An award-winning illustrator from Preston is set to launch an online shop selling her beautiful, bright illustrations, as well as holding a pop-up shop at her forthcoming exhibition. Erin Jones of Studio Jonesy has built up a loyal following on Instagram with her fresh and fun fashion illustrations depicting her stylish characters in glamourous European locations from the 1960s and 70s. As well as illustrating and selling prints and postcards the talented illustrator has also recently designed the cover of a new novel for teens. We wanted to find out more.

I love your fun, stylish illustrations, where do you draw inspiration from?

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Thank you so much! I’ve always been inspired by anime and have been drawing characters since primary school. Over my time at UCLan, I’ve got more into fashion illustration, especially from the 1960s and 1970s. My favourite artists are Ai Yazawa, Brian Lee O’Malley, Antonio Lopez, Aya Takano, Seiichi Hayashi, and Andy Warhol.

You’ve created some really cool, chic fashion illustrations, featuring famous designer collections – do you have a particular designer or era that you are fond of?

I love 90’s runway fashion particularly made by brands like Dior, Chanel, Alaia, and Versace, it makes up most of my fashion Pinterest board which I use for illustration inspiration. My favourite designers are Anna Sui, Miu Miu, Versace, Alice McCall, Casablanca, and Dolce and Gabbana.

When did you first develop a love of illustration?

I know it’s cliché but as soon as I can remember, my hobby as a child was drawing and it’s always been a part of my life. In school, I’d draw in lessons and at break, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else as a career.

How has your style developed over time?

I’ve always liked to draw girls and fashion, but I think over time you get new inspirations and try new techniques and that shapes your art. Being on an illustration degree definitely helped me find what I liked and pushed me to try new things.

You are close to completing a Masters in Lifestyle and Fashion Promotion, what sort of projects have you enjoyed working on?

Well, my Masters has focused on rebranding my print shop, I’ve had an Etsy shop for years so I wanted to build off of it and make it better. We have to do an end-of-year exhibition on the 5 September so I’m using my space as a pop-up shop to celebrate the launch.

You have won a number of awards, tell me a bit about those.

So, the first award I won was for my collaboration with Dom Dzik and Ryan Boyes for their graphic design brief, they came up with the idea of a Haitian-inspired rum brand called Baron’s Blood and they wanted me to do a wraparound illustration for the bottle, we won a Dieline student award in 2021 but we’ve also won further awards for the design since.

Where can we buy your work?

You’ll be able to buy my work in my online shop on my website when it launches. I’ve done a number of markets recently but I’m on a break to focus on my Masters. I’ll be doing some seasonal ones later this year.

What sort of commissions do you take on?

I’ve completed packaging design, pattern design, and illustrations for publishing. In fact, I will be working on a new book cover soon, I’d love to be able to do a variety of commission work in the future.

You are going to be releasing some new designs soon, tell us a bit about what you have coming up.

My new prints will keep my fun and colourful aesthetic, but they will also have a theme of well-being by using colour psychology to enhance different rooms of the house, for example, a blue and green print would go great in the bathroom as the colours are calming but also fresh. Of course, the prints can go anywhere you’d like, and I’ll be making some card packs and festive products after the launch.

My online shop launch on my website will be on the 2 September. My pop-up shop will be at the Masters degree show at the University of Central Lancashire, the exhibition will be open to the public from 5 September to 5 October.

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Stay up to date with Erin’s latest illustrations and news, follow Studio Jonesy on Instagram and connect with Studio Jonesy on Linked In.

Look out for Studio Jonesy’s shop launching on her website.