On top of the World Illustration Awards

Illustration graduate Lizzie Knott won the Highly Commended award for New Talent at the World Illustration Awards. Find out how the award has helped Lizzie establish herself as an illustrator.

I graduated from the BA (Hons) Illustration course at ARU in the summer of this year (2020).

Back in February I was urged by the Head of Illustration Chris Draper to submit my work to the World Illustration Awards. The project is titled ‘The Way For All’ and includes a poster and accompanying London Underground maps to be distributed across the tube network, celebrating the diversity and inclusivity of London.

To my surprise, in April I was longlisted, then shortlisted in June. On 21 October I found out that I had won the Highly Commended award as a New Talent entry in my category (Design, Product and Packaging). 4,000 people from across the world entered and only 20 illustrators won a Highly Commended award across the categories, so I feel absolutely over the moon to be a winner.

The awards have opened so many doors for me and I am excited to continuing growing as an illustrator. A big thank you to ARU and the illustration course for inspiring me and supporting me across my degree and now as a graduate.

By Lizzie Knott, BA (Hons) Illustration graduate

Follow Lizzie on Instagram.

You can also read Lizzie's previous posts about transferring to ARU and her interview with the BBC about illustrating life during lockdown.