I was inspired to create a series of linocut inspired illustrations based on my visits to the Lapworth Museum of Geology in Birmingham. I loved visiting the exhibitions during my lunch break whilst working at the University of Birmingham and was fascinated by the various collections.
All of the illustrations started off as simple sketches which I turned into digital illustrations using a Wacom tablet and linocut brushes on Adobe Illustrator. I was able to get an authentic linocut feel by using the pressure to change the line thickness.
One of my favourite things as a kid was the embossed stamp rally points throughout museums. I took my favourite aspects of the Lapworth and created my own stamp designs such as Roary the Allosaurus, the ‘skull wall’, the mineralogy collection and the palaeontology collection. The linocut style really lended itself to creating different textures perfect for stamps!
I used the textures I had created to create a typographic version of ‘Lapworth Rocks’ which is the official hashtag for the museum. I then rolled out the illustrations and typographic lockup into different kinds of merchandise such as enamel pins, postcards, tote bags, and notebooks.
