Paul Blow is the winner of the V&A Illustration Award in Advertising and Commercial, 2024. He won for his album cover for indie band The Chesterfields New Modern Homes (Mr Mellow’s Music 2022). Our judges loved how he managed to convey a story with just two images. The outer sleeve shows a ‘ten foot tall’ man looking through the windows of a sleek modern house, but nobody is home. The inner sleeve shows the same house but this time at night, with a woman looking out from the balcony. The two have missed each other – in the right place but at the wrong time. We asked Paul about how he approached the project and about his work as an illustrator.
Congratulations on winning the Advertising and Commercial category of the V&A Illustration Awards 2024! Could, you tell us a bit more about your project with the Chesterfields? How did you get involved?
I had worked with Simon Barber (bass player and vocalist) in the past, for his arts magazine, Evolver. In 2022 he approached me because he was reforming The Chesterfields, an indie band that were the darlings of the NME in the 1980’s, and he needed an album cover for New Modern Homes, which they had just written and recorded. I was given free reign and asked to come up with visuals for the new songs.
Paul’s winning entry, cover (left) and inner sleeve (right) to the Chesterfields album New Modern Homes © Paul Blow
Our judges were intrigued by the story you managed to tell in just two images. Can you tell us a bit about your creative approach to the project? What inspired you?
I enjoy listening to music whilst I work and took great pleasure in listening to the entire album on repeat whilst working out thumbnail ideas in my sketch book. A lyric and musical hook that jumped out for me was the line “Feeling 10 feet tall.” Taking this visual cue, I was able to expand a narrative which included other elements from the album title and my own visual quirks and come up with a modern house, set within a lush jungle or wood, with a 10 foot tall man looking in- searching for what? I knew that I could repeat the image on the inside sleeve but needed to change the narrative again and so simply changed the time of day and reversed the love story.
I always like to subvert and add absurdity to my work to create a narrative which is subjective. I am fascinated by the ways in which people bring their own narratives and ideas and intertwine them with my work.
You have been working in illustration for the last twenty years, since before the dawn of ‘all things digital’ yet this work was produced entirely digitally. Can you talk to us about that. How did the transition to digital come about?
It’s a strange idea that I belong to a generation which straddles both the analogue and digital world. My wife and I have two children who are continually asking what it was like before we had computers and how wonderful it must have been! I think every generation looks back to a bygone age and tends to romanticise it, I did the same with the 50’s and 60’s – oh to have lived through those times!
In the early noughties I hungrily adopted the computer and especially photoshop, as it offered a whole new way of creating work. At the time I worked with paint and masking film in a time-consuming process that meant if I wanted to change something, it could take a whole day to re-paint it and do it again. Once I had a computer and a scanner, I was able to scan my work and change it digitally which had a huge impact on my working process. It freed up my time and unshackled me from my own limitations. At first, I tried to emulate my painting work but soon realised that this was a fool’s errand, I simply needed to embrace the new tech and see where it would take me.
Early rough digital sketches, in a different colourway © Paul Blow
What advantages and challenges does working digitally bring to projects?
After a fire in 2018 that burnt our studio to the ground, I had to start from scratch. I soon realised that I could create everything I needed directly onto the screen and suddenly I was able to work fast and intuitively much like I did when I painted. For me there is no difference except that I’m faster, which in-turn suits the fast-paced editorial world in which I work.
I knew I didn’t want to be a Technical Illustrator or a Natural History Illustrator…
When did you know you wanted to be an illustrator?
I was studying Graphic Design at college and I knew I didn’t want to be a Technical Illustrator (exploded views of tractor engines) or a Natural History Illustrator (fluffy bunnies) but we had a lecturer who taught illustration, which meant anything you liked and wanted to draw. Before that I simply didn’t know the job existed, which seems absurd now, but I really was very naive at the time – this was 1988, just for context.
What inspired you to make that leap and pursue it as a profession?
At the same college in 1988 we had a visiting illustrator come from America to give a lecture. Bear in mind that at that time my kind of illustration was only being taught within the confines of ‘Graphic Design’ and there were only 3 of us who were interested, on a course of 40 graphic designers. However, the lecture theatre was absolutely rammed and we had to stand in the aisles to see this illustrator’s talk. I think the entire college tried to get in to see him. I was completely baffled by this. Who was this illustrator and why did he draw such a huge crowd? It was none other than Brad Holland and his lecture and work opened a new door in my mind. I saw a whole other career open up before me. Here was an illustrator who was seen as an equal to the writers he worked with and was seen as a collaborator and equal to any other creatives, producing work that filled the New York Times and many, many, more publications – front covers and double page spreads. The work was so strong and powerful you could not ignore it. I think it is fair to say I had an epiphany. Illustration: 1 / Graphic Design: 0.
How would you describe your style?
Always a tricky question, do I have a style? I’m not sure. I think in this business you need to be identified by your style, but as I progress through my career, I think it’s important to change and adapt and try new ways of working be it imagery, techniques or ideas. I like to challenge myself as much as possible.
Which of your projects has been an important factor in developing your personal style?
Gosh! Big question. I think the context for my work often plays a role in defining my style. An album cover and poster will make me think more cinematically, whereas a book cover might alter my view, and I would approach the project more graphically. A double page spread in a newsprint magazine may force me to think more poetically depending on the subject. I think it is important for an illustrator to respond to the context and the content of the commission. Ultimately you get job satisfaction when you find a creative way to resolve those problems.
To finish – a few quick fire questions! What projects have you been working on recently?
Twenty murals in a huge Las Vegas restaurant – sadly I’ve not yet been invited to see them in situ. But I am available!
What will you be doing next?
Three short stories of a US Literary magazine. I do love a narrative based image.
What would be your dream project?
Cover for the New Yorker.
Finally – what is the most useful piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
The great Paul Davis didn’t give this advice to me directly, but I always refer to it in my mind. “You are not alone: we hate your latest work too.”
Ha ha! We are sure that isn’t true! Thankyou so much for taking the time to share your insights with us Paul. We will keep our fingers crossed for that New Yorker cover for you.
You can see more of Paul’s work at BLOW – Paul Blow and @paulyblow
All the winning entries from the V&A Illustration Awards 2024 can be seen in a display at the V&A until September 2025.
