WHAT IS IT?

We’ve created HandPicked as a way for more Art Directors to see and discover the amazing work by our talented artists here on They Draw & Cook.

We’ve asked six professionals from a variety of creative businesses to be our Guest Curators and create a Featured Collection based on a theme of their choice. Each Guest Curator is in the business of looking for freelance talent and we want them looking at YOUR work. Double bonus; curated collections will run for two weeks rather than our standard one!

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?

Sign up for our TDAC newsletter or follow us on IG so you know when we announce the design challenge themes. To participate, create an illustration based on the theme and submit your illustration here. Follow our standard size and submissions guidelines. As long as your illustration includes food it doesn’t necessarily have to be a recipe. It can be a pattern, an illustration of ingredients, a kitchen scene, a still life of food or whatever else comes to mind. Be creative and have fun! Submit as many images as you want.

WHAT ARE THE DUE DATES?

The design challenge theme will be announced three weeks prior to the duedate. We will send this out in a newsletter and share on IG and FB. It will also be available here on this page (below).

The Guest Curator will be able to view all submissions before selecting the four designs they want to include in the Featured Collection. Artwork currently in our system that fits the theme will also be considered. All new artwork must meet our standard guidelines in order to qualify.

Janine Vangool
UPPERCASE Magazine

Janine Vangool is the publisher, editor and designer of UPPERCASE, a quarterly print magazine for the creative and curious. UPPERCASE publishes content inspired by design, typography, illustration and craft. Her magazine and books celebrate the process of making, the commitment to craft and the art of living creatively. She has been a shop owner and bookseller, gallery curator, sold a line of greeting cards wholesale, made 10,000 books by hand (with lots of help!) and has sewn her own products for retail. She has a particular fondness for vintage things, a passion that has inspired a book about typewriters and an entire UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration, a book series on a variety of topics. Feed Sacks, Stitch-illo and Botanica were the first titles in the series and the second batch includes Print/Maker, Ephemera, Vintage Life and Quilted. She has also designed fabric collections with Windham Fabrics, with the third collection available in April 2019. She is often asked, “Do you ever sleep?” To which she replies, “Yes! By the end of the day I’m exhausted!” 

Ceci Butler
Design House Greetings

I love what I do, and feel so fortunate to work with an incredible team at Design House Greetings. Together we collaborate with talented artists, and their agents to create hundreds of beautiful greeting cards each year. Nothing makes me smile more than hearing that one of our cards brought a little more happiness to someone’s day! As owner and creative director of DHG, I aspire to live a greeting card life - birds and flowers,  the ability to recite appropriate quotes when needed, bake homemade cookies, play with my dogs, tell everyone who is important in my life that I love them, and exercise every day. In reality, I never can remember to take my vitamins, have had to learn to be a part-time entrepreneur & biz person! I can now read a balance sheet, have figured out how to run enough of an HR department to get by, and am no longer fearful of negotiating with vendors! I'm a full-time art director and part-time designer, mother hen, and occasional pallet packer and am always trying to spend more time at home in Wyoming.

Lydia Hess
Amber Lotus Publishing

Working with illustrators, photographers, and writers to create products that are clever, mindful, and stunning – that is what Lydia Hess does every day as an Art Director, designer and member of the product development team at Amber Lotus Publishing. Amber Lotus offers unique, authentic calendars, datebooks and greeting cards that nurture, renew, and expand the soul. Lydia is always on the lookout for new contributing artists to collaborate with on their paper products. In addition to her “day job”, she is a seasoned independent illustrator, having published 5 books in the Coloring Books for the Soul series for Harper Collins Publishing, as well as journals, greeting cards, packaging and accepts commissioned assignments.

Lynne Shlonsky
American Greetings

Lynne Shlonksy is the Senior Art Director of Creative Innovation/New Product Concepts at American Greetings, developing new to the world, technology infused, meaningful connection products. Lynne’s skills extend across a diverse range of creative projects and positions involving design, trend forecasting, brand development, team building, and new product innovation. From developing a wide range of core social expression product to concepting and building a new boutique retail brand, to inventing new to the world meaningful connection product, Lynne’s focus is at the intersection of strategy, design, ideation and development. Lynne has over 15 patents for her work in New Product Concepts.

Mary Ann Hall
Quarry Books and Rockport Publishers

Mary Ann Hall is editorial director for Quarry Books and Rockport Publishers, two imprints of the Quarto Publishing Group. The Quarry imprint is dedicated to providing instruction and inspiration to creative makers everywhere by offering authoritative, beautifully designed and illustrated inspiration and reference books for a wide range of enthusiasts including artists, illustrators, crafters, and cooks. Mary Ann’s favorite way to unwind after a work day is to putter in the kitchen, wielding her favorite knife, and somehow managing to put together a pretty tasty meal most nights of the week.

Sandra Salamony
Spirituality & Health Media

As the creative director of Spirituality & Health magazine, Sandra Salamony features 12-16 artists in each issue to complement the editorial focus of promoting physical, mental, and spiritual health. And she's always looking for new talent! From reporting on the myriad ways gut bacteria can aid wellbeing, to publishing thoughtful essays on mindful eating practices, S&H's goal is to support the soul/body connection.