Meet our Fresh Talent: Josh Cook brings fantastical satire to our artist-led merchandise programme

Last month, we announced the launch of Fresh Talent, a new initiative from Fourth Floor designed to support and nurture the careers of emerging artists, designers, and illustrators. An imprint of our Fresh Merch merchandise division, Fresh Talent maintains our usual obsession with quality, service, and support, while steering our creator-minded approach in a slightly different direction. 

Where FM’s suite of personalised consultancy, design, retail, and fulfilment services exist to serve content creators, brands, and their audiences, Fresh Talent is all about helping up-and-coming visual creatives get their original ideas out of their studios and on to on-sale products, with exactly the same mindset of empathy, accommodation, and ease-of-use that we afford our brand and influencer clients.

But all of this is just philosophy. What about the art and artists themselves? They, after all, are the reason we’re doing this. The real engine room that gives the Fresh Talent machine purpose and value. We might run the logistical cogs, but the heart of Fresh Talent is in the name. It’s the people and their vision. That’s why going forward we’ll be running personal, one-to-one profile interviews with artists in the Fresh Talent programme, to give you a real insight into who they are, what they craft, and why and how they do it. 

After all, art is an expression before it’s a product, and expression is a fundamentally human matter. So let’s meet our first human. Say hello to Josh Cook.

In a nutshell, who are you, what do you do, and how long have you been doing it?

I’m Josh, a Welsh artist and illustrator. My work is largely based on illustrated characters in a satirical view of the world around us. I mainly format my work through self-published zines and books. I have always been creative, and throughout school I have always seen drawing as a way of expressing my views of the world around me. My work has refined into this particular style of Illustration for about five years now.

Which piece of art (any medium) first really switched you on to this as a vocation?

During college, I started making comic strips to coincide with an animation and ceramic sculpture I made for a project. I think I really found my visual language in the process of that project. It really made me consider taking illustration as a degree and a vocation, to develop it further.

What's the first piece you created that you felt really nailed your style and future direction?

The first piece I created that made me know what direction I wanted to go down was the first ever zine that I created. It was a zine about Internet culture and ‘text speak’. I felt it was the best way for me to narrate and collect all of my ideas together into one physical piece of work.

What are the themes and ideas informing your art at the moment?

I find a lot of inspiration for my work from horror and folklore stories. I am also really interested in themes within the human condition - what consumes us and obsesses us in our day-to-day life, and combining these two in a playful and humorous way.  

What are the key steps to your creative process, start to finish?

I usually take breaks between drawing, as I like to use time to collect and absorb as much information and inspiration I can. In this time, I build ideas and images up in my head. I make a quick rough outline sketch of them, and then use mixed media to colour and add textures. Once, I’m happy with this, I will then finalise them on Photoshop.

How do you feel about the current digital ecosystem as an environment for artists? What's the best and worst thing?

I feel it’s a good way to connect and promote your work as an artist. The best thing about it is building a community of like-minded people to help boost each other’s work. The worst thing about it for me personally is that you might not be able to communicate your ideas as clearly as through a physical copy or print.

What's the direction of what you're working on with Fresh Talent?

I’m taking this opportunity to put some of my favourite designs and characters onto clothing and merch, something I have been keen to experiment with for a while. 

Josh’s first collection for Fresh Talent is live and available right now at his artist page. And excellent it is too. Stay tuned for our next Fresh Talent interview, with contemporary witchcraft enthusiast Suzie B, coming soon.