I was fortunate enough to get in contact with Rod Hunt, freelance london based artist who has successfully represented the likes of BBC, Maxim, FHM, Orange and Vodafone..
As well as the cover art for widespread publication ‘change the world 9 to 5’
We have been kindly given a taste of Rod’s retro styled isometric work along with a bit of background and some great advice for up and coming artists.
Rod stresses the importance of knowing your rights as a working artist, along with the need to just get out there and show your stuff to the world.
So without further ado, the much appreciated and insightful interview with Mr Rod Hunt!
DT: Tell us a little about yourself, where are you from and where are you living now?
RH: I’m a London based Illustrator/designer who has built a reputation for retro tinged Illustrations & detailed character filled landscapes with UK & international clients in publishing, design, advertising & new media, for everything from book covers to advertising campaigns, & even the odd large scale installation too!
Some of my many clients include Barclays, BBC, Computer Arts Magazine, Dorling Kindersley, The Economist, FHM, Maxim, The Observer, Orange & Vodafone
Originally I was from rural town of Bridport, in the country of Dorset, UK. For the last 12 years I’ve lived in Greenwich, London.
I’m also currently Deputy Chairman of UK The Association of Illustrators. The AOI was established in 1973 to advance and protect illustrator’s rights and encourage professional standards
DT: When did you realise you wanted to work as an artist full time?
RH: I was always a prolific drawer as a kid, but didn’t consider art as a career until I was 17. Originally I was planning on pursuing Biochemistry & horticulture, & was studying towards that. I thought studying art was just for fun. But the realisation grew on me that I wasn’t really enjoying it [bio/horticulture] any more & as I spent all my time drawing, art college beckoned.
After a one year foundation course at Bournemouth & Poole College of Art & Design, I studied Illustration at Anglia Polytechnic University (now Anglia Ruskin University), Cambridge.
I became a full time illustrator in 1996 when I decided to move to London to be closer to potential clients. These were the days before the internet was prevalent, so the only way to show clients work was to post out sample postcards or take your
portfolio to them! Before that I spent the 2 years in Nottingham working on my portfolio & learning about the industry. My work today is very different to how it used to be then, as I used to paint my work in acrylics.
DT: What people places or things inspire you?
RH:I draw much of my inspiration from humour, retro graphics & contemporary culture. Comics were my big love as a kid, especially 2000AD/Judge Dredd, & that fired my imagination & inspired me to draw.
Things that inspire me, in no particular order:
Edward Hopper
comics
2000AD/Judge Dredd
pulp fiction covers
sci-fi
Terry Gilliam
Tim Burton
robot toys
retro 50’s/60’s/70’s advertising & graphics
architecture
animation
film
Mad magazine
DT: What are your most used ‘tools of the trade’?
RH:All my work is produced digitally, but before I go near the computer I start doodling ideas and compositions in an A5 sketchbook with a pencil or biro. These are very quick and throwaway. Once I worked out the rough idea and composition & gathered any visual reference I might need, I work on a larger finished pencil drawing, which I then use as a guide for drawing the final artwork with a graphics tablet in Adobe Illustrator.
DT: What are you working on at the moment?
RH:I’m currently working on the visitors site map for one of the UK’s main theme parks, & also illustrating a whole book for a major BBC TV show.
DT: Could you explain the inspiration between ‘dreams and nightmares’?
RH:The piece Dreams & Nightmares was an illustrated Shin Tanaka paper sculpture the InkThis exhibition of the same name. I wanted to have the piece being like a mixed up dream, with threats hiding in the shadows. Like a child in their bedroom at night in the dark with only their teddy bear to protect them.
DT: What has been your favourite commission to date?
RH:My favourite commissions have been the cover for the best selling environmental book Change The World 9 to 5 by We Are What We Do & the interactive environmental display for the Lightbox Museum & Gallery in Woking, UK. The Lightbox display was particularly challenging due to it’s complexity & scale.
DT: What’s the best and worst parts of being a full time, working designer?
RH:The best parts are getting that unexpected enquiry to work on a great commission. Being freelance means that you don’t usually know what’s coming week to week, so the next project enquiry could be a big surprise! Also I like being in charge of my own destiny & career.
The worst parts are when the phone doesn’t ring for a few weeks, & also the increasing amount of unreasonable contracts & copyright grabs from some clients that I have to deal with.
DT: Any advice to up and coming artists/designers?
RH: Get out there and get your work seen by as many people as possible. You should never be afraid to show people your work. You maybe the best designer/illustrator in the world, but if no one sees your work, you won’t get commissioned
I’d recommend joining the UK Association of Illustrators (AOI). http://www.theaoi.com (or a similar organization elsewhere). They’re constantly campaigning to protect all illustrator’s rights, and if you need advice on pricing commissions, contracts, promotion, etc, it really pays to get help from the experts.
Maintain control over your Copyright in your Illustrations. There are very few occasions that clients need to own the Copyright in your work. Your body of work is your livelihood, and you should be entitled to the financial benefits of your talent and hard work.
A huge thanks to Rod for showing us some of his work and also for the words of wisdom!
It’s really very complicated in this active life to listen news on Television, therefore I simply use the web for that reason,
and get the latest information.
Hi there would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re using?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different web browsers and I must say this
blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you recommend a good hosting provider at a honest
price? Thanks, I appreciate it!
Sand blasting creates this floor profile.
Thanks in favor of sharing such a pleasant idea, paragraph is good,
thats why i have read it entirely
After checking outlooking atlooking intolooking overexploringgoing over a few of thea number of thea handful of the blog postsblog articlesarticles on your websiteweb sitesiteweb pageblog, I trulyI reallyI honestlyI seriously like yourappreciate your way oftechnique of bloggingwriting a blog. I bookmarkedsavedbook markedbook-markedaddedsaved as a favorite it to my bookmark websitesitewebpage list and will be checking back soonin the near future. Please check outTake a look atPlease visit my web sitewebsite as welltoo and let me knowtell me what you thinkhow you feelyour opinion.
Undeniably believe that which you stated. Your favorite reason appeared
to be on the net the simplest thing to be aware of.
I say to you, I definitely get irked while people consider
worries that they just don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without
having side effect , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more.
Thanks
After checking outlooking atlooking intolooking overexploringgoing over a few of thea number of thea handful of the blog postsblog articlesarticles on your websiteweb sitesiteweb pageblog, I trulyI reallyI honestlyI seriously like yourappreciate your way oftechnique of bloggingwriting a blog. I bookmarkedsavedbook markedbook-markedaddedsaved as a favorite it to my bookmark websitesitewebpage list and will be checking back soonin the near future. Please check outTake a look atPlease visit my web sitewebsite as welltoo and let me knowtell me what you thinkhow you feelyour opinion.
I always used to read article in news papers but now as I am a user
of web so from now I am using net for articles or reviews, thanks to web.
Hi, everything is going well here and ofcourse every
one is sharing facts, that’s genuinely excellent, keep up writing.
I enjoyI likeI loveI quite likeI really like readingreading throughlooking through a postan article that will makethat can make peoplemen and women think. Also, thanks forthank you formany thanks for allowingallowing forpermitting me to comment!
Thanks for finally talking about > design tavern » Rod Hunt – Freelance Illustrator and artist behind
‘Change the world 9 to 5′ < Liked it!
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your site.
Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues?
A small number of my blog readers have complained about my blog not working correctly
in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any advice to help fix this issue?
Every weekend i used to go to see this site, because i want enjoyment, for
the reason that this this web site conations actually good funny
material too.
Hi there! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha
plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform
as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one?
Thanks a lot!
I’ve been having issues with my Windows hosting. It has set me back quite a bit while making the next list. This is the current list that I have. I should add another list in less than a week. I’ll let you all know when the next list is ready. Thank you for your patience.
An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this
onto a colleague who had been conducting a little homework on this.
And he in fact bought me lunch due to the fact that I stumbled upon it for him…
lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending some time to talk about this topic
here on your site.
You are a very smart person!
HolaHey thereHiHelloGreetings! I’ve been followingreading your siteweb sitewebsiteweblogblog for a long timea whilesome time now and finally got the braverycourage to go ahead and give you a shout out from New CaneyKingwoodHuffmanPorterHoustonDallasAustinLubbockHumbleAtascocita TxTexas! Just wanted to tell youmentionsay keep up the fantasticexcellentgreatgood jobwork!
If you desire to obtain much from this paragraph then you have to apply such strategies to your won webpage.
What i do notdon’t realizeunderstood is if truth be toldin factactuallyin realityin truth how you’reyou are now notnotno longer reallyactually a lot moremuch more smartlywellneatly-likedappreciatedfavoredpreferred than you may bemight be right nownow. You areYou’re sovery intelligent. You knowYou understandYou realizeYou recognizeYou already know thereforethus significantlyconsiderably when it comes toin terms ofin relation towith regards torelating toon the subject ofin the case of this topicmattersubject, producedmade me for my partpersonallyindividuallyin my opinionin my view believeconsiderimagine it from so manynumerousa lot of variousnumerousvaried angles. Its like men and womenwomen and men don’t seem to bearen’tare not interestedfascinatedinvolved unlessuntilexcept it’sit is somethingone thing to accomplishdo with WomanLadyGirl gaga! Your ownYour personalYour individual stuffs excellentnicegreatoutstanding. AlwaysAll the timeAt all times take care ofcare fordeal withmaintainhandle it up!
Thank you. We appreciate the link.
GreatWonderfulFantasticMagnificentExcellent beat ! I wish towould like to apprentice at the same time aswhilsteven aswhile you amend your siteweb sitewebsite, how cancould i subscribe for a blogweblog siteweb sitewebsite? The account aidedhelped me a appropriateapplicableacceptable deal. I werehave beenhad been tinya little bit familiaracquainted of this your broadcast providedoffered brightshinybrilliantvibrantvivid transparentclear conceptidea
Hi there mates, nice article and good arguments commented here,
I am actually enjoying by these.
Dry ice blasting doesn’t require drying time.
紅石榴保濕噴霧 重水保濕噴霧 清肌保濕噴霧 瑕疵遮瑕膏 修容霜 護眼修飾霜 眼部遮瑕修護筆 亮白蓋斑霜 香茅SPF30 香茅蚊怕水 古銅暗影粉2號 胭脂輪廓修飾 點綴立體修容 奇幻腮紅 亮麗持久胭脂膏 深層修護滋養潤唇霜 保濕護唇膏
I do trust all the concepts you’ve introduced in your post.
They are really convincing and will certainly work.
Nonetheless, the posts are very short for starters.
May just you please extend them a little from subsequent time?
Thank you for the post.
I know this web page offers quality dependent articles or reviews and other material, is there any other web site which offers these
kinds of information in quality?
高能聚焦量超聲波( HIFU )以物理性聚焦集中成一點， 快速穿透皮膚真皮及脂肪層面直達面部表淺肌肉腱膜系統( SMAS )層令其組織細胞分子高速磨擦 ， 瞬間升溫至60 -70 度，令整個表淺肌肉腱膜系統( SMAS )受熱收縮，形成熱固化區域， 令結綈組織同時拉緊，達到拉皮防皺及美容效果。SMAZ聚焦超聲波提供了最有效的HIFU能量收緊皮膚及刺激胶原蛋白新生，提升彈性，恢復更緊緻的皮膚和更年輕的美貌。
Hello there! I simply want to offer you a huge thumbs up for the excellent information you have right here on this post.
I will be coming back to your website for more soon.
What’s up, everything is going well here and
ofcourse every one is sharing information, that’s truly excellent, keep up writing.
Very good website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any user discussion forums that
cover the same topics discussed here? I’d really
love to be a part of group where I can get feedback from other experienced people that share
the same interest. If you have any recommendations,
please let me know. Thank you!
A personSomeoneSomebody necessarilyessentially lend a handhelpassist to make seriouslycriticallysignificantlyseverely articlesposts I wouldI mightI’d state. This isThat is the firstvery first time I frequented your web pagewebsite page and to this pointso farthus farup to now? I amazedsurprised with the researchanalysis you made to createmake this actualthis particular postsubmitpublishput up incredibleamazingextraordinary. GreatWonderfulFantasticMagnificentExcellent taskprocessactivityjob!
Thanks for finally talking about > design tavern » Rod Hunt – Freelance Illustrator and artist behind ‘Change the
world 9 to 5′ < Loved it!
Asking questions are genuinely fastidious thing if you are not understanding anything entirely, except this paragraph presents good understanding
even.
In one of these blasting, air and dry ice are used.
hey there and thank you for your information – I’ve certainly picked up
anything new from right here. I did however expertise some
technical issues using this website, as I experienced to reload the website many times previous to I could get it to load properly.
I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I
am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times
will sometimes affect your placement in google and could damage your high-quality score if advertising and marketing
with Adwords. Anyway I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for a lot more of your respective exciting
content. Make sure you update this again very soon.
I’m pretty pleased to uncover this page. I wanted to thank you for ones time due to
this fantastic read!! I definitely loved every part of it and i also have
you book-marked to see new stuff on your web site.
HiWhat’s upHi thereHello, I wantdesirewish forwould like to subscribe for this blogweblogwebpagewebsiteweb site to takegetobtain latestnewestmost recentmost up-to-datehottest updates, sothustherefore where can i do it please helpassisthelp out.
Hi there! I just want to give you a big thumbs up for your great
information you’ve got right here on this post. I’ll be coming back to your site for more soon.
It’s awesomeremarkableamazing fordesigned forin favor ofin support of me to have a websiteweb sitesiteweb page, which is beneficialhelpfulusefulvaluablegood fordesigned forin favor ofin support of my experienceknowledgeknow-how. thanks admin
That is a great tip especially to those new to
the blogosphere. Brief but very precise info… Thanks for sharing this one.
A must read post!
My partner and I stumbled over here coming from a different website and
thought I might check things out. I like what I see so now i’m
following you. Look forward to exploring your web page
again.
Hi there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to
give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking
and will be tweeting this to my followers! Outstanding blog and
great design.
I was suggested this web site by my cousin. I am not sure whether this
post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my
problem. You are incredible! Thanks!
I like the valuablehelpful informationinfo you provide in your articles. I willI’ll bookmark your weblogblog and check again here frequentlyregularly. I amI’m quite certainsure I willI’ll learn lots ofmanya lot ofplenty ofmany new stuff right here! Good luckBest of luck for the next!
I haveI’ve been surfingbrowsing online more than three324 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’sIt is pretty worth enough for me. In my opinionPersonallyIn my view, if all webmasterssite ownerswebsite ownersweb owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the internetnetweb will be much morea lot more useful than ever before.
You have made some decent points there. I checked on the internet for additional information about
the issue and found most people will go along with your
views on this website.
If you would like to increase your know-how only keep visiting this website and be
updated with the newest gossip posted here.
I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also pay a visit this
web site on regular basis to get updated from newest
information.
Hi there, after reading this awesome post i am also cheerful to share my knowledge here with friends.