BA (Hons) Illustration for Commercial Application students have been working on a live brief with international publishing company Headline Publishing to create cover art for one of the company’s collection of best-selling books for the course’s new Publish module.

Following a workshop and brief from Headline the students set out to create new covers for the publications Frida by Claire Berest, Firepower by Mir Benitz and Recipes from the Rum Island by Shivi Ramoutar. Founded in 1984 Headline has spent over three decades creating books people want to read and this is the second year the publication house has successfully worked with the School’s Illustration students offering their expertise and the opportunity to gain valuable feedback and contacts in the process.

Amy Cox, Deputy Art Director at Headline said “We were so excited to work with the The Northern School of Art for the second year running, especially as part of their new Publish module. At Headline Design we aim to change the story by actively seeking connections with designers and illustrators with different perspectives and ideas so our publishing can be fully reflective of the society we live in. It’s important for us to establish and maintain long-term relationship with universities and colleges, especially outside of London.”

“Alice and Caroline from Headline did an amazing job running a practical workshop with the students and offering individual feedback. The Headline team absolutely loved seeing the final covers come through, I’m so impressed by the individuality and creativity shown by the students. I can’t quite believe that they are still at the start of their careers, I’m sure it won’t be long until we’re looking to commission them…!  We’re looking forward to running 1-1 portfolio reviews soon and we can’t wait to see where this collaboration will go next.”

Illustration student Emily Nunn explains: “For the Headline brief, they gave us three books we could choose from and look into, they were Frida, Firepower and Recipes from the Rum Islands. I chose to look into Recipes from the Rum Islands for my module, using the brief I decided to make my cover bright and covered in different foods exampled on the brief. I went through several different ideas, from Headline’s feedback it was suggested that I choose the idea I had sketched out that later became my final.”

Emily reflected, “Some feedback I was given was to change the blurb, develop type, make it bold, make the text easier to read and that my original concept wasn’t appetising to look at. Taking this feedback, I then changed my idea changing the original bottle to a bowl, adding movement with the food, and making my blurb and text clearer and more interesting.”

“Meeting with students was a great experience,” said Headline Designer Alice Clark. “Not only was their work of a high standard but they were also very confident in presenting and showing their creative thinking – key skills for going into the creative industries. Their enthusiasm for the briefs was infectious, and they took the covers in directions I never thought of – it was really refreshing. I’m excited to see how they build on the feedback we gave them and to work with them and The Northern School of Art again in the future.”

“It was fantastic meeting with the students and seeing their work in response to the briefs we set,” agreed Headline Art Director Caroline Priestley. “There is such a wealth of ideas and talent, and I loved hearing the students share their ideas. I left feeling inspired, and I look forward to seeing the students’ portfolios develop over their course. I hope to collaborate with some of the students on commercial projects in the near future!”

Reflecting on the brief overall Emily said: “This brief was fun to do, and I found learning about the layouts and how to put a cover together interesting. At first, I was unsure how I was going to make a cover and had no clue how to do it but after a few lectures, feedback, and workshops I quickly gained confidence.”

The author of Fire Power one of the books selected for the brief, Mir Benitz, responded to the students work for his book positively commenting, “I seriously could not love this more. The joy of intersecting art forms is something else. I adore the way that each one has its own flavour, giving a little glimpse into the artists themselves. What a delight!”

Lastly, Publishing Director Lindsey Evans said: “Such incredible work. I absolutely loved seeing the different approaches for Recipes From the Rum Islands. What a talented bunch of students!”

Live briefs like this underpin the School’s Illustration degree which is centered on reflecting the the industry that students will be entering after graduation. Speaking about her degree Emily said: “I find the course really helpful; I’m constantly learning new things that greatly help me even outside of coursework and in my own work. Any advice I’d give is that this course opens up loads of door and opportunities into many different paths, you learn a lot quickly, but it always looks harder than it actually is.”

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