The Creative Condition podcast

Ben Rothery has just unveiled his stunning new collection of illustrations for The Natural History Museum. His painstakingly but beautifully detailed work is powerful and aesthetically pleasing and he joins me to tell me how it all began. How did his fascination with nature and species come about as a youngster and how does it feel to spend days on a single drawing? Ben tells me why he was a diffi...

The first ever, sold out live edition of Arrest All Mimics, presented by The Association Of Illustrators in Shoreditch was a resounding success and now you can hear the whole show. Brian Grimwood is an illustration institution. With over half a century of experience and work with two of The Beatles under his belt, he shares the journey he's been on and continues to enjoy with ever evolving results...

Craig Black moved takes us on his journey from working full time in a design role to building his own creative business. His work is versatile and ranges across many disciplines. He joins me to discuss the challenges he faced starting out, why London burned him out and how his return to Scotland has done wonders for himWe talk about the lack of room for ego in the creative industries and why peopl...

Marion Deuchars has been an illustration industry leader for some time. I came across her work in a Jamie Oliver cookbook at a time when I was struggling to establish my own style and took great confidence from her iconic, naive style of drawing and hand lettering. I join her at her studio to find out about her creative origins, journey into the industry and how her work has shifted from predomina...

Ste Johnson is an illustrator and designer who's love of sharp dressing lead him into creating stylish and vibrant fashion and lifestyle illustration. It's London Fashion Week 2017, so I chat to Ste, who shares a his journey. The fashion world is often criticised for depicting a lifestyle that is false and unattainable, but Ste explains how it was the desire to look good in certain clothes that in...

Artist Clare Dudeney joins me to discuss the themes of dreams in art. In Dreams is an upcoming exhibition exploring the sensory experience of sleep, dream narratives and internal visual landscapes, featuring twenty artists. Clare went a little deeper than simply creating art representing her dreams - we discuss her work with scientists to get to the bottom of dreams, what they represent and how th...

Eye magazine is a torch bearer in the creative magazine field. In a thriving indie magazine scene, I join editor John Walters and art director Simon Esterson as they release issue 94, with an astounding 8,000 unique cover designs! How has such a feat been pulled off and what makes for a successful indie print magazine in the the digital era? Eye is deservedly renowned for its visual swagger and tw...

In part two of the creative books special episode, I meet Nina Chakrabarti, winner of the World Illustration Awards professional books category for Hello Nature on Laurence King Publishing. We discuss her route into the illustration industry and her five published, illustrated books. How did the book deal come about? What was it like working with a major publisher and how have the books been recei...

Laurence King is one of the world's leading publishers in the creative arts. I join Laurence and head of children's books, Elizabeth Jenner to discuss the origins of Laurence King Publishing, the market today, what makes for a great book, advice for artists wishing to work with the publisher and much more! This is the first of a two part special on creative books and we'll discuss recent winner of...

Creative Review has been a mainstay publication in the creative industry for a long time. Undeniably a beautiful magazine with great journalism, where we do we find them in 2017? I meet editor Patrick Burgoyne to talk about their transition into a bi-monthly print publication, why that decision was made and how digital plays an important role in them staying on top of the abundance of great work i...

It can be a tough balance to strike, working a full-time creative role for a company and forging your own independent path. With Game Of Thrones season 7 well underway, I head to Brooklyn, New York to talk to Arrest All Mimics alumni and HBO designer Kyla Paolucci. Kyla talks about working for the TV network giant and continuing to develop her own portfolio. How do the two benefit each other and w...

The relationship with awards in the creative industry is something of a Jekyll and Hyde one. The buzz of a win and the hurt of missing out. But creative excellence must be rewarded, right? I'm joined by Bruce Duckworth, co-founder of brand identity design firm Turner Duckworth and 2016/17 D&AD president, to discuss his own background, inspirations and why it's crucial to stand back and allow p...

Illustration doesn't have too many formal, full-time in-house roles. Rebecca Hendin, however, worked as the in-house illustrator at Buzzfeed UK and joins me to discuss her brilliant work with the online news company along with her own projects. Rebecca shares her fascinating journey from Mid West U.S.A to London and how she got into the illustration game. She explains how she ended up at Buzzfeed,...

The landscape of higher education has changed. With student loans said to be every bit as vicious as a mortgage debt and tuition fees bordering on criminal, do you need to go to university in 2017 to make it in the creative industry? But what of the social and independence aspect of formal education? I head down to the D&AD offices to talk to Hilary, Steph and Sophie, Jake and Leanne about SHI...

Digital Arts editor Neil Bennett joins me to take a look at where the creative industry is today and where it's heading during a time of fast-paced technological developments. We talk about staying current and finding the right balance of creativity and strong ideas in creative work. Neil details the magazines transition from print publication to digital magazine and why classic methods of getting...

Annie Atkins, graphic designer for film joins me in Dublin to discuss her on and off screen work. Annie has worked on many productions including The Grand Budapest Hotel, with cult director Wes Anderson, Bridge Of Spies with Steven Spielberg and Penny Dreadful. Her role on film and TV is an incomprehensibly broad one, with fresh challenges on every production. Annie takes me through her industry o...

DixonBaxi are a London based brand and creative agency. They work with a broad range of clients including The Premier League, The History Channel, CNBC and Sony among others. I join Simon and Aporva, founding members to discuss how they've evolved, stayed creative and continued to produce consistently great work over the years. We talk about DixonBaxi's attitude to shaping your own creative path,...

Claudine O'Sullivan has just picked up the prize for the advertising category in the World Illustration Awards 2017. Her distinct, vibrantly coloured illustration crosses many contexts and platforms and her stunning Apple iPad campaign work has landed her the big prize only one year into her full-time freelance career. The Dublin born illustrator joins me to discuss how her organic style translate...

Since it’s episode 75 of the Arrest All Mimics podcast, somebody allowed me to slip through the net to spend an hour with one of creativity’s greatest minds. Sir John Hegarty is quite simply an advertising legend. He is one third of BBH, advertising agency renowned for their innovative campaigns. With half a century of work in the creative industry under his belt, John talks about what exactly con...

It's that time of the year where graduates realise that they need to make sense of the creative industry! I'm joined by Artsthread's Katie Dominy to discuss what helps someone looking to make an impact achieve their goals. Artsthread are a graduate platform who provide online and offline support for many artistic disciplines, through events, talks, portfolio surgeries, exhibitions and making those...

Fiction, non-fiction, TV shows, film, stage or real life experiences at the pub. No matter the medium, we all love a good character. But what makes us engage with them? Why do we loathe a good movie villain? What makes us cry when we know a sad moment in a book is not real and what gives you the best chance of succeeding in the world of graphic novels? Author and artist Karen McLeod joins me to ta...

Andy Council is a multi-disciplinary artist and illustrator. His iconic dinosaur and monsters, built from cityscapes and trash are full of life, energy and a dry humour. I meet Andy to discuss his roots, the origins of his creature creations and the Bristol creative scene. He has some hilarious tales of public interaction with his works, whilst out working live. We talk about the balance the range...

The work of Lucinda Rogers was pasted front and centre in my university workspace. Her expressive, loose reportage illustration left me in awe and eleven years after my graduation, she kindly gives me her time to hear her inspiring journey. We discuss drawing on location and the challenges, joys and oddities that come along with public working. Lucinda tells some great stories about working in new...

Here are five things we learned about creativity from Stephen Bliss. Illustrator and artist Stephen Bliss moved to America to take on a job with Rockstar Games. Nobody could have envisioned the explosion of controversy that was the Grand Theft Auto video game series.  I met Stephen in Brooklyn to talk about his journey pre-Rockstar, how it felt to be the man behind the cult video game artwork, and...

David Cohen, film director joins me to take us through The Lost Sands, his finalist movie in the Sci-fi London 48-hour film competition. See the film at: http://www.davidcohendirector.com/gallery-3/In a golden era of television and with mainstream movies reaching new levels of possibility, David pulls back the curtain to discuss what it takes to produce a film. He details the creative roles, what...