AOI: Inside Illustration - Children's Publishing with an Educational Focus

29 June 2023

As part of The AOI's Inside Illustration series, Beehive agents, Ellie and Rhiannon were asked to be guest speakers on the latest online session - Children's Publishing with a focus on education, hosted by illustrator, Dave Bain.

The focal point of the talk was children's fiction and educational publishing, with a spotlight on how to get into each market, what to include in your portfolio, clients, and fee and contract expectations.

The session gave the viewer the opportunity to participate in one of two briefs, where ideas can then be discussed with other fellow illustrators in an informal setting:

Brief 1: Sketch an illustration for a History based educational publication depicting an Elizabethan character (female or male) standing outside a castle. The character's costume should be as accurate as possible. And the castle should be based on a real castle in the UK that existed in the Elizabethan era, 1558-1603 (the castle could have been built in an earlier period)

Brief 2: Sketch an illustration of a person or pair of people at work, that clearly shows the type of work they do. Think about what tools or equipment they might be using. Do they wear a uniform or operate a vehicle? A work setting could be included to further help illustrate their occupation.

We are really looking forward to seeing how the illustrators have responded to the brief which will be showcased on The AOI's social channels.

Rhiannon says: "It was a privilege to be invited to speak at this event by the AOI. With over 30 years of combined experience between us, it was nice to reflect on everything that we have learnt during our time in the industry, and share this with an audience of illustrators keen to understand more about the educational market especially."

"A big thanks to the AOI for their superb hosting and as always their continued support for illustrators across all sectors. We hope everyone in attendance found it insightful, this was something that we really enjoyed being part of."