posted on 07 Sep 2023

An interview with Lo Cole

The Letterpress Project has asked authors and illustrators to think about what has inspired them as artists, what their favourite books are and how they relate to their audience - we've also asked them if they themselves are book collectors.

We are delighted to present an exclusive interview with the author and illustrator, Lo Cole. Lo was born in the English countryside and moved to London when he was eight. His dad wrote children’s books and his mum was an illustrator. Together his parents created TV programmes for the BBC’s Watch with Mother in the 1970s, so Lo grew up surrounded by puppets, props and craft paraphernalia.

At university Lo was thrown off his illustration course and instead studied printmaking. But as soon as he started working, it was his illustration that was constantly in demand from publications such as The Guardian and the Economist. Now a master of illustration, print and pattern, Gloucestershire-based creative Lo’s work has always had a strong graphic narrative. He has also had a lifelong passion for children’s books, and his bold signature style and endearing animal characters have an immediate visual appeal.

You can see how he answered our questions on this link to his interview:

Lo_Cole_interview.pdf