Character Matters: Pictoplasma 2025
I created a poster in response to Pictoplasma's open call asking for a public service announcement on the importance of characters. My piece was selected to exhibit at the Neurotitan Gallery, Berlin, as part of the 21st Pictoplasma Conference.
My poster was inspired by the belief that characters can help us in our day-to-day lives. My initial idea was a lot more comical, depicting people in mascot costumes helping in a variety of tasks. I then took a different approach, and wanted to show the symbiotic relationship between people and characters. Characters do so much for us, but they cannot exist without us; indicated through the knitware created by the human character.
My Gran was also a big source of inspiration for this poster. She has always loved the comic strip character, 'Rupert Bear' by Herbert and Mary Tourtel, taking any opportunity to comment on how such a sweet little bear he is. This inspired both the attire of my character and slice-of-life setting. I also drew inspiration from Japanese mascot characters as I love their simple, but textural and expressive designs.
