We caught up with YCN illustrator Matthew Dent about his latest projects and upcoming work...

What inspires your work, your images or your style?

I gain much of my inspiration from the things around me in my day-to-day life. I look to maintain that sense of happiness and fun within my work, often looking at ways of keeping things simple and clean. I always make sure I do plenty of self initiated work, and like the thought of simple ideas that can work as a beautiful illustration as well as having an important message to go with it. I think it’s refreshing to see people work in different ways, so I just stick to what works best for me.


What are you particularly excited about having worked on recently?

I have been working on plenty of exciting projects, both self-initiated and client based. One that sticks out was working with Copenhagen-based design studio studiopainted.dk. Together we worked on an identity for the Tingbjerg Byfest 2011. The main thing for me was to be able to create an idea that suited the feel and meaning of the festival, bringing it to life and inspiring the adults and children attending. It was great to create an illustration that went across a series of products and promotional material from posters to badges and programmes.

I have also just produced a series of prints titled 'Forest Runners', which were inspired by the idea of having a print that you could hang any which way. I love the outcome, and they are now available to buy on my online shop as well as in the YCN store.



Could you tell us a little more about the project for the Orange Feed? Did you receive any standout photo submissions- good or bad?!

The Orange Feed was a really great project to work on. I was asked to produce four illustrations a day for 7 days. I had to come up with finished ideas within a few hours of receiving the photos, so it was important to have a good photo to work with. I received a variety of submissions, from which I selected the ones that really caught my eye. There were some really great ones, particularly those with big facial expressions or funny props- this allowed me to get an idea of the person instantly. One that stands out has to be the man with a long neck- I wanted to celebrate it so I mounted his head onto a wall, showing everyone what a great neck he has! I'm sure he was very pleased! It was unusual to have the instant feedback I did with this project. The images went online as soon as I had done them, so I had the chance to see what people thought and how they reacted to seeing themselves 'pimped out'- which all turned out to be extremely positive.


What's next for Matthew Dent?

I have a big project that I'm working on with my brother Chris Dent, but this is firmly hush hush for now as we are in the process of planning the launch. I am also writing and illustrating some books, which will hopefully be released by the end of the year- one in particular is inspired by my love for sport. I have plenty of interesting things lined up in the coming months, including a series of greetings cards and a new poster for one of my favourite shops.

The illustrations shown above were created by Matthew during his ongoing personal work (top)- a piece titled 'Building Doors'- and as part of a commission for Myoo's mobile app 'Nudge' (bottom).

To discuss a commission for Matthew, please get in touch with us at studio@ycnonline.com.

Posted in Editorial by Rosie