EM Illustrates

Hand-painted jackets and signage

Specialising in creating custom hand painted jackets and bespoke signage. EM Illustrates is my passion project, born out of my fondness for hand drawn type and child-like love for drawing on things I probably shouldn’t - sorry mum!

+ Illustration
+ Branding
+ Signage

My Role(s)
Owner
Designer
Head of Marketing
Customer Service
Admin
Coffee maker
Paint brush cleaner

I’ve always loved to paint and draw, and the joy that comes knowing you created something beautiful with your own hands. As I grew as a graphic designer I found myself fascinated by hand-drawn type, but the nature of my job meant I was creating more and more art digitally. Enter lock-down and a stint of furlough, I took the chance to reignite my passion for good old fashioned pen and paper.

Starting initially with the idea of learning calligraphy along with creating and selling floral prints. This idea quickly changed when I started eyeing up an old leather jacket hanging in my cupboard instead. Dusting off my paint brushes, I set about giving the jacket a new lease of life and EM Illustrates was born.

Since then I have the joy of creating beautiful custom jackets for brides to be, working closely with them to bring their vision to life. Becoming a bride to be myself offered me the opportunity to further expand my skills, branching out into wedding stationery and hand painted signage.

Professional photography by the wonderful Corinne Moffat Photo