Stanley Chow – Featured illustrator

Stanley Chow Was Born And Raised In Manchester, England, Where He Currently Resides. He Began His Career In 1997, Mainly As A Fashion Illustrator And Storyboard Artist, And Has Become One Of The Most Highly Respected And Established Artists In The UK, Working Across A Platform Of Media In Advertising, Design, Publishing, Packaging, Gaming, Animation And Interactive. Recently He Has Been Diligently Working On His First Love: Cartoons And Caricatures, And His Design For The White Stripes USB Memory Stick Was Nominated For A Grammy Award.

36-year-old Manchester, England-based Stanley Chow Has Been Working As An Illustrator Since He Left Art School Fifteen Years Back. While DJing At Clubs, He Began Designing Posters For Them. Later He Joined Illustration Agencies Like The Central Illustration Agency In London And The New York Agency Bernstein & Andriulli To Represent Him.

The Primary Thing You’ll Notice About Chow’s Illustrations Is That There’s A Retro Effect In Them. It Comes From His Keen Interest In Old Things, Including Music. He Says, “When I DJ, I Still Use Vinyl. I Don’t Really Listen To Modern Music. I Find Most Music Recorded After 1977 Difficult To Like, And That’s Pretty Much The Core Of Why My Work Has Retro Leanings. I Guess I’m Just Quite Obsessed With Things From The 60’s And 70‘s.”

If Chow’s Work Seems Recognizable, You May Remember Him As The One Who Made The Coolest Mad Men Posters You Ever Saw. He Mainly Uses Adobe Illustrator. He Says He Has Now Bypassed The Need To Draw A Sketch Before Transferring It Onto A Computer. It’s Straight To The Mouse. Here Is His Piece Of Advice As He Said In An Interview For Aspiring Illustrators: “The Advice That I Always Give To Aspiring Illustrators Is That You Have To Work Hard. You Can Be The Most Gifted Artist, But The Harder Working Artist Will Always Do Better. I’ve Always Been Taught 99% Perspiration, 1% Inspiration. You Have To Be Flexible Too, In Terms Of Illustrating Things You Don’t Want To Illustrate, 90% Of The Time You Will Be Asked To Do Something You Don’t Want To But It’s These Things That Are The Bread And Butter Of An Illustrator. Once You’ve Illustrated Something You Don’t Like, Illustrate Something Else For Yourself That You Do Like.

This Helps Build A Big Body Of Work And The People Who Are Most Likely Commission You, Like Variety As Much As Quality.”

Here Are His Works For Your Inspiration.