D.R. ink
(D. R. ink illustrated Chiff Chaff and Chick Pea: In Search of Sounds and designed the Music Start resource)
The D and R in D. R. ink are Emil Dacanay and Sian Rance. They met at Edinburgh College of Art, where they both studied illustration, and worked on a range of individual projects before eventually reuniting at graphic design company Wherefore Art? They set up their creative partnership in 2004, working out of a small studio in north London. Recent commissions include artwork for Elton John's album Captain and the Kid, the design for Gerald Scarfe's forthcoming book Monsters (Little Brown) and various book covers including the hardback jacket for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday (W&N). Working together they created the original illustrations and designs for Music Start, which is the most fun they've had in ages. Their son Theo was the inspiration for Chickpea and they're looking forward to reading the book with him.
How did you get involved with the Music Start resource?
We met up with Sophie (Mathias), the project manager who was quite interested in meeting up with us as we could offer her a number of different skills. We had a lot of contacts with book printers, we were graphic designers and we also did illustration. Partly because the time frame of the project was so tight, it was useful to have a company that could provide all aspects of print, production and design in one bag as it were. We met up with Sophie and had a good conversation, then sent her a portfolio of graphic designs and illustrations, which she was very happy with - that was just fantastic.
What did Youth Music ask you to do for the Music Start resource?
In the early stages, Miriam (Moss) hadn't actually written the story yet, so we knew the gist of it, i.e. that there was going to be a character, but it hadn't even been confirmed as a bird at that point. There was the idea that this character would visit various different countries and that the artwork and the music would reflect the character of those countries. That essentially was the brief we had.
What did you enjoy most about working on the project?
It was so varied - firstly it was a really nice team to work with because everyone was totally up for it and there was a lot of energy and enthusiasm for it. What I particularly enjoyed was the fact that we did indeed get to do the whole thing i.e. the graphics, the illustrations, project managing it etc. The very first thing we did was to create the logo - that was quite difficult because it was so early on. In a way it was quite useful, as we had to jump into the pool with both feet as it were, and just start motoring with it. Once we created that logo, everything else was built up around it.
What gave you the inspiration for the illustrations?
Bizarrely enough, both my partner Emil and I studied illustration at Edinburgh College of Art, and I'd been drawing little cartoon birds since I was a kid myself. I'd been drawing them for my own satisfaction in the past but hadn't done so for a number of years, and then this project came up and it was decided that a bird was indeed going to be the lead man! It was just a happy coincidence that we already knew how we wanted to draw it. In terms of the illustrations themselves, we use Photoshop an awful lot, which was how the artwork was eventually created. All the drawing and the artwork was initially drawn the conventional way and then scanned in, and colour applied. The positioning etc was all done by computer.
How do you share the workload as a team at D.R. ink?
We actually worked together for quite a long time after university, before we became partners outside of work, so the work relationship was already well established. Because we've been working together for so long, it's just something that happens fairly organically. I took the lead on creating the bird, and Emil did the majority of work on the backgrounds. We're very used to sharing projects and whoever's skills are more suited to the project will take the lead. With Youth Music, the project was pretty much 50/50 all the way through.
What would you say was the biggest challenge about the project?
The timeline! We had three months for the project which was tight, and that was partly why it was very useful that everyone worked together in a very positive manner. Sophie, the project manager was fantastic and the people at Youth Music were very supportive.
If you were Chickpea, where would you travel to next?!
Well I'm about to go to China for another project, but I think if I could choose I'd like to go to Spain, which Chickpea didn't visit! It would be nice if Chickpea had other adventures!
For more information about D. R. ink, visit:
http://www.d-r-ink.com.
Youth Music
Youth Music exists to facilitate and fund high quality and diverse musical experiences for young people up to the age of 18, particularly those living in areas of social and economic need.