Ellis Brown is an illustrator based in Portsmouth, UK. For illustration enquires get in touch ✷ → hello@ellisbrown.art
skill swap society
We are a collective of artists and designers with experience in a variety of creative disciplines and career fields. With a combined range of extensive skills, members at the society aim to support and enhance one another’s creative practices by swapping expertise, knowledge and advise as well as promoting our outcomes and achievements.
Skill Swap Society provides a space where creatives from any levels and disciplines can chat, connect, collaborate, draw, make, practice skills and present!
meet the creator
Ellis created Skill Swap Society back in January 2021 as a way to regularly connect, support and encourage creatives from a variety of disciplines throughout lockdown. Since then, she has met a large number of practising artists from many countries and have shared experiences and skills via a range of social media platforms.
Ellis is an illustrator, currently located in Portsmouth, UK, with an eclectic appreciation for old music, cult films and iconic fashion throughout the ages. A common theme embedded in her self-directed work predominantly refers to the act of 'looking back', exploring themes of nostalgia, memory, collecting and recording of past eras.
With a huge passion for mentoring, Ellis is working on becoming a creative mentor where she can be involved in the community and with fellow creatives, helping them to experiment and develop their own artistic voice.
If you would like to say hi or get in contact with Ellis!
@ellisbrown.art
We are a collective of artists and designers with experience in a variety of creative disciplines and career fields. With a combined range of extensive skills, members at the society aim to support and enhance one another’s creative practices by swapping expertise, knowledge and advise as well as promoting our outcomes and achievements.
We hold monthly ‘SSS’ sessions online that provide a space where society members can connect, network, collaborate, mentor, practice skills and present our work/projects! These recorded sessions are then shared on our private Facebook group to recap or discuss further. Outcomes of these sessions are promoted via our Instagram and Facebook page, along with any related events or achievements and helpful resources!
‘Skill Swap Society’ stemmed from our members’ skills and the array of creative career fields they have experience/work in.
‘SSS’ was formed in early January 2021, in the hopes of connecting with fellow creatives and experiencing a community - especially throughout lockdown. Ellis’ initial post via The Dots about monthly ‘get-togethers’ received a lot of attention and engagement from creatives of Illustration, Fine Art, Design, Print-making, Textiles, Film and Photography backgrounds. We were all interested in taking part in monthly sessions, in order to discuss our experiences and skills in our chosen creative career field.
This influenced Ellis to name this collective ‘Skill Swap Society’ and to focus our monthly sessions on learning, ‘upskilling’ and developing our practice.
When we are little, we are taught to write in a pencil, to practise our handwriting or drawing skills before using other/more permanent materials.
By choosing a pencil as Skill Swap Society’s logo, we hoped it would symbolise and promote learning and practising of new skills, and represent the initial stages of our working processes. We hoped it would suggest that you can always make mistakes, start fresh and try again and also to experiment before committing to a final idea.
By choosing a ‘bendy’ pencil as the logo, we hoped it would represent the learning curve we all experience when learning something new and symbolise the ‘swap’ of skills from one member to another.
monthly zoom sessions
As many of our members join from a range of countries, we aim to hold monthly zoom sessions for us to catch up and get together! We use these sessions to talk about recent projects, to provide advice for those who need it and to learn new skills from each other.
It's great to chat virtually, but hopefully one day we could all meet and potentially curate a group exhibition to show off our skills, connections and outcomes from joining Skill Swap Society!
From left to right: @juliettebricker @ellisbrown.art @absadstudio @mcindoedesign @drawnbygeorgiab @catrionamade @emilielim
From left to right: @bridget_jones_designs @ellisbrown.art @vavandesign @rachyloulee @kmw_design
society members
Here is a selection of works from our society members. To find out more, follow the links provided for each creative.
Maddy McIndoe
Creator of McIndoe Design
'McIndoe design is a small independent brand that has grown from a love of colour, travel and having fun with clothes. Taking inspiration from a number of places, each print starts life as a doodle or drawing in Maddy's sketchbook, resulting in a rather eclectic aesthetic. McIndoe Design is conscious brand working towards being as sustainable as possible, and making wearable, lovely things that truly last, rather than chasing fleeting trends.'
@mcindoedesign @maddymcindoe
Photo owned by McIndoe Design
Catriona MacDonald
Freelance Illustrator, Graphic Designer and creator of Catriona Made
'Catriona is a freelance Graphic Designer and Illustrator and occasional earring maker. Catriona specialises in creating brand identities and informative illustration with an aim to help clients communicate clearly and meet their goals - whether that’s through a shiny new logo, campaign or illustration.'
@catrionamade
Illustration by Catriona MacDonald
Zoe Shields
Illustrator and Animator
'Zoe is a self taught illustrator and animator working across digital and traditional mediums. She draws her inspiration from the natural world, the people around her and from world mythology, which she likes to capture with bold and bright symbolism and colour. Zoe has worked on several editorial projects, has been hired to collaborate with clothes designers and ceramicists to create one of a kind designs, and has completed artwork for albums and mixtapes!'
@zsillustration
www.zsillustration.blogspot.com
Animation crop by Zoe Shields
Juliette Bricker
Creator of Stoon Magazine and Dirty Buckets
'Juliette is a multi-disciplinary designer, with a love for design and all things creative. Juliette has had the responsibility of editing two issues of 'Stoon Magazine' that aims to highlight and raise awareness for local businesses in Saskatoon through an artistic lens and in a meaningful way. As a side hustle, Juliette also runs 'Dirty Buckets' a fashion apparel brand that aims to 'help not hurt' the earth by creating bucket hats from sustainable, recycled and thrifted finds!'
@juliettebricker @stoonmag @weardirtybuckets
Photo owned by Juliette Bricker
Georgia Barrell
Illustrator and Print Designer
Creator of Drawn By Georgia B
'Georgia is a Print Designer and Illustrator, with a love of bright and bold patterns. Each print starts with a drawing using traditional medium, it is then scanned and rendered into a gorgeous repeat pattern. Georgia's work can be seen on a range of products such as pillows, masks and sketchbook covers.'
@drawnbygeorgiab
Illustration by Georgia Barrell
Kitty Turner
Multidisciplinary Artist
'Kitty is a multidisciplinary artist with skills in illustration, design, animation and model making. She loves working across a variety of traditional and digital mediums as well as exploring new methods of creativity. Some notable projects include designing commissions for the University of Portsmouth and creating Drawn to Light, a stop motion animated short film, which has been selected for multiple film festivals.'
@kturnerillustration
Photo owned by Kitty Turner
Rachel Leeder
Video Editor and Animator
'Rachel is a video editor and animator. After studying film at university, she got a full time video editing job working for a media company but in her free time enjoys working on animations. Rachel is confident in Adobe Creative Software to edit and make her animations and knows the basics of using Avid Media Composer and Final Cut X.'
@rachyloulee
www.vimeo.com/rachellouiseleeder
Animation crop by Rachel Leeder
Bridget Jones
Print/Graphic Designer and Textiles Practice Graduate
'Bridget is a print/graphic designer and textiles practice graduate with industry experience in London, Stockholm and Brussels. Within her works, Bridget addresses the topic of fast fashion. The use of creative, thought provoking design inspires the viewer to consider where products come from and shop more sustainably!'
@bridget_jones_designs
www.sluggy.wixsite.com/bridgetjones
Photograph owned by Bridget Jones
Sergej Vavan
Creator of Vavan Design
'Sergej is a self taught designer, brand strategist, identity designer, web & UX designer and webflow developer. Sergej is passionate about connecting, collaborating and mentoring fellow creatives. With experience in various creative fields, Sergej aims to help bring ideas to life with his knowledge and expertise in graphics, type and design.
@vavandesign
Photo owned by Sergej Vavan
testimonials
"A lovely, friendly space to share projects and ideas. I always come away from meetings in a great mood" - Maddy McIndoe
follow us on social media
Want to find out more and stay up to date with everything that goes on at Skill Swap Society? Follow us on our social media accounts for more information and access to our monthly meetings! If you would like to become a member or interview sss, please contact Ellis via email hello@ellisbrown.art or instagram @skillswapsociety :)
any questions? get in touch!
If you would like to find our more information or have any questions about Skill Swap Society and our aims, feel free to get in touch with Ellis! You can contact her via email hello@ellisbrown.art or Instagram @skillswapsociety :)
