Hannah Gillingham, a freelance illustrator who graduated from the Illustration and Visual Communication BA Honours course in 2019, was approached by illustration agency Jelly London after they saw her work on social media. She was commissioned to create illustrations for the promotion of a new Spotify Original scripted podcast, Gay Pride and Prejudice.
Gay Pride and Prejudice is a modern interpretation of the Jane Austen classic, which follows a 30-something gay man navigating the world of dating in Boston.
Hannah’s illustrations for the podcast have been displayed on billboards in New York and Los Angeles.
Working from her home studio, Hannah creates painterly illustrations of her favourite characters from pop culture, as well as design illustrated posters, exploring narrative in film and digital illustration. She works digitally with a revitalised take on painting, merging both traditional and digital media.
Last year, Hannah was also commissioned by the University of Westminster to paint a portrait of the late Professor Orla Gough, to celebrate her legacy. The oil painting in now on display in the Orla Gough Lecture Theatre.
Speaking of her experience as a student at Westminster, Hannah said: “Studying illustration at Westminster allowed me to try out different styles and experiment with different directions until I found one that I really liked. Slowly, I found my way to conceptual illustration and digital art. The course was very broad and gave me a lot of freedom to create the work I wanted to make.”
Since graduating from the University of London, Hannah has gone on to create artwork for a wide range of clients including independent filmmakers, creative agencies, and small businesses. She has also contributed to several pop culture group exhibitions in the UK.
Offering her advice to other freelance graduates, Hannah added: “As daunting as it may seem to begin with when you are first starting out, the more eyes on your work the better so don’t be afraid to share your work online. Social media plays a big part in this and it is really important to keep pushing out your work onto platforms like Instagram and Twitter as you never know who may see your work.”
Find out more about the Art, Design and Visual Culture courses at the University of Westminster.
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