Just a Coffee, Please

A double page spread from Savannah Storm's 'Just a Coffee, Please' risograph printed zine.

Fabrik: Hey Savannah, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Your portfolio is a real treasure trove of aesthetic goodies, but for those who haven't visited, maybe you could tell us a bit about what you do?

Savannah: "I’m a freelance illustrator, I do a bit of everything but mainly specialise in creating educational and informative illustrations, often non-fiction, for clients such as museums, arts organisations, charities and the heritage sector. I love working on projects involving drawing food and recipes, people and places, history, science and dinosaurs! 

For me, illustration is an amazing tool for accessibility, to help clarify and aid understanding of complex themes, as well as to tell stories - and of course to make everything more aesthetically pleasing. When I’m not working on designs for clients, I’m making zines and comics, I’m really inspired by visual storytelling through the varied medium of comics.  I also love drawing in my sketchbooks, often from observation to record ideas and capture the world around me."

Fabrik: Have you curated your portfolio to appeal to certain clients or do you find people just like to work with you because they love your style?

Savannah: "Personally, I find it best not to overthink my website portfolio too much, and to just present an authentic overview of the projects I’ve done, things I like and things I’m interested in. This way, clients can picture what their idea might look like in my style, without making it too targeted, as I love hearing different ideas and working together to create great visuals!"

Illustrations taken from Savannah's portfolio site

Fabrik: One of your pieces of work 'Just a Coffee, Please' tells, as you put it, 'A story of coffee's journey to your cup'. Was this zine born from a personal love for coffee or were there other inspirations?

Savannah: "I worked as a barista for quite a few years, but before that I’d never even tried a cup of coffee! What struck me whilst I was working in a cafe was that so much went into the process from bean to cup, and it is easy to feel disconnected from the origins and processes it takes to produce things we sometimes take for granted. 

I had the idea to show this in a visual, wordless way, so it was fully accessible and anyone could read and quickly understand it, without having to read reams of text about it. Through this, I aimed to draw attention to the true cost of coffee. I’d been feeling inspired by comics and thought this might be the perfect project to experiment with a blend of non-fiction and comic storytelling."

Sketches from the North Star coffee roastery tour

Fabrik: Could you walk us through the process of how you created it?

Savannah: "I started like I start most projects with a flurry of chaotic notes and scribbles in my sketchbook, which soon became a plan and some rough thumbnails for some of the pages. I divided the zine into 3 sections, Growing, Roasting and Brewing. For the Growing section, I researched by reading books about the plants and the farmers producing the coffee beans, as well as watching documentaries, and listening to podcasts. 

The Roasting section was where I needed to do some hands-on research, as it seemed very complicated! I was very kindly invited to a roastery tour at North Star coffee roasters in Leeds, where I got to see the process with my own eyes, ask questions and make sketches. You can see it all here.

Brewing was the easy part, as I’d done it all before, grinding the beans, using the espresso machine, and pouring the latte art (although I think I’ll stick to drawing on paper, no swans from me!) 

Top & Bottom: BTS & sketches from Just a Coffee, Please

Fabrik: The finish on the zine is great, what made you choose to risograph print?

Savannah: "I was introduced to risograph printing at university, and loved the tactile feel and the analogue effect created by how the different colour layers align and create new shades. I’d wanted to get back into it, so of course jumped in the deep end creating a full 32 page comic in three colours: black, orange and green. The orange and green mix to create the brown of the coffee throughout, so it was a lot of brain power to work out how to set up the files to achieve the effects I wanted! 

It was a real learning curve but I enjoyed the challenge, and appreciated the amazing riso printing skills of Footprint Workers Co-op in Leeds."

Close-up of 'Just a Coffee, Please' showing the details of the risograph print.

Fabrik: What's next in the pipeline for you?

Savannah: "I’ve just been on an amazing trip to Japan - so I’m now planning to create a new diary comic zine about my experiences, with some spreads from my travel sketchbook. 

I’ve also got some really exciting client projects lined up that I can’t wait to get started on in the new year!"

Various illustrations from Savannah's travels around Japan

Fabrik: Thanks so much for chatting with us Savannah - just a couple more things, firstly with Christmas around the corner, what's your film recommendation?!

Savannah: "Definitely a Studio Ghibli marathon, my favourite is Porco Rosso!"

Savannah showcasing her work at Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival

Fabrik: And lastly, why did you pick Fabrik?

Savannah: "I wanted a website builder that was easy to use and not too time-consuming, to free up more of my time for actually drawing! At the same time, I wanted something that looked good and was built with creative portfolios in mind, so Fabrik ticks all the boxes for me."

Discover Savannah's Portfolio

---

Get In Condition

We're always keen to see what you've created. Follow our social feeds and tag your new work with #onfabrik when you're ready to show it to the world. Apologies; we can't add spec work, ads or commercial content to our Maker or Conditioner series.