As you can see, Eric’s inspiration comes from his travels. His sketchbook is full of delightful illustrations inspired by places and people he has encountered in his travel. His sketchbook includes several Australian landmarks and fauna.

Eric works in traditional media including acrylic paints and markers.  He has two blogs for his artwork; Carnet de Voyage ”a Travel Book” and Du voyage à l’Imaginaire “The trip to the Imagination”.

So without further ado here are a few select artworks from his blogs. Please check them out and if you like his artwork and are interested in supporting his extraordinary journey,  get in touch with Eric via the email stated on his blog.

 Images  © 2012 Eric Suignard

The final board design

My entry for the Red Bull Design Sally’s Board competition titled “Breaking Boundaries”. My concept was based off an old sketch I had in my sketchbook which had flying fish soaring over a rainbow background. The original concept never got very far and I thought this would be a great opportunity to expand the idea.  I wanted to do something bright and abstract and besides, flying fish are awesome. As I wrote on my entry description: “I think flying fish are a symbol of optimism, achievement and rising above the status quo. Why swim when you can soar?”

The original concept sketches from a few years back

Progress shots of the board design

I had to work on this on my ageing laptop so the colours turned out a bit over saturated (I must have been trying to bump the colour and brightness because the old screen is so dull) and I tested the uploading system expecting to review the final submission, but whoosh, it was gone! So there are typos in my description and the submission was a tiny image : (  Lesson learned… never assume you know how things work!

The final submission can be seen here: http://design-sallys-board.cloudfb.com/gallery/entry/4f1853afd6e77  . If you like the design you can “like it” on the competition page and it would make me very happy indeed!
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Like this?
I am currently available for illustration work, please feel free to view my portfolio and/or get in touch!

Repackage some chocolate or other consumable in your own brand.
Just like a business card only tasty! Bonus points if you make it funny or charming.

Incorporate the 12 days of Christmas to extend your marketing.
Make the most of the post-Christmas period by marketing from the 25th of December to the 6th of January, offering a great discount each day.

Upsell by offering promotional gifts at price thresholds.
Encourage people to spend a little bit extra to receive free gifts.

Send gift certificates with receipts/invoices.
People expecting a bill will receive a nice surprise and an incentive to buy again.

Send Christmas cards.
You could do the usual cards containing a personalised note or maybe you could send a pack of beautiful (but subtly branded) cards for the recipient to send to their family and friends.

Send themed Christmas present tags.
If your business has an appropriate theme, incorporate it into useful and inexpensive-to-make gift tags (this works for designers and illustrators for example).

Create themed/ branded wrapping paper.
Tie this in with a gift wrapping service or as a free promotional item for purchases over a certain amount. Make sure it’s something people would actually want to use.

Give away branded Christmas crackers.
Creating your own Christmas crackers can give you an opportunity to show some personality. Include a joke and a small gift or voucher.

Send vouchers.
Try making them pretty special or print them on a high quality stock. You can bet other businesses will have a similar idea, so you’ll need yours to stand out! If you’re giving store credit, using plastic cards might help the vouchers be taken more seriously.

Put all your customers into a free raffle for a great prize.
And let them know about it! It’s a great way to touch base and show what a generous and thoughtful business you own.

Create your own custom scratchies.
Create a fun and memorable experience with a customised scratch and win promotion.

Give away a themed desk calendar.
Take advantage of the coming of the new year to make a useful gift. Consider making a desk or wallet calendar so that it doesn’t compete with all the wall calendars people will receive from friends and family.

Coasters.
Drinking is a popular pastime over the holidays. A good way for good times to be associated with your business.

Free samples.
Celebrate the giving season with your clients and customers with free samples.

Give away a Christmas CD.
It might sound a bit corny but Christmas carol CDs are now mass produced a lower cost. You could use them as a promotional tool and save people the hassle of remembering to buy one.

Attend or sponsor an event.
At Christmas time there will be plenty of events to chose from. Think about your customers and the events they are most likely to attend.

Branded/themed wrapping ribbon.
Send as a free gift, with mail orders or as free gift wrapping. A unique way to stand out from the crowd and get into the holiday spirit.

Wear a Christmas tie.
Sporting a unique tie could bring a smile to customers’ faces, get them into the holiday mood and also make a great conversational point. Give it a unique twist by making your own custom tie. Printing temporary custom ties doesn’t have to be expensive.

Make a donation to a charity.
Celebrate the giving season and make a gift to charity, let your customers know about your contribution and give them a way to donate through your business as well.

Start a conversation on your social networks.
Ask people what they are up to! The holidays are a great way to start interaction and friendly conversation with your customers.

Give a foldable lantern.
Die cutting a lantern mail-out could be a neat way to promote yourself with a Christmas theme and something customers would like to display in their homes. Be sure to check the risks involved though.

Christmas decorations.
Branded or themed Christmas decorations that people will use and keep. Make them attractive to ensure that people will actually want to use them. 

Socialise.
Go to the events you are invited to or host your own. It’s a great way to network and meet new friends. Who knows what business it might lead to.

Offer a longer return policy or a different guarantee.
Take into account peoples’ needs over the holidays such as unwanted gifts or the fact they will be too busy holidaying to deal with returns for a while. It could help customer confidence and encourage them to buy.

Christmas-ify your web site.
Make a little update to your logo and site offers. This will help get visitors into the Christmas spirit and show them that your holiday offers are ready and waiting to be snapped up.

Give your staff a little something.
The silly season usually means more stress for staff, showing them a little appreciation could go a long way towards improving their morale and your bottom line.

Make your mailing material a different shape, weight or size.
Mailboxes are already spewing with holiday marketing materials. You need to stand out from the clutter and make recipients want to carry your mail beyond the bin and into their home.

Always remember who you are communicating to and what you want to say about you and your brand.

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Harness the power of illustration.
If you want great illustrations for your Christmas promotions, get in touch for a free quotation.

Red Panda iPhone Wallpaper

To celebrate the launch of my new website I created this little wallpaper for free download. This guy is a red panda (also known as a fire cat, shining cat, fire fox, bright panda or common panda ) native to the mountain regions of Nepal, Myanmar, and central China. I made sure that he won’t be obscured by the lock screen elements. I hope you like him, enjoy!

For more updates, tips and exclusive freebies, feel free to sign up to my newsletter or like the Elise Martinson Illustration Facebook page.

The full resolution image can be downloaded here.

Lil red panda by Elise Martinson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.elisemartinson.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.elisemartinson.com/contact.html.