Hello from Jess!

Hello everyone,

I’m Jessica, the newest member of the Pistachio team and Junior Creative & Digital Designer!

I am very excited to begin my graphic-design career within such a supportive and friendly environment. The team here at Pistachio really are one big family and it is lovely to have been made to feel so welcome already and encouraged to grow as a designer.

Previously to Pistachio I have had a career as a professional Illustrator graduating from University with a First Class Honours degree in Visual Communication Illustration. I have film credits as a Costume Illustrator and Costume Concept Artist and have worked on James Bond’s Spectre amongst many other major titles. The artwork of the actors in costumes was created on a one on one basis with award winning Costume Designers of the films. These were either traditional hand drawn pencil illustrations, watercolours or digital fully rendered artwork depending on the nature of the film and the Directors preference. It was a very surreal moment when all these major A-Listers would be in the Costume Department and looking at my drawings and representations of them! Opening the door once and getting a wink from Daniel Craig in the corridor was definitely a pinch-me moment.

I have worked on lots of very interesting costume jobs such as; Bond Girls underwear (every guys dream), Medieval prostitutes costumes (again lost on me!) and Sir Elton John’s costumes for Kingsmen Golden Circle, which basically resembled Big Bird! That was a really fun job as I got to go to Elton’s archives and route through his infamous show costumes, sunglasses and funky platform boots for inspiration!

For two years I also worked on the Marvel films Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron as an Art Department Assistant. This was a very fun and creative job doing just about everything from set dressing, issuing technical drawings and supporting the departments Production Designer and Art Directors. It was full of some seriously fun and memorable moments including dancing with Captain America at an after party until 4am!

In 2016 I set up my own art business creating bespoke commissions for private clients and have a created large gallery of bespoke pet portraits, pencil portraits and original paintings. I love creating highly detailed pencil portraits, colourful floral watercolours and brightly coloured acrylic paintings on canvas of seascapes and landscapes.

After years of following my dream of creating bespoke paintings and illustrations and exhibiting at art fairs and galleries, I decided it was time to go back to studying and I had a career change as a graphic designer. It was the perfect fit as I was looking for something that would provide stability rather than being freelance and it was a career which allowed me to use my eye for detail and creative flair.

I studied on an intensive full time course at Shillington college in London in early 2019. It has given me an excellent base to take my learnings and put them into practice in the working environment of branding and creative design with Pistachio. I am very happy to have found a team that are highly skilled, encouraging and I know this will be a great place to flourish as a designer.

Thank you for reading!