Windows into illustration: Ben Newman


Illustrator Ben Newman also works as an art director and lectures on illustration/graphic arts at universities and at conferences in the UK and Europe. His distinctive style is a fusion of bold shapes, bright colours and playful characters and has been described as ‘bauhaus fuzzy felt.’ It works very well in the quirky information book series, the Professor Astro Cat books. Here he describes his approach and technique.


I


think the best way to learn is when you’re having fun because you don’t realise that you’re learning. The gradual increase in testing at schools can often take the fun out of certain subjects, especially science. This is a massive shame because it is one of the most fascinating and awe-inspiring subjects you can imagine.


When I worked in a bookshop, I found that science and other non-fiction books seemed to have a very narrow aesthetic and creative range. Most of the books were made up of annotated photographs or felt like they were designed in a bit of a rush. Where was the fun? Where was the love? Illustration can be a great way of injecting more imagination into things and I wanted to bring the subject of space to life which is why I asked my old school friend and doctor of physics, Dominic Walliman to help.


Our first collaboration, Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, was created as an alternative to what was already available and designed to help widen the range of science books in bookshops. The book really evolved as Dominic and myself went along because the structure was so loose to start off with. This is great fun when collaborating but we wanted to refine this and give it more structure more for Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure. Space on the surface seems much more accessible so the challenge with the second book was making a tricky subject, like physics, accessible, modern and fun.


When I started Atomic Adventure, I thought a lot about how to combine text and imagery simultaneously. I started to think about ‘designing with illustration’


6 Books for Keeps No.217 March 2016


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32