Illustrating for the Stanage Post

I can't wait to share with you an illustration project I've been working on this year with a lovely bunch of people - The Stanage Post. This is a new community magazine aimed to connect people in the Hope Valley, Derbyshire. We're a small group who came together to write and share stories based on the themes of sustainability, nature and community. And I've had the privilege of bringing those stories to life through my illustrations.

The start of the story

I remember when I was little I used to make little booklets from scraps of paper and create word searches, drawings and dot-to-dots to share with my friends. I never thought that years later I'd actually be holding a professionally printed magazine full of individual writing pieces and stories of the area I live in.

Skip a few decades and I'm sat in Leith, Edinburgh at our favourite cafe with my partner. We're waiting for our coffee and I'm people watching whilst he's looking through the local magazine to the area, called 'The Leither'. The Leither is a printed magazine local to Leith, an area of Edinburgh full of indepedent businesses, music venues and events. The magazine is pretty quirky too, with vibrant cover designs and interviews with locals. 'Wouldn't it be cool if we had a magazine for the Hope Valley?' my partner mused. Wouldn't it indeed... (picture below of me enjoying drawing in our favourite cafe - The Sly Fox in Edinburgh)

Here we are back in the valley. Moving back to the area after spending a while living in big cities in the UK, I realised it takes a while to find out what's happening on your doorstep and you have to make the effort. Whilst some community groups rely on social media to get the word out, others often rely on posters or word of mouth. All I want to know is what's happening where I live or nearby. 

Speaking with a couple of friends who thought similar we decided that we should go 'old school' and print some local news. We decided that the magazine should be based on three main themes - sustainability, nature and community. The name of the magazine was a take on the Stanage Pole - a wooden post seen at the top of the iconic Stanage Edge. I can't take credit for the name or the logo as it was designed by the name creator themselves, Shane Carrington:

Designing my first magazine

Where to start? Was my initial question for a couple of months into the project. I had a rough idea of the feel of the design, the colours we wanted to include (earthy/muted/pastel) and the overall tone. As our small team began to write up articles I started to build a library of what themes to include - swimming, seasonal vegetables, walking... We wanted the magazine to be a complimentary mix of writing, photos and illustrations.

I started with the cover of the magazine, which is probably not what most people do. For this I wanted to create a circular illustration leaning into our 3 main themes and highlighting some of the main stories from the first issue including the 90th anniversary of Hathersage swimming pool, a feature on the Limey Way, introducing a new garden in Bamford. I wanted there to be a sense of movement and progression in the illustration, through the drawings e.g. cars and bikes coming down winnats pass and the footpath marker pointing round the circle. And if anyone knows Derbyshire then they might recognise this 'circle' to be a take on the iconic millstone - some which are still found on the hills and edges around the area.

I mainly used pen and pro-markers for this design then scanned the images in for the magazine so I could adapt any colours or make them lighter to go behind text. It was all a bit of a learning process but I started to pick things up quite quickly and enjoy the steps. Below is the finished front cover for issue 1.

Bringing it together

Now I should probably introduce the rest of the team behind the magazine. The Stanage Post is made up of a group of people who live and work in the Hope Valley. We're all passionate about where we live and want to help protect it by sharing inspiring stories and articles about the local area. We're a team of writers, photographers, illustrators, gardeners and musicians who have come together to make this project happen. More details of the team can be found in the issue itself.

And, after many proof reads, cups of tea, interviews and final adjustments we got it printed! It's been such a privilege to work on and I can't wait to get stuck into the next issue! Here are a few peeks inside...

Where can you get one?

If you're lucky to live or work in the Hope Valley you can find issue 1 at the following places. 

To find out more about the stanage post you can follow the instagram page: Instagram: @stanagepost