On the bank of the Thames in the design district known as the Barge House for a weekend became a huge illustration convention not unlike Comic Con with myriad stalls of people selling their hand-drawn gifts and decorations. We hadn’t been to one before so didn’t know what to expect, but soon realised it’s full of the excitement and buzz you’d find at an art or design degree show at the beginning of summer, except all of the things on display are for sale, which makes it arguably better than simply a show or gallery!
One of the highlights was the Magic Depictor, a vaudevillian style fabric-decorated “photo booth” in which the subject sits and the artist is inside behind a two way mirror, offering props while music plays encouraging you to dance in your seat, as she draws a 3 minute cartoon. When your picture is ready you are sent outside as in a digital photo booth, and your drawing appears in a similar slot.
Definitely a great weekend for designers and we thoroughly recommend going next year – if you are a graphic designer or illustrator of any description you’ll enjoy it, but it might be worth looking in to getting a stall too!