I Have An Announcement...

Guys, it’s finally happening. After years of imagining that it MIGHT happen, it’s happening.  

As of Monday 2nd April 2018, I'LL BE FREELANCE BABAAAAAAAAAAAY!  

*FAN FAIR MARCHING*  

*CONFETTI FALLING*

*BABIES SMILING*

*KLAXONS KLAXONING*

*FISTS AIRPUNCHING*

So things have gotten a little crazy in Harwood HQ following a successful Christmas, and all at once my stars aligned when the perfect part time job at a coffee shop I love (just across the road too!) was offered to me - the time had finally come!

I’m leaving my lovely B&Q family after enjoying almost 3 years working in the design team, but I’m SUPER EXCITED to start my next chapter as a freelance Illutrator and Blogger. 

I’m starting a Freelance Series on my blog and potentially YouTube channel too, where I’ll share my journey and honest experiences from jumping into self employment, as well as how I got here, goals for the future and tips for fellow arty folk who hope to make the leap too. 

Thank you all so much for your support throughout the years. I couldn’t have made my dream come true (n’aaaw) if it wasn’t for you guys liking and commenting on my posts, buying products from my shop and even just saying hi at craft fairs, which gave me the confidence and motivation to continue my small business and to deep dive Pocahontas style into the madness and excitement that is freelance life.

I’ll be in touch soon! 

Amy x

Branding & Illustration | Raising Little Shoots

Earlier this year I was commissioned for a branding and illustration brief inspired by nature - my favourite subject!

I had to illustrate and design the front cover for two self published e-books inspired by nature and education. As well as the cover designs, I also created a typeface and a logo for their website.

I used my trusty gouache paints along with a little help from Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to digitalise the lettering and tidy up the painting. 

If you'd like to get in touch about a project for your own business, pop an email over to amyharwoodillustration@gmail.com

Wedding Stationery Design - Greg & Harriett

I had so much fun working on this bespoke wedding invitation suite for a couple who contacted  me about designing their stationery. Wedding stationery is a business that I've always wanted to delve into, so with a resounding yes and a few conversations about what they were looking for, I created the following design:

The brief was to illustrate the date of the wedding in a heart shape for one invite, and then two invitations for the guest's info within an illustrated border. The watercolour painting was done by hand with a lovely spring time colour palette, and hand brush-lettering for the date. Scanned into Photoshop, I adjusted the levels to make the colours extra vibrant and clear, and I artworked the guest info on the bordered invitations.

I used Printed.com (as I do with my greeting cards) to print the invitations on their gorgeous nettuno stock. The paper is textured so it's lovely to touch without interfering with the finish of the illustrations. I also ordered the A5 envelopes to match.

I thoroughly enjoyed working on this commission, not only because creating the artwork and designs is so much fun, but to contribute to a couple's special day is really cool! I hope to design a range of customisable designs for my online shop, as well as working on more bespoke, one-of-a-kind commissioned suites. 

If you're getting hitched or planning an event and would like to have a chat about a bespoke stationery design, say hello at amyharwoodillustration@gmail.com

Inspiration Trip - Natural History Museum, London

I'm happy to announce that I'm currently working on a picture book project! I can reveal imagery and details when we're ready to publish this Summer, and I can't wait to showcase not only my own work, but also the lovely writings of my collaborative partner! And on an even further exciting note, this story heavily features animals and nature - my favourite subject matter! So for a bit of research (and an excuse to hop on the train to London) I took an inspiration trip to the Natural History Museum.

I met with a friend and fellow illustrator/travel buddy Michael (check out his instagram) and after an amazing banana and oats breakfast smoothie from Natural Kitchen in Waterloo station, we were ready for our daring adventure to the most popular musuem in London - on a weekend. CHILDREN ERRYWHERE.

It was a a success though and I took lots of reference material for my new book characters, and it's always great to visit the dinosaurs of course.

I'll keep you posted on the book project, and now I've moved into my new home studio (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I can crack on properly in my own space (blog post / studio tour to follow when everything's in place!)

Amy :)