Over lockdown I conducted a series of interviews with creative and inspiring people, chatting all things human and what it takes to ‘be’. The aim being not only to promote their work but to uncover their journey, learn about technique and pass on tips and advice. I’m hoping these conversations will inspire others to be unique, take risks and understand the beauty in failure …… We have but one life, lets make it creative !

Ben Tallon is an illustrator, hand painted lettering specialist and author, he’s also host to the creative innovation podcast, The Creative Condition - well worth a listen. He’s developed a unique, organic, energetic brand of image making with many clients including Channel 4, The Guardian, World Wrestling Entertainment, Penguin Books, The Premier League and Unicef among many others.

On his ‘about’ page there’s a photo of him standing in front of his handcrafted artwork drinking a cuppa. Being from Manchester Ben has all the northern qualities I recognise and appreciate from growing up in Derbyshire.

Throughout the conversations I’ve had over this past year, Ben’s take on ‘observing the clues’ deeply resinated with me, provoking a thought process to provide a better understanding and acceptance of who I am as an artist.

“ So I'm just suggesting people to take note of how you feel about things and why you do the things that give you pleasure. And it doesn't have to be as literal as ‘I like that book, I'm gonna go write a book like that’. It's never that simple.”

In a time of information bombardment with a myriad of opinions continually instructing us how to live a happy and contented life, It’s curious how some advice penetrates through the noise. Over the course of a couple of months, I read “Untamed’ by Glennon Doyle, the first book I’ve devoured in a long time, with the guidance of Chris Manning I acknowledged that meditation was integral to my experiencing clarity, and I spoke to Ben about his journey. You’re probably wondering what these three things have in common; I don’t blame you, bare with me.

We can all read the same book, each having a different experience and picking out totally different messages and qualities that speak to us individually. In the same vein, a teacher only appears when a student is ready to learn. I was subconsciously identifying a conundrum I’d had for many years, and these people were answering my questions.

Throughout her book Doyle speaks about ‘the knowing’, she was experiencing seismic life decisions and after turning to google and her friends for advice she realised there was only person to answer her questions. A task which came from the depths of knowing her own truth. But how do you find that truth when you’ve been living a life for others or how society deems correct ? She’d lock herself in the wardrobe, being petite and the ‘closet’ presumably big, she’d curl into a tiny ball of silence, listening hard to the throbbing beat of her heart, waiting to hear the answers she desperately needed.

In the same way by practicing meditation you’re allowing yourself the time and space for external layers to slowly slip away, eventually leaving the warm glow of who you actually are to rise to the surface.

The connection lies in a process I’ve been mulling it over for some time, self reflection and ‘Knowing yourself ‘.

By really understanding the choices we make and knowing the reasons why, makes it much easier to walk away from misidentified ‘opportunities’, toxic relationships and bowls of ice cream laced with low self esteem and guilt. Another ‘can’t recommend enough’ book is ‘Emotional Agility’ by Susan David. She talks about all these things in a clear and concise way, leading you to the core of what matters, your values.

I asked Ben if he had any advice for someone wanting to pursue a career in the creative industry, a friends daughter had just decided to defer going to university, she was feeling out of kilter so I thought he may have something to help sweeten the decision. His words, so casually delivered packed a punch of down to earth Northern clarity, simple observations that all too often get overlooked. It’s easy to make incongruous decisions based around societal pressures or the need to be validated by people we don’t actually know or care for, leading to a life of discontent and wondering.

Bens conversation has so much depth, we talk about graphic activism, mentorship and the nuances between self or partnered publishing. Also, check out his podcast, his lovely laid back manner and inquisitive mind leaves guests relaxed and open to important discussion.

You can watch the whole conversation here on IGTV

In short, here are three points that stood out.

Give very close attention to what gives you pleasure.
It’s very important to get to know you and your character first.
Embrace the good and the bad things, and make the bad things work for you.

Here’s my favourite excerpt from our conversation.

“ Pay very close attention to what gives you pleasure. You know, why do you read that book in the evening? Why do you enjoy that story? Why do you watch that kind of film ? Why do you get pissed off about the way that person is talking on the bus or on Twitter ?

It's really important to understand your character first, keep going back to it, it's so important.

This is something that I did on a fiction writing class when I lived in London. One of the exercises was about analysing the things you love the most. So your books or your favourite films, look at them thematically. So I have always drawn, you know, the clues were always there for me, I was drawn to American Psycho, Fight Club, films like Donnie Darko, there was a tangible thread throughout them, they were all quite raw, and quite bizarre, and rough around the edges.

If you put all these things from different cultures together for me at that time, the clues were there about storytelling and about, you know, activism and all these things now that are prevalent in my career. So it's kinda like working backwards. So I'm just suggest people take note of how you feel about things and why you do the things that give you pleasure. And it doesn't have to be as literal as I like that book, I'm gonna go write a book like that. It's never that simple.

But it's, again, it's thinking laterally, you know, the themes within Fight Club, there's so much of it, it was the things that were at play in those works that fit into my illustration style, the way I talk on the podcast, because it's the only way I can think, yeah, you know, If a try to polish anything, I fall apart.

And then again, I guess that's another tip, embrace all of the good and the bad thing about things and make the bad things work for you. So I'm very clumsy and very haphazard. You know, but that's what informs my style and I've played into that I've made that a really great positive.

My friend Laura Boast, the LJB Studio, is very clinical, neat, with minimal design, and she's wonderful at that. If you meet Laura she's very hyperfocused, obsessive detail character, and it just makes complete sense. It's not about looking at someone else and going, I want to be like them, and I want to do what they're doing or behave that way. It's like, what makes me different? Because we've each got, individuality. And that's what stands out so it's about embracing that. “

You can watch the whole conversation here on IGTV

Find Ben on Insta & Bentallon.com

A Conversation with Illustrator and Author Ben Tallon