Peeping out from behind local market stalls and studios around the country are Australia’s many makers and creators. With a soft spot for colour and all things retro, we spoke to Sydney illustrator Rachel Peck about the future, junk food and dollhouses.
How would you describe your work?
I would describe it as a playful mess of pastels, pattern and everyday objects. I love outlining my work with heavy lines and colouring them with bright or creamy colours.
What influences your style?
I think I take a lot of inspiration from other illustrators I love, like Andy Rementer, Grace Miceli, Natali Martinez, as well as things like interesting colour palettes, junk food and old school cartoons.
Have you always been creative? What are your earliest memories of design?
Yeah, I think I’ve always been creative. I was constantly asking adults for scrap paper to draw on, even at social events or family gatherings. I remember really wanting a dollhouse as a kid, I couldn’t wait any longer for my birthday so I made the entire thing including all the furniture out of paper, cardboard and several roles of sticky tape.
Who would you love to collaborate with in the future?
I would absolutely love to work with a brand like Gorman doing some kind of pattern design, or illustrating a children’s book.
And on collaboration, what was the highlight of working with Mi Goals?
I was so honored to be working alongside some really talented artists, and the team at Mi Goals was so encouraging of each of our individual styles, they let us take the brief in any direction we wanted and offered us so much freedom, which made it a really enjoyable experience.
What’s your design process? When and where do you make your best work?
My design process is firstly spending a lot of time looking for inspiration, making folders, scribbling lots of incoherent notes, then putting on headphones and hunching over my laptop for hours on illustrator constructing an illustration. I have been moving around a lot internationally the past year so I haven’t been able to set up a proper work space, but I seem to work best when I isolate myself. I need to let myself get really weird and focused to make anything of value.
What inspires you outside of art and design?
Music. Listening to a really good playlist can get me inspired to make something. People who are passionate and out there doing things inspire me as well. Also movies and film; I love an eighties classic (preferably John Hughes) or an offbeat animation.
And finally, what’s up next for you?
I have a few projects I’m working on at the moment that I’m excited for. Mostly do to with fashion. I’m working on some pattern designs for a swimwear collection for an up and coming Aussie designer, as well as some designs for a cycling apparel brand. I’m also working with a really cool team of creatives as ambassadors for the south African fashion brand Mr. Price. So there’s a lot to look forward in the future.
You can check out more of Rachel’s work on her website, or have a good lurk over on her Instagram.
