May Balls

I was secretly hoping I’d be asked to do the cover for the special May Ball edition of The Cambridge Student (The May Balls being the Cambridge University end of exam parties which take place in June – another quirk of this very old institution), but instead I was asked to do another cover for the magazine section, entitled Bridge. See my first attempt at doing one of these here.

The editor wanted a sort of ‘evolution of man’ illustration, depicting a line of students processing from the exam hall to the May Ball. The students leaving the exams were to look exhausted and depressed, but as they approached the May Ball they gradually assume more upright postures until they’re at the door bursting with new-found energy. Thinking about it, I should have included their deterioration during the night into droopy-eyed, grass-stained, beer-soaked inebriates, thereby completing the cycle of wretchedness.

Gender Agenda

Front cover for issue 2 of Genda Agenda, referencing a certain recent news story...

Pagan Punting

The Cambridge spring term is nearly upon us, which means TCS have started asking me for cartoons again. I had the time over the bank holiday weekend to add some colour to these drawings, the first of a pagan druid punting on the Cam, and the second of a couple whose pastimes are getting in the way of their relationship.

Make Insurance Funny

Quite a challenge I'm sure you'll agree.

These drawings were for an Insurance company who specialise in "high net worth individuals". They support the winner of the Young Cartoonist award each year by commissioning a drawing for their marketing material. A lot of the previous winners had set their cartoons in stately homes, so I wanted to steer clear of that and produce some cartoons in more unusual settings. Below are the 8 sketches I sent them, followed by the final cartoon based on the “Small Print” sketch. I hope you like them.

Cambridge Science Festival Badges

I designed these badges for the Cambridge Science Festival. They're for the Institute for Manufacturing (where I work).

Punishment

So, I've decided to follow Mr Rowson's advice and come up with more of my own cartoons. This series of cartoons was inspired by my friend Matthew's Facebook status update. We both love a good pun (I may add more later):

Bloody Students

I really enjoyed drawing this cartoon for TCS. The brief was to illustrate an article entitled "Do Arts students have an inferiority complex?". Having spent some time both at the Royal College of Art and the Physics department here in Cambridge, I had a good idea of the stereotypical students I wanted to draw. The geek is wearing a shirt with the phrase "All your base are belong to us" written on it - see here for an explanation.

This week I met with cartoonist Martin Rowson to discuss my work - a real privilege. He was great and made some suggestions about who I might want to contact and what direction I should take my work in. He also got me incredibly drunk so I should probably use the experience as the subject of a cartoon. Watch this space.