Joey Yu

posted by Emily Gosling February 9, 2021

Originally hailing from the London suburbs, Joey Yu has long lived and illustrated by the mantra “it’s cool to work hard.” She’s said before that it’s a value that was instilled in her by her parents, and it’s paid off: Yu counts Nike, Hermes and Rimowa as clients, has had her work featured in The Guardian, and has curated exhibitions at Tate and the ICA.

She also has shitloads of Instagram followers. What’s her secret? “I really couldn’t say!” she tells us. “I was a pretty early adopter on Instagram in terms of posting work, and I’ve just kept up sharing stuff, so I guess consistency helps!”

Now based in London and working as an illustrator, animator, curator and artist, Yu studied the BA course Illustration Animation at Kingston University, where she revelled in the fact that students were encouraged to mix across disciplines, from product to furniture to fashion design. Her final project Anti Assimilation Wear is perhaps testament to her proclivity for mixing up mediums—art direction, fashion design, performance, illustration, print—with her dinstivie illustrations gracing textile pieces such as flags and garments.

“I think everything feeds back into the illustration work that I do,” she says. “It’s all learning at the end of the day, and all the different skills you pick up lean on each other and help strengthen a practice.”

The pursuit of unusual avenues through which to explore illustration is ongoing: a recent project was last year’s Lulu Guinness. “That was such a physical manifestation of my drawings,” Yu explains. “I find that most outlets for my work can be very ephemeral, so to see the drawings on something that will last a long time was a great feeling. More of that please!!”

Her fluid, loose illustration style—which she describes as “Explorative and fun? Quick?”—hints that she likes “when things are a little messy,” as she told It’s Nice That on being named one of their featured Graduates in 2017. As such, her tools range from digital means to paint, gouache, felt tips, coloured pencils and “sometimes just plain old simple pencil and paper. It depends on what effect I’m trying to achieve.”

Her clients often come to her as a result of her Insta-fame, if that’s the right term, but more often than not they mention having seen previous work in magazines or on various websites, and then there’s “a little bit of a snowball effect,” she says.

Since graduation and working as a freelancer, Yu reckons the biggest challenges are keeping the energy up. “Working on your own means setting your own boundaries and creating your own work week—both a blessing and a curse at times!” Her advice to those wanting to pursue the same path is “be kind but also strong- know to put your foot down if something doesn’t feel right.”

As for 2021, Yu is trying to get back into the joy of making “quick personal work, and asking questions with the drawings that I create,” she says. “Mostly, I’m just aiming to have a gentle 2021!” Amen to that.