Zachariah OHora is the Show Creator and Executive Producer of the ground breaking new animated show on PBS KIDS Carl the Collector. It follows an autistic raccoon who loves to collect things along with his neurotypical and neurodiverse friends. The show features autistic actors, writers, and neurodiverse people on all levels of production.
He is the illustrator of the New York Times best selling book Wolfie the Bunny. And the author and illustrator of a number of award-winning books including the parent trap for cats epic Niblet & Ralph featured on The Today Show and Whale Song a non-fiction picture book about jazz musician Paul Horn and his inter-species communication with orcas. OHora’s books have been translated into over a dozen languages worldwide including; Russian, Chinese, Korean, French, German, Finnish, Spanish, Turkish, Dutch, Arabic and Farsi.
He is the creator of the Gear Guard dashboard character for Rivian electric vehicles. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, two sons, two cats and their dog Waffles.
Since graduating from Glasgow School of Art Fiona is lucky enough to have always earned her living from drawing.
She started her career working in animation, but now specialises in picture books. Fiona’s debut book ‘Hiding Heidi’ with Simon and Schuster and Illustrations for ‘A Dot in the Snow’ written by Corrinne Averiss, published by Oxford University Press, were both nominated for The Kate Greenaway Award.
A perfect project would combine her love of storytelling, pattern, character design and hand drawn typography. Fiona works in her London based studio, drawing with children’s blo pens, rubber stamps, cutting stencils and experimenting with printing techniques. She finds this playful approach and embracing collaboration brings about fresh and fun ways to visualise ideas.
Benji Davies is a picture book writer and artist. In his work he aims to capture how it feels to be a child. By immersing themselves in the stories he writes and illustrates, Benji hopes that children will find a quiet confidence with which to navigate the noise and bustle of the real world.
Since hailed a modern classic, his first self-penned picture book, The Storm Whale, won the inaugural Oscar’s Book Prize and was Dutch Picture Book Of The Year. His second, Grandad’s Island, garnered similar plaudits, winning the children’s book category of the AOI World Illustration Awards and being crowned Children’s Book of the Year at the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards. In 2020 he won Oscar's Book Prize for a second time with Tad, a story about a tadpole making its way in the big, wide pond. All three of these books have been adapted for the stage.
Jim Field is an award-winning illustrator, character designer, and animation director. From music videos and title sequences to advertising and picture books, Jim has worked on a variety of projects.
I talked with Matthew LeBaron, agent and founder of Much Creative, about his experiences and lessons learned from representing artists for over a decade. We dive into the ins and outs of having an agent and explore the state of the illustration industry in our current economy.
Tad Carpenter is a designer, illustrator and author based in Kansas City. He run the Carpenter Collective with his wife Jessica with the focus of bringing powerful messages to life through branding, packaging and illustrative based design. Carpenter’s studio has created campaigns for Macy’s, Target, Old Navy, MTV and Adobe to name a few.
Tad is the author and illustrator to over a dozen children’s books in our market today including “Sad Santa”, “Ninja, Ninja Never Stop” and the “I Say, You Say” series. Carpenter has also taught Graphic Design at the University of Kansas since 2009.
Don Clark is an illustrator and cofounder of Invisible Creature, a widely respected and award-winning design studio based in Seattle, Washington. He has worked with clients such as Target, Pixar, NASA, The New York Times, LEGO, and Apple. Don and his wife, Erika, have three children and live on a small farm just outside Seattle.
Dave Bain is a Bristol based Illustrator and Muralist. His work spans across the editorial and advertising world. His approach is distinctively colourful, expressive and inspired by screenprinting, jazz and electronic music. Check out his work here: https://davebain.com
Maser, truly embodies the centric spirit of contemporary visual art in Ireland today. Creating artwork since 1995, over the last 25 years Maser has generated a large and dedicated following both in Ireland and Internationally, through his seamlessly imaginative and unique graphic style.
Having exhibited at the National Gallery of Ireland, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Sotheby's and National Print Museum, Maser is now one of Ireland's most collectable contemporary artists.
Al aka Maser is a prolific Irish Artist. Maser's unique artistic style draws upon numerous influences including optical and mid-century art, using bold colours, pattern and text to complement his paintings. Through his use of contrasting colours and flowing patterns, Maser's work offers the viewer an opportunity to become fully immersed in an almost hypnotic state. As an artist, Maser is clearly ambitious and unafraid to experiment with any artistic format.
Dapo Adeola is an award-winning illustrator and designer who creates characters and images that challenge expectations around race and gender in a fun and upbeat way. He is the co-creator and illustrator of bestselling picture book Look Up! - winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the number 1 debut picture book of 2019. London born and bred but of Nigerian heritage, when he's not busy cooking up new characters and adventures, you can find Dapo running illustration and character design workshops with children or organising events to help highlight the possibilities of a career in illustration to underrepresented members of the Black diaspora.
Paul Delany is an award-winning designer and most recently an illustrator. From building brands, to crafting visual stories Paul can do it all. We chat about his career and his transition from the world of design to illustration, finding his style and more.
See his work here: https://pauldelaney.ie/portfolio/
Kieron is south London born freelance graphic designer, host on Adobe Live and public speaker with a BA (Hons) within Graphic Arts. His core skill sets include Editorial design, Marketing, Branding and Front-end digital design (UI). Check out his work here:https://kieronlewis.com
Graham Thew is an award-winning Book Designer at the forefront of Book Design in Ireland. With a career that spans 25 years, we dive into how he was catapulted into the world of publishing as he left college and soon made his mark in the publishing world. At his studio Gramham Thew Design they work on branding, illustration with a specialisation in book design. Check out the amazing covers Graham has worked on: https://www.grahamthew.com/
Welcome to the Fruitful Life
MURUGIAH is an award-winning multi & interdimensional artist in London, UK exploring identity & awe & everything inbetween based in London, U.K. Born in England & raised in Wales with Sri Lankan heritage, Murugiah trained as an architect in London before choosing his current creative path, specialising in Fine art, illustration, art direction, typography and design. Today, he makes psychedelic work infused with the dichotomy of his Sri Lankan heritage and western upbringing. All made in a surreal, joyful, style using bright bold colours and detailed graphical compositions.
Check out his work here: https://murugiah.com/
My name is Ashwin Chacko I am an author, illustrator, and host of the Fruitful life. If you like this episode please consider subscribing and leaving a review.
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Amy & Jen Hood are the co-founders of Hoodzpah a collaborative branding and type studio based out of Southern California. They create to delight the disenchanted, defy the ordinary, and decipher the woods from the trees. Their unique style and Swiss-army-skillset have led to exciting collaborations with mom-and-pop brands and companies like Disney, the NBA and more. Check out their work here: https://hoodzpahdesign.com/work/
Welcome to the Fruitful Life!
James Martin aka Made by James is a prolific creative, logo wiz, author, co founder of Baby Giant co and a lot more. He has helped hundreds of companies around the world build their dreams through his unique approach to brand identity. Check out his work here: https://themadebyjames.com/
Welcome to the Fruitful Life where we discuss the business of creativity.
William Warren, Founder & CEO of The Sketch Effect which is based in Atlanta, has plenty of real stories and hard-earned insights to share from nearly 10 years in the entrepreneurial trenches. See more about Willam here: https://theconqueringcreative.com/#about
My name is Ashwin Chacko I am an author, illustrator, and host of the Fruitful life. If you like this episode please consider subscribing and leaving a review.
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If you would like to support with a cup of coffee visit https://ko-fi.com/whackochacko
Welcome to the Fruitful Life where we discuss the business of creativity.
Sarah Boris is an artist and designer based in London.
After working for over ten years for world renown arts and publishing institutions such as Phaidon, ICA, the Barbican, she set up her art and design studio in 2015, with a focus on public art commissions and creating new artworks in the form of screenprinted editions, sculpture, paintings, letterpress, books and more.
My name is Ashwin Chacko I am an author, illustrator, and host of the Fruitful life. If you like this episode please consider subscribing and leaving a review.
Whacko Art Shop: https://whackochacko.com/shop
Newsletter: https://ashwinchacko.substack.com/subscribe
Follow me on Social Media
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/whackochacko/
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If you would like to support with a cup of coffee visit https://ko-fi.com/whackochacko
Welcome to the Fruitful Life where we discuss the business of creativity.
Jason is an award-winning artist, designer, and creative director based in Brooklyn. After earning a BFA in graphic design from Brigham Young University, he moved to NYC to immerse himself into the life, color and magic of New York. He began his professional career working in the Creative Department of M·A·C Cosmetics, where he learned about the business of art and design, and developed his taste for spreading life and color into any and every project he could get his hands on. Six years later, Jason set out to start spreading his own message into the world. Check out his work here: https://jasonnaylor.nyc/
My name is Ashwin Chacko I am an author, illustrator, and host of the Fruitful life. If you like this episode please consider subscribing and leaving a review.
Whacko Art Shop: https://whackochacko.com/shop
Newsletter: https://ashwinchacko.substack.com/subscribe
Follow me on Social Media
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If you would like to support with a cup of coffee visit https://ko-fi.com/whackochacko
Welcome to the Fruitful Life where we discuss the business of creativity.
Michael Emberley has been an author and award winning illustrator of children's books for over 40 years. He is known for his humorous and sensitive picture books, such as Ruby, Welcome Back Sun, and I Did It!, as well as works of non fiction such as, The Message, The Extraordinary Journey of an Ordinary Text Message, and It's Perfetly Normal (w Robie Harris).
Michael is well known for highly successful collaborating with well known authors such as former US children's poet laureate, Mary Ann Hoberman, on a series of innovative reading books, with Barbara Bottner on such titles as Miss Brooks Loves Books, as well as partnering with author Robie Harris on the series of ground breaking and now classic books on the facts of life. Check out his work here:https://www.michaelemberleybooks.com/
My name is Ashwin Chacko I am an author, illustrator, and host of the Fruitful life. If you like this episode please consider subscribing and leaving a review.
Whacko Art Shop: https://whackochacko.com/shop
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If you would like to support with a cup of coffee visit https://ko-fi.com/whackochacko