Seal of Approval

Emma was approached by Samantha Brownstein, Art Director at Tatler Promotions to create paper illustrations for a lovely feature on Royal Warrants for their Celebration of the Queen’s 90 Years supplement. Out now with the May issue, Emma's unique and distinctive illustrations run over 18 pages and help tell the story of the iconic crests for Royal Warrant holders including Asprey, Smythson of Bond Street, Fortnum & Mason, William & Son, James Purdey & Sons, Champagne Laurent-Perrier, Parker Pens, Jeeves of Belgravia, Corney & Barrow, Mappin & Webb, Lyle & Scott, Swarovski Optik, Wolsey, Clarins, Halcyon Days and Wedgwood. This is the second time Emma has worked for the magazine, having previously created illustrations for the Tatler Bond Street Jewellery Promotion.

Emma says "I pretty much created little miniature theatre sets. The scenes are made of 2D and 3D paper shapes with black inky brush stroke lines, very simple and graphic. The playful scenes include the Queen's dressing room, her luxurious breakfast, Charles's wardrobe and of course the Corgis. It was pretty intense creating this paper world, after 100's of scalpel blades it's in print, I would love to be a fly on the wall in the palace when they receive their copy."

Samantha Brownstein says "Our publisher Trisha Stevenson wanted to approach individuals/companies that hold a Royal Warrant. [Creative Director] Gavin Shaw and I brainstormed and mocked up the idea, which used an illustrative style to convey the stories in a humorous and engaging fashion. We had to be sensitive to the Royal Family, but make the promotion fun and eye-catching to tie in with the Tatler brand. We have worked with illustrator Emma Rios a couple of times before and we both love her style of work. We came up with the concepts for each client page, and produced a mockup visual to convey each idea. We sent Emma our mockups for her to sketch in her unique illustration style. We then sent these over to the client to approve. At the shoot Emma was busy bringing her paper sets to life in 3D. It was a real team effort, from the sales team through to the photographer Chris Turner bringing these pages to life. If we wanted to add in an extra Corgi for example, Emma quickly sketched away and they suddenly it appeared in the set – so much fun!"