Hello, Planet Design and welcome to the next in our Spotlight series here on The Leap! Today we shine the light on one Alaina Ashley Cooper, otherwise known as A.L.D (which stands for Ashley Loves Drawing). OK, so some illustrators’ work blows you away with their creative use of colour and space in an original manner. Sure, there are many designers out there who make use of cookie-cutter techniques that make life easier and take less time, but when someone comes along with a technique that’s obviously the result of painstaking work and a sharp eye, it shows. But enough already, on with the show! 

SL: Alaina, welcome to Springleap! Tell us a little about yourself, like where you’re from, what your favourite design software is and what gets you up in the morning?

AAC: Hi! Thank you for the kind intro. Well, I live in the South West of England surrounded by lots of trees, fields and the sea. I can’t escape it, so nature has ended up in all of my work. I would have to choose Photoshop because I draw everything by hand, so Illustrator wouldn’t really suit what I do (plus I don’t think I’ll ever get my head around it!). New projects get me up in the morning, it’s always exciting working on a fresh idea.

SL: Your illustrations on Mintees – particularly Journey, Glacier, Summit and Home – show a keen understanding of the use of negative space and colour along the same lines as Japanese woodblock prints. You’re not Japanese, so how did you get such an affinity for these? 

AAC: I hadn’t really thought about it until this question. So to be honest, I don’t really know about the negative space, I think it’s just down to sketching a lot and watching animated films and cartoons, I love the compositions and shapes they use to create a scene. I have always loved colour though, anything that is colourful stands out to me, so I try to use it in my work as much as possible.

SL: Being fairly prolific (and earning kudos from loads of other designers), you must have a few favourite designers whose work has impressed you – care to share your top 5 with us?

AAC: There are lots of talented designers, so I can’t really narrow it down to just 5, but the favourites that spring to mind at the moment would have to be (in no particular order) Chris Sandlin, DOOOM (one of our designers here on The Leap), Tony Riff, Kevin Luong and Brian Luong.

SL: Lastly, what can we look forward to from you in the future?

AAC: I’m constantly working on new things, at the minute I’m planning a print series and getting some more detailed pieces in there too!

Thanks to Alaina for being such a sport and giving us the lowdown here at Springleap. Next week, we feature another designer/illustrator whose work inspires us all. Until then, keep it colourful!  

(See more of A.L.D's work here: Alaina Likes Drawing)