| Magen Mitchell | Salt Lake City, UT | |
| www.magenmitchell.com | View Gallery | |
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Designer's Comment: I have always been drawn to children’s illustration because of its tendency towards simple, relatable characters and focus on color. This illustration is a perfect example. Most of my illustrations are composed of flat, curvy shapes in vibrant colors on patterned or colored backgrounds. I prefer sharp lines that emphasize the shapeliness of my characters. I focused heavily on the faces, specifically facial expressions, in this illustration and in the greater body of my work. I use Adobe Illustrator for most of my illustrations because its properties work best with my style. For the background of this image, I took inspiration from 1950s-era gift wrapping. I intentionally tried to make the holiday element of this card as vague as possible so as to be applicable to the largest audience possible. I felt that mistletoe was the best choice because it has no real religious connotations. I think I would best describe the humor in this illustration as black humor wrapped in a disarmingly cute package.
Magen, yours was by far and away the most amazing and well-executed entry. I only wish I had a horde of people that could've voted yours up and given it the attention it deserved! :)
I am seriously disappointed that this was not the winner. I think it was far and away the best card submitted in both design and content. Kuddos to the artist, this really is amazing!