WinWin Magazine Edition One WinWin Magazine Edition One

Edition One Cover Artist:
Evi O

Evi O is our Edition One cover artist! She created our covergirls, the big painted GO FORTH lettering, and the quirky background shapes that you’ll see throughout the mag. She is also a great friend of the mag, and was one of our earliest supporters! We chat to Evi about how she developed the ‘WinWin Girls’…


Peach

WinWin: Hey Evi! We wanted to do a spin on the idea of a traditional magazine ‘covergirl’. How did you get started with that idea?

Evi: I felt really lucky that Jo picked me to work on this and to be honest the idea started off from a coffee date with her! We developed the concept together and I really just wanted to share lots of positive vibes, celebrate diversity, and honour the idea of being your own self.

Rather than one covergirl, we ended up with seven!

How does the artwork go from a couple of thoughts in your head, or sketches, to the final, wonderful girls that we see splashed all over WinWin?

Once the idea was in place, it took a while for me to ‘imagine’ the girls. One afternoon I sat down with pencil on paper and thought about all the girls I’ve met in life and created the seven personalities based on them. I worked closely with Susan Le, one of the designers in my studio, transforming the sketches into graphic illustrations that answered Jo’s brief.

I love that so many people are involved in the making of one magazine cover, as collaboration pushes things further, and you end up with an unpredictable, more amazing, end result.

Some quick creative questions…

Is there something you regularly do that helps inspire or motivate you?
Yes, I have a little daily reward system. Either I start the day with something nice or I promise myself a treat for the end of the day. Whether it’s a favourite dish, a chapter of a book or an episode of Walking Dead.

Any favourite artists you look to for inspiration?
A lot of them. Yayoi Kusama for her obsession with dots, David Hockney for his happy art, Etel Adnan for having a strong purpose in doing art, Yoko Ono because she is talented and super cool, Hella Jongerius for her amazing design sensibility, the list goes on and on and on.

A trick for when you feel stuck or creatively blocked?
Sometimes you just have to stop and have a break. I switch my days from doing serious creative thinking to doing mindless tasks. Mondays are for fun gigs, if the studio can afford it (read: no looming deadlines), Tuesday to Thursday are grind days, and Fridays are a mixed bag. I see how I feel and go with the flow a bit. It’s all about balance.

If it wasn’t a career in art and design, what would it be?
I always wanted to be a rockstar, but I’m not cool enough. Or an astronaut, but unfortunately I’m four-eyed 😉

A piece of advice from Evi to teen-Evi —
Being an adult feels the same as when you’re a child, so don’t think that adult life is different and try hard to ‘be’ something. It is the same you at the end of the day. Enjoy the present, and look forward to what’s to come.


More about Evi:

Online & Instagram