Annie Wu

Born in 1988. Escaped the sunny clutches of central Florida to roam the slightly more grey city of Baltimore. Graduated magna cum laude from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in Illustration (2010).

Spends days drawing, writing, or agonizing over past awkward social interactions that no one else remembers. Needs to find a less time-consuming way to render hair (but at least it looks nice). Would like to make things for your eyeballs.

If there is a designer and illustrator out there whose Design Practice I would like to emulate it's Annie Wu.








Work has been recognized by Spectrum 17, the Society of Illustrators 2009 Student Competition, American Illustration TRIBUTE, and Adult Swim for a few weird seconds. Clients include DC Comics, ELLE Magazine, Lacrosse Magazine, Coca-Cola Brazil and others.

Annie Wu!

JLA

Annie Wu redesigned the Justice League for Warren Ellis’ No Future Remake/Remodel: Malcolm McLaren’s JUSTICE LEAGUE challenge, whereas the prompt is to simply re-envision the Justice League as the cast of a film by Malcolm McLaren (circa 1977).

“There are a few bits I especially enjoy, like Wonder Woman’s stockings and Batman’s t-shirt.” - Annie Wu

The Flash (the drummer) - I really love the lightning bolt on the lapel of his long red trenchcoat… I really want to print a lightning bolt on a red blazer now.

Superman (the guitarist) - I actually like how simplistic this is - the hints of red in his outfit are enough to get the point across, plus you can see the subtle “S” scar across his chest.

Wonder Woman (the lead singer) - Words cannot express how awesome she looks. Those stockings, that dress, the golden lasso/microphone - Gaga approves.

Batman (the bassist) - On a side note, I hope he plays the bass with tiny Batarang-shaped picks.

Aquaman (Groupie?) - I love his glovelets. Except when he’s getting puke all over them.

Needless to say, I would totally see this film.

Thank Goodness for Herald Owlett

I met Nikki Stu at Thought Bubble comic con this November just gone. I was on a break before I had to go and shoo the cosplayers out of the royal armories and was wandering past her little store when these caught my eyes:


They're insane and quirky, just what I like in my small press comics and Nikki herself was kind enough to just talk with me. She does this in her spare time while working full time to pay those pesky bills. Through going to conventions she's met some other fabulous artists and comic creators which has allowed her network (and on a bonus, get to those cons cheaper)

I also personally want to say a big thank you too her (which I've already done, but it's nice to re-enforce it) because if it wasn't for Nikki, then Hand Drawn Awesome may have never spotted me. We're both now featured on the website and consider it a bit of a privilege to be with her on that front.

The Great Perhaps

The Great Perhaps, design by Jamie Keenan:


I've seen this floating around for the past year and it is a design that's been stuck in my head for a while. I like the overlapping features and this is a design I want to carry through into my comic novel covers. Especially the fantastic four cover as the characters powers deeper. Being a comic reader, I know more about their powers and how they came across them but this isn't put across in the movie. hopefully I'll be able to explore that through a similar design.

Differnt Cover, Same Book

One of my favourite books is Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, which has been recently adapted for English speaking audiences in the form of Let Me In. I wanted to show the different book designs that have come about for this novel and how the film industry affects their design.

First book design as well as the original Swedish cover. It gives this eerie feeling of what the book is about as well as loosely illustrating one of the most prominent scenes in the book.

I belive this one is the original English translation cover and the girl on the front doesn't really convey the main vampire character. If you know the story, then you know why putting a girl with creepy eyes on the front doesn't really work.

Another English cover which I have yet to see on the shelves. This one give a better feeling for the book.
The version I have...and I really don't like it. This one was released just after the sweedish version of the film came out:

I think it's the shadow of Eli in the doorway that looks slightly awkward. I know they were trying to convey a weak looking image of Eli and then the shadow show's what it truly is.

Now this, I love! I'm probably biased because it's illustrated but this one would grab my attention more than the other covers. Unfortunately, I don't think its actually a book cover. Which is a shame.


And the latest one based on Let Me In. I actually prefer the version I have over this one because when I read a book, I like to imagine the characters myself. I don't want to be influenced by the characters portraying them. However, I'm under the assumption this cover relates to one of my previous posts using still's and movie posters on book designs. They're designed for the niche market who buys the book after seeing the film.

Donnie Darko

Powl Goudsmit is a graphic designer from Germany and I found this while browsing through Behance. Even though it is a DVD design, it still has that feel of a book cover and even goes as far as shining a different light onto Donnie Darko. (A film which is usually seen as...dark)

Folio Society

My "outsider" brief is a competition brief set up by the House of Illustration and the Folio society. The Folio Society itself are about creating editions of some of the most beloved books in literature. However, I'm also looking into book design for my Contemporary "comic" books brief.

This is my favourite Folio Society books. The colours represent the feel of the story as a whole and the illustrations are fun to look at.

What I admire about the Folio Society is that their books do not all look the same or follow a uniformed design. However, there is a great sense that the books have all come from the same place and that quality is a major factor in their designs.