Rod Hunt is an award winning London based illustrator and map artist specialising in detailed character filled illustrations and isometric maps.
Silly-bone Valley a spread from Where's Your Dog/Cat? The Wild Ride To... Rod Hunt's personalised search and find book with Yappy.com
What did you read/watch/look at/listen to as a kid or teenager and did anything particularly resonate and have a lasting effect on you choosing a creative profession?
Comics were the thing that really got me drawing as a kid, particularly British comics anthology 2000AD. I guess I thought I might be a comic artist, though once I got to Art College I was exposed to a wider creative world view.
Apart from comics, I also spent many hours playing computer games. I don’t have the time to play computer games these days so I’m kind out of touch with what’s current, but my inspirations would do back to 1980’s computer games from my youth on the ZX Spectrum like Knight Lore, Batman, Alien 8 and Head Over Heals by Ultimate Play The Game, the isometric ones were particular favourites.
Film has also had a major influence on me, as a child of the 70’s and 80’s movies like Star Wars (of course!), Indiana Jones, Gremlins, Silent Running, along with older Sci-Fi like Forbidden Planet, The Thing from Another World, The Day The Earth Stood Still and the 1930’ Flash Gordon TV show.
The design aesthetic from old sci-fi definitely stayed with me and their visions of the future are still what I think the future should look like. And of course the robots were always cool! I also owned a few old tin robot toys as a kid, which were amongst my favourite toys.
The American painter Edward Hopper has also been a big influence on me due to his lighting and ability to capture a moment in time.
Can you describe your creative professional route to your current position?
After graduating from the Cambridge School of Art in 1994 I spent 2 years living in the city of Nottingham, working on my portfolio and also getting involved with the music scene managing bands and promoting gigs. I slowly starting to get my work seen by clients and worked towards getting my first commission. This was pre-internet portfolio days, so I sent potential clients sample postcards and visited London a few times a year to pound the streets with my printed portfolio.
It took me around a year get my first published paying print commission, an editorial illustration for a women’s erotic magazine For Women. It was for a short fiction story about a woman having an erotic encounter with the spirit of the Cerne Abbas Giant (the famous chalk giant on a hill in the county of Dorset). Things could only get better after that!
Like many illustrators starting out I cut my teeth and learned the ropes with editorial work. Eventually it got to the point where I moved to London so I could go full time. Once I moved to London in 1996 I used to do two mornings a week every week with my portfolio seeing clients, doing in excess of 120 meetings a year. Pretty much all my work was for newspapers and magazines to start with, and it built from there.
For the first few years it was really a struggle to make a living and keep my head above water, but slowly I started building up my client base and reputation.
In 2001 I completely reinvented my work, abandoning paint and mess for an iMac and Adobe Illustrator. I think my painted work had reached a natural conclusion, I felt that I needed a new challenge and wanted to reach different clients. As I continued to develop my new digital language new doors opened with new opportunities which has ultimately lead me to where I an today.
Can you describe the layout and structure of your studio? How long have you been in your current space? How does the space affect your working practice and how has your practice influenced your space?
I’ve been in my current studio for the last five years with Second Floor Studio & Arts in Deptford South East London. The Deptford Foundry is a purpose built complex of over 90 studios including fine artists, printmakers, photographers, sculptors, designer makers and more. My studio is around 220sq ft, more space than I probably really need to work in but somehow I’ve managed to fill up the room!
I much prefer having a studio to working at home, you work more regular hours and are more production with your time. You also get to see real living people everyday! The social and community aspect as well as being surrounded by other creative people is very important.
In the past you have been involved in both The Association of Illustrators and ICON - The Illustration Conference. What are your learning’s from both? Do you think it’s important for illustrators to get involved in the professionalisation of their business? Illustration is quite a solitary pursuit, do you find it helpful being in touch with colleagues both professionally and socially?
I was Chairman of the Association of Illustrators from August 2009 to March 2012 and a Director for 9 years. I’ve always felt it’s vital to get involved and engage with the industry. I wouldn’t expect most illustrators to want to get quite as heavily involved as I did.
Being involved with the Board of Directors of the AOI certainly exposed me to things that I probably never would have had contact with working as an individual illustrator. Chairing the Board of Directors, overseeing a company, managing and recruitment of staff, budgets, ensuring good governance and planning the strategic development of the organisation.
It’s a voluntary role and did sometimes take up a considerable amount of my time. But I’m a passionate believer that we are stronger working together to protect and develop our industry through the AOI than working as individuals. The AOI has helped me develop my career, so I also felt that it was important to give something back to help develop and strengthen the organisation for the future, support other illustrators and ensure the sustainability of our industry.
I feel being a member of the AOI is a vital part of a professional illustration career. Working freelance can be quite isolating and being part of the AOI can give you a sense that you’re not alone in this, you’re part of a community and you know where to get professional advice. With pricing advice, contracts, copyright and business development it pays to get advice from the professionals, and that is just one phone call or email away by being part of the AOI. It’s important to build a social and professional network around you. You can’t survive in a vacuum.
My four years on the Board of ICON - The Illustration Conference, the US based industry conference, was much more focused on a specific task, being Chair of PR and Media relations. Over the course of two conferences - ICON8 Portland, Oregon (2014) and ICON9 Austin, Texas (2016) - we expanded the conference to 4 full days, adding the International Education Symposium and Roadshow maker-seller event. I think my experience with the AOI and international contacts helped bring a different angle to the Board, helping to widening ICON’s reach to be much more global conference. The best part of being on the ICON Board was working with the volunteer Board, made up from some of the biggest names in American illustration and design, who have become good friends.
Do you surround yourself with objects that inspire or comfort you? If so can share some of your favourite “things” in your studio and why you love them?
My robot toys are my favourite things on the studio. I’ve had to restrain myself from buying more. I have a good collection of design books too, there’s so many beautiful books I’d like own, not enough shelf space!
Can you identify a major turning point in establishing your current process?
Deciding to buy my first iMac in 2000 was a pivotal moment. The internet had become a thing, it seemed obvious that eventually you were going to need a website to promote your work and email to communicate with clients. I also was frustrated with my work and came to the conclusion that I needed to reinvent myself, let go of the past and evolve. I’d played around with digital stuff for many years on my old steam driven PC, but didn’t consider it was viable changing over to working digitally until I bought the iMac.
Initially I started playing about in Photoshop, but I found myself trying to paint with it, almost replicating my painted style which is not what I wanted to achieve. So I decided to use Adobe Illustrator instead as it would force me to change as the process is completely different to painting.
What is your essential studio toolkit? Are there any new technologies that are having a big impact or shaping your professional aesthetic?
Things I can’t do without in my studio as part of my practice, on the analog side A5 sketch book, ballpoint pen, 2B pencils, craft knife for sharpening said pencils, quality eraser and 220gsm heavyweight cartridge papers. On the tech side iMac, Wacom 32"Cintiq screen tablet, scanner and Adobe Illustrator. My digital working process hasn’t changed much for a while, though I keep looking at the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil but can’t quite justify buying one!
What work of yours, commercial or otherwise, represents a real breakthrough moment in terms of business but also in terms of creativity? When did the isometric angle (see what I did there?) come to you? Did a lightbulb go off above your head?
What work of yours, commercial or otherwise, represents a real breakthrough moment in terms of business but also in terms of creativity? When did the isometric angle (see what I did there?) come to you? Did a lightbulb go off above your head?
I guess the isometric computer games stayed with me from when I was a kid, but I never set out to work in this way, but it’s something that has evolved organically over time. I started creating isometric work at art college when I painted with fat hogs hair brushes and acrylic paint on paper. After I gradated in 1994 and started working towards getting commissions, some of this work was part of my portfolio. My second ever published commission, which was for New Statesman magazine in 1995, was isometric.
Once I went over to working digitally in 2001 men’s magazine Maxim asked me to create an isometric lingerie shop which helped me to develop my new digital isometric language. This then lead to more commissions and refining the style. The book cover for Change the World 9 to 5 in 2006 then started me on the path of much more complicated scenes and cityscapes, the culmination of which was Where’s Stig? my search and find book with Top Gear which took the detail and sophistication to a whole new level of detail.
Today I’ve created some hugely complex and detailed pieces such as the Jodpuh Regeneration map and my Guinness World Records book covers, neither of which I would have had a clue how to approach in 2001. All along I’ve followed where I saw an opportunity and what I was having fun doing.
Do you still have time to produce personal work?
I’m pretty much constant with client work but I do try to fit in self initiated and non commercial projects a few times a year. It can’t all be about money, we need to have some creative fun too.
Do you have any advice for someone interested in following in your chosen path?
Get out there and get your work seen by as many people as possible. You should never be afraid to show people your work. It’s important to invest enough time and resources in promoting your work and explore all possible markets. You maybe the best designer/illustrator in the world, but if no one sees your work you won’t get commissioned
Be yourself and indulge your personal interests in your work, that will set you part from everyone else.
Perseverance. It can take quite some time to get really established.
There’s much more to being an illustrator than drawing pictures, so it’s vitally important to educate yourself if you want to have a successful and sustainable career. There’s a steep learning curve for the actual business of illustration - pricing, contracts, ethics, copyright and managing clients., so I highly recommend joining the Association of Illustrators (AOI) theaoi.com . They’re constantly campaigning to protect all illustrator’s rights, and if you need advice and support with developing your career it really pays to get help from the experts. I know first hand the value of being a member and the confidence it gives you in your career. I wouldn’t be the successful professional I am today without their training, advice and guidance over the years.
