Mark Hoffmann for Cooking Light

Not an easy task, illustrating a story about love, loss, and fruit salad. The author and copy director for Cooking Light, Susan Roberts McWilliams, "wanted the article to have a lot of hope and thankfulness to it." Mark Hoffmann's illustration was the perfect compliment to this touching story about how we respond with food when someone loses a loved one.

Delight in the details and composition of these richly painted down-home pieces. Feature art directed by Sheri Wilson and 2015 winner of the SPD merit award for Single/Spread Illustration in the Lifestyle, Travel/Food/Shelter category.

SPD merit award for Single/Spread Illustration

Love, Loss & Fruit Salad

Friends, Family and Casserole

Pot Pie With Love

Home is Where the Slow Cooker Is

See more of Mark Hoffmann's whimsical lettering and illustration.

Katy Dockrill for Oregon Home

Illustrator Katy Dockrill is often inspired by the color, texture and lines found in her garden, so the "Tiny Gardens" article in Oregon Home magazine was a great opportunity to emulate nature's flora. Art directed by Snow Blackwood, Katy imagined four different tiny garden spaces and with a lot of attention to detail and her gorgeous hand lettering Katy educates us on the right tiny plants to fit each space.

Want to see more? Visit Katy Dockrill's portfolio. 

Clare Owen: Paris Card for Papyrus

Clare Owen illustrated all things Parisian to form the handmade calligraphy for Paris on this greeting card. It features delightful icons which form the letters including a croissant, baguette, the Eiffel tower, a post lamp, champagne and a delicious café au lait.  Beautifully produced by Papyrus, the special finishes bring Clare's art to life through the use of 3D tip-ons, foil stamping and glitter accents. Love the croissant pattern on the inside of the envelope--just one last delicious detail to make this card a perfect gem. 

Want to see more?  Visit Clare Owen's portfolio.

Katy Dockrill for SHE magazine

Illustrator Katy Dockrill had the opportunity to contribute again recently to SHE Magazine, published by the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

For this poignant piece on the struggles women still face Katy used the symbol of the quilters.  The visual is perfectly paired with a quote by Rosemary Brown, pioneer of 20th century Canadian politics, who devoted her life to the cause of justice and equality for women and minorities.

See more of Katy’s inspired illustration. Represented by i2i Art Inc.

Greg Stevenson for Dreams on Wheels Reader

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Greg Stevenson created these instructional illustrations combining his playful doodles, line-work and hand lettering with a photo-collage approach for educational publisher Developmental Studies.  SIPPS (Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words) is a program for new and struggling readers from kindergarten through grade 12. The main criteria for the art was to decode the stories to visually assist the reader with comprehension.

Check out Greg Stevenson's versatile portfolio.

Katy Dockrill for SHE Magazine

Katy Dockrill contributed this illustration to SHE Magazine published by the Canadian Women's Foundation.  We think this illustration tells a remarkable story of strength and optimism with Katy's confident line and hand lettering over the brilliantly optimistic yellow background. When we asked Katy about her inspiration she said: "I felt it was important to illustrate this list of women's accomplishments:  Being a woman in 2014 is very different from being a woman 150 years ago and I have all the women before me to thank. I take all these hard won freedoms for granted because I grew up knowing no different. I think that's where we need to get to in order to check off the others on this list, keep voicing opinions and share the dialogue with our children."

To see more of Katy's hand lettering and illustration, check out her updated portfolio here.

Prepared to be Delighted by Mark Hoffmann, Illustrator

Recently we shared some of Mark Hoffmann's new work and the response was fantastic!  We didn’t want anyone to miss out on his brilliant illustrations. Check out Mark Hoffmann's portfolio, get inspired and commission an illustration by this super talented illustrator!

It's October!

As we begin the wonderful (and sometimes whacky) month of October, we'd like to know what scares you most!  Illustrator (and sometimes seamstress) Katy Dockrill, shares a little story about what she's up to this month as she preps for her young daughter's Halloween experience below.  Can you relate to this narrative?  Check out more of Katy's fun illustrations and hand lettering here.

Mark Hoffmann: 3x3 Illlustration Directory

Mark Hoffmann's Cap'n Weird Beard included in the 2014 3x3 Illustration Directory.  Always a furtive imagination and a primitive gift for bringing his ideas to life!  You'll see plenty more to amuse by visiting his updated portfolio here.

Greg Stevenson: Exploring Paris

Greg Stevenson recently worked on a large, yet to be unveiled project which featured this clean line art style.  Feeling inspired by this and his love of Paris, Greg has created this map/infographic of Paris and spin-off poster designs.  To see more visit Greg's portfolio here.

©Greg Stevenson_GS752_i2iArt

©Greg Stevenson_GS753_i2iArt

©Greg Stevenson_GS754_i2iArt

Tim Zeltner for the Riverdale Farm

When the Riverdale Farm's Stewardship Group first approached i2i art to commission a whimsical yet functional map of the Riverdale Farm, Tim Zeltner was chosen for his rich hand painted folk art style (actually painted on wood), and the journey to discover and depict the Farm in all it's wonder began!  Below you will see Tim really captures this gem in the heart of downtown Toronto.  The map illustration will be used on marketing materials and a give-away map for visitors.  To see more of Tim Zeltner's magical paintings visit his updated portfolio here.  

Recently I attended the wonderfully successful Riverdale Farm Aid 2014 benefit, which thanks to all the enthusiastic support and dedication of it's volunteers and the community, raised the grand sum of $24,000!  At the event, the map (commissioned by the RFSG) and created by Tim Zeltner was unveiled. and large archival prints were auctioned off to benefit the farm.

Tim Zeltner donated the original painting below to The Farm where it will be housed in the main 'Residence'

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Below is one of the large archival quality prints Tim donated being auctioned off at the event!

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There was a terrific crowd and the fundraising was a big success!

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An awfully cute wooly resident of the farm, not too bothered by the crowd that night nibbles on some fresh local produce.

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The fabulous Lemon Bucket Orkestra:  A big hit!

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Tour the Farm, visit the animals and chat with the farmer during daily chores.  It's a delightful way to spend a day in the 'country' without leaving the city!

More information here:  Riverdale Farm's Facebook page | Riverdale Farm (City of Toronto Web site)

Congratulations to the Riverdale Farm Stewardship Group and thank you for caring so much and working so hard to preserve this very important part of the city of Toronto!

Mark Hoffmann: Love - Love

Mark Hoffmann has a quirky sense of humor and an uncanny way of communicating his ideas--often in a word or two!  To see more of what he has to say with his fun (if not irreverent) conceptual art, take a peek at his updated portfolio here.

Clare Owen: Infographic for Verily Magazine

Clare Owen has a way of taking even the most dry material and making it look nothing less than lovely!  When approached to illustrate a feature about Building a Budget (Without Breaking a Sweat) for Verily magazine, Clare developed this fun and informative infographic.  With the help of this little chart, I think one could easily do it, no sweat!  She actually makes is look fun!  To see more of Clare's charming infographics and other delightful illustrations, check out her updated portfolio here.

Greg Stevenson for Canadian Living

Combining Greg Stevenson's hand lettering, info graphic icons and layered photo-illustration adds a fun, upbeat mood to these stories of courage, art directed by Stephanie White.  In this recurring feature, called A Year of Firsts 2014, meet and be inspired by the people who embraced a whole year of trying new things, whether facing fears or embracing change.  Peruse more of Greg's illustration here.

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©Greg Stevenson_GS691_i2iArt

Theresa Albert

©Greg Stevenson_GS689_i2iArt

Christina Campbell

Katy Dockrill for National Drapery

When art director Lila Graham first contacted us to work on the new website she was designing for National Drapery, it was an exciting opportunity for Katy Dockrill to bring her flair for sewing and love of home decor to an illustration assignment!  The new ND website was the inspirational vision of Natalie Hartman, who was a delight to work with.  Visit the ND homepage and see how Lila and Katy literally brought Natalie's vision to life here.

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The new website design also included a series of drawings to highlight the many custom products National Drapery offers.  Katy adores creating for surface design, so when Natalie asked her to include an indication of patterns to depict various textiles and bring some flair to these more technical illustrations, she was happy to oblige.  The result?  These little gems...we've combined a few of our faves here:

©Katy Dockrill_KD305_i2iArt

2_©Katy Dockrill_cornices

5_©Katy Dockrill_headboads_WEB

Greg Stevenson for: Positive Side

Greg Stevenson was commissioned by the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE) for their publication called The Positive Side.  This illustration is about how a low viral load can cut the risk of HIV transmission was art directed by David Vereschagin to have an overall optimistic tone.  Greg says, "The candle was meant to imply a ‘re-kindling” of desire in both partners (one positive and one negative) while practicing safety and awareness."  Notice how the very subtle ('Rothko-esque') variations in the background add beautifully to the mood of the piece.

Bring on Spring!

Time to look forward to sunny days in the garden!

See more of Katy Dockrill's sunny illustrations here.

'In the Garden' by Katy Dockrill.

Greg Stevenson: Sin & Self-Improvement

  The Alberta Magazine Publishers Association is pleased to announce the finalists of the 2013 Alberta Magazine Awards and we are delighted that this cover art created by Greg Stevenson for art director Kim Larson, is one of the award winning covers.

Alberta Venture initial sketch ©Greg Stevenson-i2iart

Feeling inspired by the subject matter, Greg went to town covering all the sinful bases with his first sketch (above)!

(we just thought you'd enjoy this behind the scenes sneak peek into Greg's process)

Alberta Venture Final ©Greg Stevenson-i2iart

And this is the award winning cover art! 

Thom Sevalrud: Big Data

  The Wikipedia definition of Big Data is:  "a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools..."

Thom Sevalrud has a way with taking just this type of complexity and in his very unique visual vocabulary communicating the idea clearly, like no other.  That's why  Brian Donahue of Be Design called upon Thom to illustrate Why Big Data is a Big Deal for Macalester Today.  Brian is also a big fan of Thom's hand lettering so he also asked him to illustrate the headline for this feature as well.

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Greg Stevenson illustrates around the clock!

Ever have one of those days where you can't stop thinking about food?  Literally.  Greg Stevenson's hand lettering and flowing line technique made him the perfect choice for this conceptual piece, art directed by Jane Edwards Griffin (Griffin Design).  The article 'Food for Thought' for Simon Fraser University's alumni publication, aq Magazine, talks about a massive renovation to the SFU dining hall and café in response to a survey in which 6,000 students were in favor of:  wider variety, international flavors and healthier foods available around the clock.