16th December 2016

The Z List: Nicole Heidaripour

The Z List is not only a destination for those looking to purchase unique and inspiring design wares, but also a home for the diverse and vibrant stories behind the makers we are so lucky to be working with. As The Z List continues to grow, and we get to share more astonishing creations with the world, we will be interviewing each maker and posting them right here on the Zetteler news + ideas page.

Illustrator and designer Nicole Heidaripour is immensely talented and boasts a client list that includes Penguin, Random House, Chatto Windus, RHS and plenty more. Now based on the north coast of Cornwall, where she and her sculptor husband Daniel both have their studios, freelance Nicole works on editorial projects, jacket designs, book illustrations and private commissions. We are overjoyed to have her original Moon, Brain, Bee and Wind Pruned Tree prints available to buy over on The Z List, so we asked Nicole to tell us a little more about her life in design in her own words.

Bee by Nicole Heidaripour

You’ve worked in London and Brighton and now live in Cornwall. Can you tell us a little about your background and how you got to where you are now?

I moved to Brighton in 2000 and began studying 3D crafts. I loved it but after a year I realised that my heart was really in illustration so after my first year I took a year out to re-apply to the illustration course and took the opportunity to go and work in London for a few months. I was incredibly lucky to have worked with an amazing garden and interior designer who had the most beautiful office and showroom in south-west London. She allowed me to work on botanical drawings for their bespoke range of homewares and skincare as well as designing their shop windows in their three stores. I then returned to Brighton in 2002 had the best three years on the illustration course. The focus was always on developing creativity, becoming an excellent visual problem solver and continually learning new techniques. Brighton university is a really special place.

After I graduated I returned to working in-house for the garden design company where I really developed my signature pen and ink style. I was given so much freedom to help develop the brand through the products I was working on, which was an amazing experience. I then went freelance and began working for publishers as well as starting to work for RHS, which I have now done for the last 10 years. After spending a lot of time in Cornwall, my (now) husband and I decided that with the invention of dial-up (!) internet maybe we could relocate and continue our careers by the sea. We now both work for clients all over the country from our studio which we built three years ago. We live with a small whippet and two small humans who we are currently training, with moderate success…

Wind Pruned Tree No. 2 by Nicole Heidaripour

Cornwall must be a beautiful place to have a studio. Do your surroundings impact your work?

Absolutely. The hardest but most inspiring season is the winter on the north coast, they can be harsh and extremely isolated, but with that comes the most amazing landscape, hard and unrelenting coast lines – and the skies, they are so vast – so it’s the details and punctuation of that landscape that really inspire me. I think it’s why my wind pruned trees have really struck a cord, especially people who know this coast line. They are a constant reminder of the seasons and their effects on nature, even in the hottest summers on the most beautiful beaches, and I love that.

What inspired you to become an illustrator? Does that inspiration still impact the themes in your work?

In 1989 I wrote to Beano asking for a job, I was 8 years old and all I wanted to do was draw all the time. I’m 35 now and not much has really changed, except I wouldn't quite be able to quite cut it at Beano…

Making images is what I've always wanted to do and I just want to keep learning and making and I feel really passionately that creativity should be nurtured from being a young ‘un. My daughter is three and I love watching her draw and make. Seeing her imagination develop gives her so much confidence, it’s such an incredible thing to observe.

Moon by Nicole Heidaripour

Tell us about Brain, what’s the story behind the illustration?

I would love to have been an anatomical illustrator – as well as head illustrator for Punch – but I think I'm about 150 years too late. I'm fascinated by how people think and how they process the world around them and how differently we interpret our surroundings. The mind is a beautiful thing that we all have to take care of.

…and what about Moon?

Planets fascinate me and my daughter is called Juno. When the Juno satellite was launched she kept asking about Jupiter and space and the moon and I said I'd draw them for her, so I did! I also exhibited in the Cruel and Curious Collective exhibition this autumn. The theme this year was sanctuary so I created a series of collaged planets and satellites and cosmonauts – the enormity and infinite idea of the solar system is a comforting thing to me.

Brain by Nicole Heidaripour

Moon by Nicole Heidaripour

Your tools have us intrigued. What are your essentials and how do they fuel your creative process?

Great paper, good light and lots of books and references. Also the great thing about having a dog is you have to get out, walk and get some fresh air – it's really important to get out of your own head, also having small children makes you live in the moment – observe and experience things right then, not when you're ready. They are extremely inspiring and intriguing!

What is the first thing you pick up when you walk into your studio?

Thumbnail drawings, I always try and do them before I start a project, sometimes with detailed work you can get lost in the minutiae so it's really important for me to keep going back to what I'm trying to create as a whole.

You’ve worked with huge brand clients, why is it important to you sell something independently, like you are doing through The Z List?

I've been really lucky to work with some amazing clients, seeing your work in print – in a book or part of a branding project – is fantastic but it's also incredible to see how people react to your work when they live with your pictures and become an important part of their surroundings, that's really special.

Buy Moon here

Buy Brain here

Buy Bee here

Buy Wind Pruned Tree No. 2 here

Buy Wind Pruned Tree No.4 here

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