Niki in her studio close to Jindabyne, Australia © Niki Fisher
Illustrator Niki Fisher is not any stranger to illustrating Lonely Planet titles – The Cruise Handbook is the fifth one she’s illustrated. We caught up together with her to learn the way she designed the colourful cowl web page and the way this ties in with earlier illustrations for a similar collection.
Inform us concerning the transient
The transient was to create a canopy that depicted the vary of actions obtainable on cruises in addition to the broad age teams that cruises entice as of late. I used to be given strategies from the Artwork Director, however other than that, the transient was fairly open.
How did you make a begin?
I began by doing a little bit of analysis on-line, discovering out concerning the big number of actions on supply on cruise traces – it was really fairly an eyeopener. I’d by no means have imagined that there are whole water parks, tennis courts and mountaineering partitions on a whole lot of these big ships! As soon as I had collated a spread of actions and well-liked cruise locations I began doing a little tough pencil sketches of particular person scenes. As soon as I had a number of sketches achieved I began to position them on the web page subsequent to one another and work out a composition.
Have been there any challenges?
It’s a little bit of trial and error understanding what scenes go properly facet by facet, guaranteeing that every of the scenes was robust in isolation in addition to collectively working in concord within the total illustration. Additionally, contemplating how the illustration goes to tie in with the title could be a bit like a recreation of Tetris.
What’s the one merchandise in your studio you’ll be able to’t dwell with out?
That’s arduous, out of necessity I couldn’t do with no pencil. I may all the time draw on the partitions or another floor if I needed to. I like working in a really sunlit area. Having a number of pot vegetation in my studio in addition to a inexperienced wall helps create an phantasm of the outside which helps to make my workspace a cheerful place.
How did you get into illustrating books?
The primary e-book cowl I ever illustrated was The Solo Journey Handbook for Lonely Planet, and I am now engaged on my fifth new title. Ebook covers are a extremely satisfying factor to work on, a whole lot of the work I do is editorial which may be very conceptual and the precise illustrating is one thing I do proper on the finish as soon as the idea is sound. A e-book cowl requires a whole lot of course of for it to come back collectively, which is commonly one thing that isn’t afforded on quick turnaround jobs.
The place on the earth do you often work from?
I work from my residence which is a small cottage within the Snowy Mountains of Australia, simply outdoors of Jindabyne. I dwell with my accomplice and two sons. We moved right here from Melbourne final yr, we wished a number of area for our youngsters to develop up in and discover.
See extra of Niki’s work at @nikifisherdesign.
Niki’s illustrations
The primary tough sketch for the structure of the quilt
Draft sketch of a bass participant
Closing illustration of the bass participant
Sketch of couple dancing
Closing of couple dancing
The ultimate structure of the quilt web page with out the title textual content
