Joni Dan - image maker illustrator/ Graphic Designer

I grew up in a fishing village in Cornwall and moved to Bath in 2001 to study Graphic Design and Illustration at Bath Spa University, graduating in 2004. I am now living and working in Torbay as a freelance illustrator.

I am inspired by pretty much everything around me and it is often the ‘little things’ that can go unnoticed that influence my work the most. Inspiration comes from my travels and the places I’ve lived, the people I’ve met and the stories they have shared. It comes from the outdoors, from colour, pattern and from popular culture and fashion. I have folders full of old photographs, letters, typography, patterns and papers, shelves full of quirky found paraphernalia. I think creative thinking and humour pretty much go hand in hand. I am inspired by comedy… which I think is best served dark, dry, quick original and surreal combined with a dash of craziness. I enjoy jumping in puddles, looking for pictures in the clouds, dance offs and the feeling of sand under my feet.

My initial approach to image-making is very hands on and combines drawing and painting with collage. Images are often then taken onto my Mac and I play with them a bit more.

I love the trance like state my mind enters when I receive a new project. I often work in a fast and explosive way… creating lot’s of mess. Bits of paper and typography cover my floor and get stuck to my feet. It is sometimes these little pieces of runaway paper that inspire a new project. I call them happy incidentals. I see any kind of paint spills as happy mistakes that could easily be turned into little creatures or whatever my imagination desires. Like a child, I look for faces in everything.

My dream job would be getting paid to travel the world, illustrating and photographing as I go.

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