Lauren Jefferis and Olivia Collins share the same passion for illustration and visual storytelling. They met whilst studying at Loughborough University, where they bonded over wanting to become freelancers. Illustration is often seen as solo career, but they decided to carve out their own niche and set up Pickle Illustration as a duo. They have a well honed process when creating illustration commissions and work together collaboratively on every project.
Lauren completed an enterprise year during her university placement year. This was a great opportunity to develop confidence in starting a small business, make connections and attend workshops. Liv became interested and this shared experience brought them together. They decided that teaming up was the way forward: “We have both always loved character-driven illustration and when illustrating separately there are a lot of topics and styles that cross over. Our favourite illustrators are the same and there is always a shared passion for illustration in general.”
Founded in 2018 Pickle Illustration create playful, fun illustrations that are full of colour and life. They often work on community-based projects, working with both local businesses and the public sector, building connections and growing their business through word-of-mouth recommendations. They have designed new takeaway cups for a renowned patisserie in Loughborough and painted murals for local shopping centres and community housing projects.
This year, without the opportunities this year to engage with people at events and makers markets and with more time on their hands due to the pandemic, Lauren and Olivia decided to launch the Pickle Postcard Initiative. “We felt as if we should be doing something to help during the corona nightmare… We wrote and sent our illustrated postcards to our customers’ loved ones so they didn’t have to. This was our first big passion project and not only has it spread some joy, but it also launched our online shop and helped us to connect more with people, which was so special in such sad times.” Through this initiative, the duo found an inventive way to keep working with communities they love, whilst at the same time raising funds for the NHS and building their online business.
We chatted with Lauren and Olivia to find out more about their career journey, the creative process they use when working together on a project and running a small business.
How did you first become interested in working as illustrators?
Lauren: I have always had a creative streak and loved coming up with extravagant and ‘extra’ creative projects throughout school. Initially I thought Graphic Design was for me but in my second year at Loughborough University I began realised visual storytelling was what I was really passionate about and hopefully better at!
Olivia: I remember that I was known among my friends in primary school for making homemade birthday cards. They’d always request them and I started making them for their friends and family too. Little did I know that I’d later make a career out of it! I wasn’t aware options for illustrators beyond working in children’s books, which I didn’t think was an industry for me. My foundation year at Loughborough University showed me many inspiring avenues of illustration and opened my eyes to the whole design and illustration world!
Why did you decide to become a creative duo?
We love working as a team! Simple. We both liked the idea of solo freelance but not the isolation or the lack of laughs! It’s also not something you often see in the industry, so it’s formed our own little niche and we think that’s another major benefit. Finally, knowing you have a partner also keeps you super accountable for the work you do. We are on facetime 24/7 and this keeps us on track with projects and reduces any tendency to procrastinate.
Tell us a bit about your career path of how you got to where you are now.
Lauren: I completed a Year in Enterprise for my placement year when studying at Loughborough University and I think this pushed me towards illustration as a career. I have never had a problem dreaming big (being naive?) so planning to join forces with Liv and bring Pickle into the world was an easy decision for me.
Olivia: We both studied Graphic Communication and Illustration at Loughborough, which is where we met. Whilst I was completing my final year, Lauren was on her Enterprise year. During this time we lived together and went to business workshops at the uni. We realised our aspirations were pretty similar and so decided to team up.
What do you enjoy most about being illustrators?
Lauren: The variety? No day is the same and that’s why I was attracted to freelance life in the first place. I live for variety and I also like a challenge so these were two things that came with a career in something I enjoy doing, luckily!
Olivia: I enjoy the freedom of working freelance, as well as working in a team with Lauren. Nothing beats a good brainstorming session over Facetime and we seem to bounce off each other really well. The ideation stage is always my favourite part. Then Lauren sifts through my weirdness and we create something that is a good combination of both our processes.
Can you describe your creative process when working together on a project?
- It all begins with a discussion; we love the brainstorming part of a project. Over video call (or ideally in person) we can bounce ideas off each other and really go wild. Being a duo makes this part of a project easier.
- We usually both doodle and show each other rough sketches. These usually look like unrecognisable scribbles to the untrained eye, but we have found a way to see the meaning behind each other’s scrawls.
- Next, one of us (whoever fancies it or has the time) draws up the scribbles as an initial sketch which is usually sent to the client. This can be passed back and forth a bit if we want to tweak/add details to the others drawing.
- Colour! We usually look for references when picking colours as it is such an important part of the way we illustrate. Lauren usually applies the block colour at this stage and then Olivia does the detail, but again this can be flipped. Luckily, we both like and can do all stages!
- Then the process of passing it back between us on our shared google drive continues until we have responded to all the client’s revisions and we have come to a place where we are both happy with the design.
What have you learnt from working an illustration duo and running the business together?
It’s so very important to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses when working as a duo. Honesty is the key to working effectively and at your highest standard. For example, Olivia’s strengths are in the characters and detail. She nails expressions and has sometimes seemingly the weirdest but most interesting ideas. Laurens strengths are in composition and proportions, she knows when and where to enlarge objects so the result is dynamic and engaging. We each know when a project plays into the other’s strengths and when to pass the document over if it’s got to a stage where we know the other can do a better job of it. Being honest with yourself about what you are good at (and not so good at) is so important when working as a team. If the other member can do it better and quicker just accept it and tackle something more up your street.
How has being a woman impacted your career so far?
Luckily we can’t think of many negatives. We do feel we are expected to be less confident and take less risks, but we have always enjoyed rebelling against this. When talking about our work we may fall into the habit of not selling ourselves as men may do instinctively, but we think we are getting better at being confident.
In your experience, do you think there is gender equality in the design industry today?
Sometimes, depending on the client, we feel we have to work harder to prove ourselves on a professional level. Some clients presume that as we are younger females, we are inexperienced with the business side to things. Assumptions are sometimes made, especially with the nature of our jobs as ‘drawing for a living’. It’s great when we turn around with a solid contract and a confident email and then they understand that we have our heads firmly screwed on.
If you could go back to the beginning and start your career again what would tell your younger self?
Lauren: I’d probably tell myself not to worry about ticking all the boxes in University and school and just enjoy being creative. I think I was often weighed down by trying to meet all the requirements of a project brief, that I never fully experimented with drawing. I still struggle today to just let go and draw for fun!
Olivia: Like Lauren, I was also concerned with ticking boxes. I didn’t understand that having a unique art style was actually desirable. I think there’s this presumption that the greatest artists are artists who can draw photo-realistically, but that’s not the case. For example, if I had been introduced to David Shrigley earlier, , I think I would have realised the primary importance of ‘the idea’ and material choice rather than getting hung up on how to make it look perfect. Moral of the story: don’t compare yourself to others!
Do you have any words of advice for women considering a career in design today?
Surround yourself with a creative community and support system. We are members of groups such as ‘Freelancing Females’ on facebook and are still in contacts with our mentors from our University days. We’ve always asked for advice from others and realise the importance of getting feedback from another pair of eyes. Being open to constructive criticism is crucial to get better at what you do. Getting used to showing your work at ugly stages of development can also important. It can be super embarrassing but it is a lot more efficient than slaving away on a design that has been completely wrong from the start.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?
Our dream has always been to have a physical ‘Pickle’ Space. We love the idea of having an event space / shared working hub so we can run workshops and collaborate more with other businesses. Just a big fun creative hub with the best snacks and wholesome energy.
Which female designer has most inspired you?
I think we are mostly inspired by people who are similar in age to us that have achieved success or we have had contact with in life, such as our former tutor Fran, who had also studied at Loughborough and went on to set up her own graphic design business A Dozen Eggs. Joey Yu is an illustrator who we also find really inspiring. We’ve been following her for years. Her techniques and material choices are wildly experimental and always prompt me to get my pencil crayons out. Also, we love following Emily Coxhead founder of The Happy Newspaper. She has such good energy and authenticity.