Nicko Phillips
Illustrator / Designer / Art Director
Melbourne, AUS
www.nickophillips.com
instagram @champagne_nicko
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Q What do you do?
“I’m an illustrator, designer and art director, living on Wathaurong country and working (mostly) remotely.”
I like to draw characters that are a bit silly, a bit weird, and a lot colorful.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I’ve been a graphic designer and art director, working in advertising and branding studios for the past bazillion years. Over the past five years I’ve focused more on my passions via my illustration practice, and have worked with some ✨ magical ✨ clients and people as a result, including Stones Throw, It’s Nice That, Mailchimp, Bon Appetit, adult swim, Khruangbin and Karhu shoes.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
I try to always add a sense of unexpected fun and playfulness to my work. I’m innately a bit silly, so I try and make my drawings reflect that. The good-silly too, not the silly-silly, if you know what I mean.
Q What are you working on right now?
A lot of band posters/merch, and packaging for two top-secret clients in the breakfast cereal and alcohol industries. I’m also working on some children’s books, which is fitting for the aforementioned top-secret clients, because parenting would really be screwed if it weren’t for breakfast cereals and alcohol.
Q What’s your style?
A lot of people have described my work as “funky”, which makes me shudder. I think a more apt way of describing it would be colorful and happy anthropomorphed characters, steeped in an aesthetic from the past. I like to think of the characters as being from an unseen universe right here on earth, just going about their lives, oblivious to our silly lil existence.
www.nickophillips.com
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
I love working with kids, so unique children’s brands are a lot of fun to work on (I have two kids of my own, so I can get immediate market research).
On the flip side there are also some really fun things happening in the adult spectrum, particularly in the natural wines and cannabis sectors.
I’m also super passionate about the environment – in a previous life I was an Environmental scientist. And when I say “Environmental scientist”, it was about as deep as when George Costanza was a Marine Biologist. The career lasted about a week before I realized I had other things to do.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Not getting paid on time and having to approach clients like Oliver asking for some more porridge.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
They would 100% be Oliver From Accounts, and deal with all my unpaid invoices and financial forecasting. In addition to their $20/hour, I will give them all the porridge they can handle.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
The year is 2009:
1. Everything is going to be alright.
2. Trust your instincts.
3. Don’t eat that chicken from the back of the fridge.
4. Don’t skimp on jeans.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Somebody who talks regular person language, please tell me if I should worry about NFTs or not. They’re dead, right? idk
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Collabs, campaigns or branding projects in industries like clothing, alcohol, music, environment, social good, natural medicines, and most things in between.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Give me a music festival to go off on, and I will die a happy lil frog.
Q What is your rate?
Every job is different (the ol’ how-long-is-a-piece-of-string scenario), so I quote each job based on the deliverables and complexity of the work. As a ballpark, smaller jobs (like a poster) is anything from $500-$1000, and larger jobs (like a brand campaign) are around $2000+.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Things get lost in DMs, so email communication is perfect. Intro email stating something about the job, an indicative budget, any inspo imagery helps, and then follow it up with a zoom kickoff. It’s nice to get to meet people IRL-ish in this remote life we live these days.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Just one?? Can I do three?
1. I love love love Jen Starks colorful bloops.
2. Jordan Speer - is doing some really interesting 3D work lately.
3. Angela Kirkwood - does cute and strange animations.
What a trio.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Daydreaming! I love swimming, walking and riding my bike, which sounds like I’m a triathlete or something, but tbh my pace is sliiiiiightly quicker than a sloth crossing the road. They’re great opportunities to let the mind wander.
This member profile was originally published in September 2022.