Here’s another fine young illustrator to have a look at – lovely line work and a strange sense of humour in the work of Amee Christian – who is seemingly incredibly prolific for someone so young, having illustrated for quite a few magazines and clients despite still being a student.

This is the way to do it, work your shit off, even if it’s for free while you can afford it. You end up with an impressive body of work, which I’m sure will see Amee in good stead for the future.

While up north last month one of the grads we met was Leeds-based design student Heather Bradley. She showed a suprisingly mature knowledge of type and layout in her branding work, even working with spatial designers to design spaces for the brands she was working on. Nice to see an editorial concept carried out over multiple issues too (and that’s a custom typeface, intriguingly titled squircle).

There was a bit of a buzz last month about the discovery of over 100,000 photos taken by a previously unknown amateur named Vivian Maier.  The vibrant photos of life on the streets of Chicago and New York were discovered in an auction when her storage locker was reclaimed due to missed payments.  Critics are saying that she could give renowned street photographers such as Robert Frank and Walker Evans a run for their money. A guy called John Maloof has been painstakingly scanning and cataloguing the work (he’s the guy with the dollar signs in his eyes in this lengthy video). He puts more up on his blog every few days, I’d recommend having a look.

The London Art Fair features a boat-load of modern British and contemporary art and is on til Sunday at the Business Design Centre in Islington.  I went along earlier today and was swamped by the amount and diversity of the artwork being displayed by galleries from around the world.  One of the exhibits featured work from the Catlin Guide (above), which is an annual, independently-curated book of the 40 most promising art graduates from all over the UK (it’s very nicely presented and smells great in case you were wondering).  According to Justin Hammond, the editor of the guide, it is really tough for new artists to get exposure or gallery space, particularly if they aren’t based in London.  He added that many graduates leave university ill-equipped for challenges such as pricing and promoting their work.  A familiar story for many of you design grads!

One of my favourite exhibits from the whole show was the rapidly ripening Bananaboat (below), by Jacob Dahlstrup Jensen, graduate of Glasgow School of Art, which was the centre-piece of the Catlin Guide collection.  I’ve put a few of my other favourite works from the fair up here.  Get down to Islington and see for yourself if you get the chance – some very famous artists featured (such as Magritte, Mattisse, Paolozzi, Hirst),  and the people-watching is tremendous!

This set of images was created by Aled Lewis, a gifted designer, illustrator and Threadless regular. He often works with pop culture imagery and his t-shirt designs have that “I wish I came up with that” quality: simple, witty images that work beautifully with the colour of the material.

There’s too much on Tom’s website to possibly put up on here but it’s safe to say he has a grasp on type and information graphics that has to be seen to be believed. This 2010 Falmouth grad is going places (though Falmouth is lovely), having already interned at Telegramme. Visit his website for much more delicious design…

Alreet, for the first of our 2011 grads we have Anna Waddell. Anna graduated from Nottingham Trent this year and has spent the rest of 2010 busy doing internships and freelance work. Nice stuff Anna!

In between sorting out crap for you guys to do (cue shameless plug for our BIG EVENT) and picking our noses, us here at ShellsuitZombie occasionally venture into the chasm of BS that is Twitter. It’s the tool you love and hate, like that potato-peeler with an uncomfortable grip that cuts so damn good*. And sometimes while sneaking around trying to tweet unnoticed we stumble upon a talented designer/illustrator like Shane.

This guy graduated only this year but his work shows a maturity beyond his years. With influences from Build to Non-Format, the Horndog** clearly knows his design, and we look forward to encountering him further in the future.

*note to self, never attempt another analogy. Ever.
** This name is Unapproved by Shane, but we like it.

Nanami Cowdroy is an Australian artist, with Japanese and European roots.  She has created these beautifully detailed and expressive drawings in mixed media, and is now exhibiting around the world.  For me, the inky style adds depth and movement to her subjects, and many of her creations provide a fresh take on traditional Japanese imagery.

In ’98, aged just 14, aspiring cartoonist Amir Avni wrote to his then hero and creator of the brilliant (if nightmare-inducing) Ren and Stimpy, John Kricfalusi. Above is one page of the extraordinary reply he got from the great animator, the rest of which can be read here. So inspirational was it that Amir, currently in his fourth year of studying animation, is rather good himself.

Skills like these should never die or become irrelevant in a digital age so it’s encouraging that there are still those willing to devote themselves to them. And if it means our children grow up watching beautifully rendered masochistic pets break each other, so be it.

Anthony Gormley is probably best known for the Angel of the North, but is also responsible for installations around the country often featuring a nude male sculptures, based on the artist’s own body.  His latest installation is in Jesus College, Cambridge, alongside work by Anthony Caro and Alselm Kiefer, and we have some exclusive snaps of the figures before and during erection (snigger).  I will update the pictures when the installation is complete, and maybe when the sun comes out.

Don’t jump!!

Sean Clarke is another falmouth student with an impressive portfolio. He dropped us a line to let us know about some new work, including above, a rather nice recent project to promote the university. He also worked with Tom Austin – who we featured here – in several projects, including my favourite, the ‘well done’ stickers (see below). Nice stuff Sean.

Jessica Allan is an illustrator living in Shoreditch, London. The more you look at her work, the more influences you see (my thoughts ranged from the Bayeux Tapestry to Mexican Luxador wrestlers). Use of fine line and intricate detail mean this work warrants a second look. Wicked.

Illustration graduate Mark Penman sent us his refreshing portfolio, largely consisting of quirky (and some dark!) images and characters.

He also has some comic work to show – go to www.m-d-penman.co.uk to see more.

More colourful stuff, this time from Southampton design grad Darren Whitney, AKA crayondreamer. Lots of collage and experimental stuff which is good for a gander. Also check out spot, the ‘guerilla street exhibition group’ to which he contributes.