Two Taiwanese designers received awards at the prestigious 2018 World Illustration Awards (WIA) on June 9 in England.
One winner was chosen for each of the 16 categories from over 3,300 entries. The work of the winners will be shown in an exhibition at the Somerset House June 7 - 20 as part of the largest Somerset House show to date.
After traveling to Sweden, Finland, and Denmark in 2017, Hsu Shih-hsien (徐世賢) documented the warm encounters and cold weather of his travels in the zine, "Nordic Happiness," for which he was awarded the WIA award in the New Talent Books category.
Hsu employed a combination of risographic printing techniques, graphite, watercolor, and digital software "to represent the Nordic atmosphere faithfully," he told the Association of Illustrators.
While creating the zine, the illustrator camped out in cafes in various cities to observe how people interact with their environment. Hsu is currently studying at the Royal College of Art.
A recent graduate of National Taiwan Normal University, 24-year-old Chen Wu (吳箏) received the WIA award in the New Talent Editorial category for the work, "Eggs."
"Eggs" symbolizes "the infinite possibilities of eggs with their closed arc of rounded whiteness, which always carries the imagination before its incubation and contains the imagination of the future unknown... This work is devoted to enhancing children's curiosity and imagination about food," according to the Association of Illustrators website.
Chen's work was included in a Victionary yearly art review, by Hong Kong Press, as well as in a volume of Asia Pacific Design.
