Mal Fisher is a Sheffield-based designer and illustrator working on a mixture of commercial commissions and self-initiated illustration series. He has a deep-rooted passion for Risograph and screen printing, particularly loving the texture they create as well as the vibrancy of the colours. After years of being a UX designer, Mal fell back in love with print.
After training as a packaging designer, Mal worked commercially for 7 years before becoming a graphic designer specialising in branding. Over the next 8 years he developed into a web designer, and later a UX designer working on projects for charities, local authorities and behaviour change campaigns. He started out working commercially producing packaging for large brands and global supermarkets before making a move into the more worthy and rewarding public sector. Mal got into illustration through his job, when from time to time he would have to create something without a collaborator. “The last eight years have been an amazing change in my mindset when it comes to different sorts of people, and this really helps when drawing people now that I am an illustrator” describes Mal.
“Throughout my career I have come to understand the importance of a story, or being able to write down my idea and have someone understand it before I even make anything” states the illustrator. Mal created story frames for websites, user journeys, and scripts for animations, and now uses this experience in his illustrations in exactly the same way. He explains; “I write a story, a theme or an idea down so it helps me know what to draw. It is absolutely the most important thing in my process. It’s also the part of my process people seem to relate to the most. I often get lovely messages about people knowing the characters and stories I have created“.
Mal primarily uses a pad of paper, an iPad and Procreate to create his designs. Mid-century design is a huge inspiration to his work; “…particularly the furniture and homes, but buildings and clothing too“. He also finds inspiration from his friends, family and his own experiences whose stories are something he aims to pull into his work. “I often design for my Instagram and I use it as a gallery, posting up mini series. I really like the freedom is gives me to make something in a certain style but then put that down and make the next series slightly different in theme or styling” says Mal.
“This year has been about finding my feet and seeing what sort of work I can produce…” concludes the artist. Mal’s main ambition is to be able to draw things that mean something to him and that will be remembered. He will continue to explore different printing techniques, and after purchasing a home screen printing kit is eager to create some new artworks.
Shop Mal’s collection on Department Store here.
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