Chris Ware

Chris Ware is a bit of an inspiration to me. Well a large inspiration actually. Not many people know who he is, but a great amount of people have seen his work. I first came across him about 11 years ago when I picked up a copy of” Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth”. His style of illustration, use of colour, design and layout of each page and unbelievable typographic skills hooked me from the start. So much so that over the next few years, when talking with very learned musical friends, I constantly refereed to Billy Corrigan from the Smashing Pumpkins as Jimmy Corrigan. His work had wormed it’s way that deeply into my psyche!

There is a beautiful marriage of design and illustration in Chris Ware’s work. The amount of detail he forces into each page can only be achieved with a masters eye for composition. Take a look at some of the larger images below to see what I’m talking about. Epic storytelling on an intimate scale.

He almost entirely switches between flat and isometric angles throughout his stories and illustrations, the balance between thick and thin line, forcing a very technical perspective on his subject matter. But still managing to infuse emotion and engagement with the proceedings.

I’ve been following his work ever since Jimmy Corrigan, as have countless others, most notably the New Yorker Magazine, by whom he has been commissioned many times to create the magazine cover in his own imitable way.

This has just been a taste of Chris Ware, I’m afraid adding to what I have already written would not do his work any further justice, just scroll down and take a look for yourselves.

If you’d like to delve deeper into Chris Ware’s back catalogue head over to the Acme Novelty Archive.

Click on the images below to enlarge (but be aware, some of these images are in super hi-res format so be prepared to scroll around a bit, it’s worth it though as you really need to see the detail in them)

Ian Sorensen

Ian Sorensen is a creative director who likes to write about himself in the third person. He has been making things look good for over 12 years and hopes to share his passion for good design / advertising / illustration with all those who visit this site. He also wishes you a good day!

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