Jodie Macpherson is a Scottish Illustrator and designer, based in Glasgow, whose work is all about taking a playful approach to the mundanities of the every-day.

Jodie is a Scottish Illustrator and designer, based in Glasgow, whose work is all about taking a playful approach to the mundanities of the every-day and the ridiculousness of us as human beings, through colourful and hyperbolic illustration. She completed her BA (Hons) in Architecture at The Glasgow School of Art, and following graduation began exploring other mediums and creative outlets, which subsequently lead to the birth of her illustration practice. Jodie’s work often focuses on colourful and comedic characters with long, bendy limbs, and is inspired by all kinds of real people and things. Jodie’s work is created through a mixture of traditional sketching and digital drawing. However, she has a real love for woodwork and painting physical objects. Whenever she’s not drawings Jodie will most likely be found half-way up a climbing wall or drinking over-priced coffee in a park somewhere.

When did you start illustrating?  

Basically, ever since I could hold a pencil I’ve been drawing or doodling. I remember when I was around 6 or 7 years old, I used to copy 'Bratz' characters from the yearly annuals and make up my own versions to be their friends. Then when I was in primary school I started an “adopt a baby” ‘business’ where I would draw up funny baby characters and sell them to my friends for 50p.   Seriously though, only around a year. I studied Architecture at Uni and always used illustrations as a way to storyboard and communicate my ideas. But, it wasn’t until I graduated last summer (2020) in the midst of the pandemic and had a tonne of time on my hands that I started to explore my creativity a lot more and really got into the type of illustration I do now.   

Who has been the most supportive in your illustration career, perhaps your teacher, family, friends?  

I’d definitely say that most people in my life have been pretty supportive, which is always a bonus. My parents really did push me to stay on the architecture career path, but I think they’re just happy that what I’m doing is working out, and I enjoy it.    My friends are definitely the most supportive though, always the biggest hype-men.   

Did you always think art was something that was going to be a major part of your life?  

Yeah, definitely. As I mentioned at the start, I’ve always been really creative and I started to take art pretty seriously when I got to high school. At that point, going on to study a creative degree felt like the only choice for me. I felt like I was destined for Art School.  

What is your favourite subject matter to illustrate?  

I love drawing all kinds of things, but people and characters are probably my favourites. It doesn’t even matter what they’re up to, I just enjoy creating really elaborate personalities and backstories for them in my head while I draw.   

How would you describe your style?  

Definitely fun and playful.  

What is your favourite collaboration to date?   

Probably the set of three illustrations I did for the online magazine ‘Ostrich Mag,’ for an article addressing the death of Sarah Everard. It was definitely a really hard and sensitive topic to tackle, but it felt good using my work to contribute to and spread awareness of an important topic and movement.  

What interested you about being represented by Illo Agency?   

Definitely the opportunity! Illo works with so many great clients, and it’s really cool to be able to be represented by them and get my work out there. They also represent such a great group of diverse artists and illustrators and it feels felly nice to be part of that kind of community.   

Do you have a favourite author, film director, or designer?  

I don’t really have a favourite author as, pretty shamefully, I don’t read as much as I should. My favourite director though is probably Richard Ayoade, I just really love the almost ‘handmade’ feel of his shots. Plus, he directed Submarine, my favourite movie of all time.  As for my favourite designers, I have so many that it’d be hard to mention them all. But on the whole, I draw inspiration from people in all kinds of creative disciplines, from architects to potters, and of course, other illustrators.     

Are you working on any personal projects you can share with us?   

Yes! I am currently working on a little cookbook of my favourite one-pot veggie meals. It’s definitely a project for myself, rather than anyone else, but I’m still excited to share it when it’s done. I really love to cook for other people and share recipes, so it’s been really nice to imagine that in the future people might cook food for their friends and family from a little book I put together. It’s also been fun to explore a different subject matter, there has been a lot of drawing of vegetables.    

Do you listen to podcasts?If so, do you have a favourite?  

I’m actually not a massive podcast person but I do really enjoy 99% Invisible and My Dad Wrote a Porno.

If you have any questions or a specific project in mind, please do get in touch: [email protected]

at illo agency, we pride ourselves in representing a collation of global illustrators, distinctly diverse in creativity and uniquely celebrated by like-minded clients across a range of commercial markets.