illustration briefs. She was asked by Creative Review magazine to design the front cover of the August 2016 issue. She had to create a response to the theme 'getting started'. 

I think her design is innovative and futuristic. She has created an architectural themed illustration that includes building structures such as walls, stairs, ladders and doorways. There is a snippet of a swimming pool and a clock positioned on a sort of platform. Even though the illustration has no figures, I feel like there is quite alot going on in the scene because of the variety of shapes and block colours used. It is quite geometrical and precise, organised and concise. 

I like the balance between cool and warm colours, creating a harmonious effect. I think it does fit the brief because it shows how objects such as a ladder and a clock tend to be important when you are starting something. A ladder is needed if you need to get to a room or structure that is situated higher than where you can reach. A clock is needed to keep an eye on the time, especially if you have a deadline. 

The illustration is very modern and colourful which suits the theme of the magazine as it trying to keep its readers up to date with the latest news in the creative industries. 

The text element fits in well with the visual image as it becomes a part of the image, almost like a green billboard coming down from the ceiling showing an announcement or advertisement to the viewer. 

This magazine illustration fits in with my work for the Penguin book cover design in terms of combining text and image as well as coming up with an enticing composition that works on a book or magazine cover.

ILLUSTRATED TYPOGRAPHY

Visual identity and styling of 'Nursery Names' a customisable alphabet print project

Typography has been an important element of this unit. Emily Forgot has a strong grasp of using type and she likes to explore using type to create an image. Above is a full page illustration showcasing her illustrated typography project for nurseries. This is a customisable project, customers can design their own print that reads their child's name. They can choose from the collection of illustrated letters above, that is always expanding, as well as purchase individual letters, card packs and alphabet prints at stockists.

The Nursery Name products are available to buy in the V&A and in the Southbank Centre.

I like the imaginative quality of these letters. They each have a little narrative about them and I'm sure they appeal well to children because they are bright and playful. The images within the letters are quite obvious such as 'A' for apple but this does suit the nursery aged children and babies. 

This work relates to both work done for the Penguin Design Awards and for Self-promotion. A book cover design always needs strong typography to help in sell in bookstores and online. Self-promotional illustrative work tends to feature the illustrator's contact details and perhaps titles or explanations so text needs to be carefully thought about to give the viewer the right impression about yourself and your work.