Jayde Perkin, illustrator
Editorial illustrator Jayde Perkin’s colourful, painterly approach and thoughtful figurative illustrations are a gorgeous edition to the magazines that she works for. I first spotted Jayde's penmanship in the last issue of Double Dot when I was reviewing it for the Journal, and since then I've seen her evocative brushstrokes appear in Anorak, Das Magazin, and online at The Pool.
For this week's Issues, we caught up with the UK based illustrator to find out what magazines matter to her the most.
A new issue: Lagom #5
I’ve been lucky enough to work with the wonderful Elliot Jay Stocks and Sam Stocks on every issue of Lagom so far.
It's a labour of love from Elliot and Sam, and you can tell by the fact that everything about the magazine is so perfectly considered, from the gorgeous foiling on the cover, the lovely paper stock inside, and that just-back-from-the-printers smell which lingers long after the magazine has been on your book shelf. This, paired with stunning photography, insightful articles, and focus on places to eat and drink all over the world can’t help but make anybody feel wanderlust to travel, explore and taste new cities and cultures.
Lagom is the kind of magazine that’s so beautifully designed and aesthetically pleasing, that it teeters perfectly on a fine line between ‘magazine’ and ‘coffee table book’, it’s difficult to cast aside. Oh, and they use lovely illustrations too, but I would say that, wouldn’t I? (This issue includes illustrations by Ed J Brown, and yours truly).
An old issue: Mojo Classic - 60 years of Bowie, 2007
I think one of the things everyone has been talking about this year, is what an absolute crap-fest 2016 has been. Back in January I was still living in Berlin, it was a cold, icy and bleak Berlin morning when I found out David Bowie had died. My mum called to check I was OK, she said, ‘I’ve been thinking about you today, what a tragically sad day’. Exactly two months later, in March, my mum passed away. I moved back to the UK.
Mum bought me my first album - a copy of Bowie’s ‘Hunky Dory’ when I was very young, I loved it (of course), but it wasn’t until my teens when I was a bit older (…and wiser?) that I began to delve into Bowie’s full discography, and despite being late to the game, I fell head over heels for this strange hero from mars, and practically everything he created.
Mum also bought me this copy of Mojo Classic, back in 2007, the whole issue is exclusively about David Bowie, and it covers every single album (yep, even the rubbish ones), and extensively goes into every aspect and stage of Bowie’s career and personal life. And it’s FULL of really cool photos of Bowie smoking cigarettes, sometimes alone, sometimes with Brian Eno or Tony Visconti, or Iggy Pop or Lou Reed. I should also mention here, that I’m also a HUGE Kate Bush fan and the foreword is written by her.
Bowie once said about living in Berlin, “I can’t write in a peaceful atmosphere at all. I’ve nothing to bounce off. I need the terror” - obviously Berlin in 2015-16 was miles apart from Berlin in the late 70s, but I do believe that we should always be doing things that scare us, that test us, that give us the means to create.
Bowie wasn’t the reason I made the decision to move to Berlin, but there’s something about living in a city that so many amazing artists have influenced, been influenced by, and walked the streets of. And walking around Bowie’s old digs in Schöneberg, 37 years after he’d packed his suitcase and left, in the bitter Berlin air, felt bizarre and poignant; we were grieving for a man we had never met, but had influenced our lives and our art and the city we were living in.
I threw out a bunch of magazines when I left Berlin, but I kept this copy of Mojo, and it’s more special to me now than it has ever been. Also it’s full of cool photos of Bowie smoking cigarettes.
And another thing: Anorak
Phew, well after that depressing tale, let’s go to the happiest mag of them all - Anorak.
I couldn’t not mention Anorak, the only problem is, that every single issue is chock-a-block full of funny stories and colourful illustrations that it’s near enough impossible to chose one specific piece. What I love about Cathy’s art direction is that it’s not all cutesy illustration, she goes for such a range of styles; cheeky, crazy, sometimes a little bit rude; but always witty, and I think kids and adults alike can appreciate Anorak.
I recently did some work for the Party issue, but the latest issue is Cakes (I mean, what’s a party, without a cake?) and it’s a very tasty issue full of delicious illustrations, including an alphabet of bugs illustrated by the amazingly talented (and super nice guy) Jay Daniel Wright, my favourite being his can of worms...