When Colin Elgie first became an illustrator in the early 1970s, he worked with some of the greatest bands of the vinyl album era. Pink Floyd, Genesis, Peter Gabriel and many more all featured his work on their record sleeves. These days, the artist maintains his clear, graphic style producing striking work for some of the world’s biggest magazines, consumer brands and media companies.
Based in the Kent countryside, his interests include Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, as well as Scandinavian crime fiction. He likes desolate places, and has travelled to the most northern town in the Arctic Circle.
Training
Colin went to East Ham Technical College where he took a Licentiateship of the Society of Industrial Art and Design. It included graphic design, copyrighting, photography, graphics and illustration.Approach
Colin’s approach to image making is to keep it simple. If elements in the illustration aren’t needed to get the idea across, he leaves them out. First and foremost, illustration is very much a communication tool.Style
Strongly composed and graphic looking, Colin’s work takes on board many of the aesthetics of the great poster designs of the 30s and 40s. Many of his pieces have an appealing and colourful vintage-made-modern look to them.