Illustration Masterclass, with Maggi Li, Art Director with Okido Magazine

Maggie Li and Okido magazine have provided an exciting and interactive challenge for contributors to explore the theme of Machines. The target age group is 3 to 7 years old, and Okido's mission is to inspire curious children to become creative scientists. Their tagline, "Every child is a creative scientist," captures their belief in the innate curiosity and creativity of children. The final result should be both entertaining and informative and can take the form of a story, an experiment, a paper game with cut-outs, or a digital game or animation. Unfortunately, we cannot currently accept online bookings or payments, but we have a solution! If you are an illustrator who is interested in contributing to this project, please send an email to illusseries@britishscbwi.org. Your interest will be recorded on a list and you will be given access to the Google Drive folder that contains the project brief and a digital sample of the magazine. Illustrators will take their ideas to the final in their choice of format as listed in the brief. The deadline for illustrator artwork is 5 September by midnight. A file request email will be sent a week before the online event for the Masterclass. Maggie will be talking about Okido and its unique content for children and give feedback on the final artwork uploaded to the Dropbox folder on 9 September 2023. A payment of £35 will be collected before the date of the Masterclass. If you've ever wondered about what it would be like to produce artwork and develop ideas for a children's magazine such as Okido, this is a great opportunity to try it out. Maggie Li is a talented illustrator and art director living in London. She completed her studies in illustration at Kingston University in 2010 and has since become a prominent figure in the illustration industry. While her work spans across various genres, she has gained particular recognition for her editorial illustrations and children's picture books. Some of her notable works include the widely popular 'Big City Atlas', award-winning 'Dinosaur Detective', and her latest creation 'What Do Scientists Do All Day', which was published by Quarto in 2020. Furthermore, Maggie recently published her first authored and illustrated book 'Little Life Cycles: Pip' and 'Drip' in February 2022, which was published by Templar. Additionally, Maggie also holds the position of art director at the esteemed children's publication OKIDO magazine, where she oversees the design and illustration of the magazine, as well as its marketing and content creation. Her favorite aspect of the job is creating board games and devising fun and creative recipes for children. The Illustration Masterclasses provide a great opportunity for illustrators who are underrepresented in children's publishing (such as those who are BAME, LGBTQ+, socio-economically marginalised or have a disability). For each event, two fully-funded places are available for such illustrators. If you are one of them, please send your application to illusseries@britishscbwi.org and illuscoordinator@britishscbwi.org, explaining how you qualify for a fully funded place and how it will help you in your career. However, please be aware that once you have booked your place, SCBWI has a no-refund policy. Remember, email your interest to participate or apply for the opportunity for underrepresented illustrators to illusseries@britishscbwi.org.