Hello, I'm Jo.
I am an illustrator, writer, model maker and designer based in Derbyshire in the UK.
I'm best known for children's books, I've illustrated over a hundred fiction and non-fiction titles so far, some of which have been translated into over 30 languages and sold in the millions worldwide.
I studied Graphic Design at Derby University and after graduation went to work as a junior designer for Usborne Publishing in their London Office. After I was given the role, the designer who hired me let slip that the deciding factor was some puppet making in my portfolio*, Usborne had a project that they wanted to try illustrating with models and they thought I'd have a good understanding how to design it to make it possible. I did, and once the project was underway we interviewed several model makers for the illustrations but in the end, they gave it to me. I spent the next 10 years making models of almost everything you could think of, before leaving London to return to the Midlands as a freelancer.
After Usborne, I was lucky enough to write my first picture book with Egmont, 'Bit-Bot and the Blob', which was (sadly) my last big project with puppets. After that I went back to using traditional and digital drawing techniques to suit lots of different kinds of projects.
I'm so grateful that I've had the chance to work with so many talented authors over the years, I love the process of development, design, character creation and illustration, but I'd be lying if I said I don't miss making puppets. I still make models, but usually with groups of school children all having a go, making art and making a mess, which is also a lot of fun.
*Incidentally- those first puppets were something a design tutor had told me to remove from my portfolio because 'they were not a good fit'. I ignored their advice because I loved making them and I was really proud of the results. So if I was to give advice, it would be that if you are really proud of something you have created, trust that feeling.
Some of the lovely folk I’ve been lucky enough to work with (in no particular order):
Usborne Publishing
Egmont Publishing
Staedtler UK
Ediciones Castillo (Macmillan Group)
Igloo Publishing
Yeamoonsa Bien
Floris Books
Holy Cow Productions (holycowgames)
Smile Books (Korea)
Cambridge University Press
Miles Kelly
Benchmark Publishing
Jolly Learning
Megastudy
...and sometimes I record things I've written to share on youtube.... not always successfully. Enjoy!