The talent behind balance’s illustrations: Clarisse Hassan!

You may have noticed some beautiful new illustrations across our website and today we want to introduce you to the talent behind these: Clarisse Hassan!

Following the launch, we asked Clarisse to share a few words about herself, her work and the balance illustration project!

“I’ve always loved drawing and I used to draw in the margins of all my coursework in school. I decided I wanted to be an illustrator quite early on, and when I finished school I applied to UAL in London to study an Illustration BA. I had a great time there, developing my style and having a go at all the printmaking workshops (it used to be the London College of Printing so they have some beautiful really old presses!). I continued my studies at the Royal College of Art with a Masters in Visual Communication and graduated in June of this year. 

Having taken so much time to develop my work in my studies, I realised there were a few topics that really interested me and that I kept coming back to. The representation of women and girls is one of them. This is why I was really excited when I got to illustrate the new characters and patterns for balance. I love the fact that balance enables diverse groups of women to talk about their experience of menopause. It’s a great supportive tool and one that I think is absolutely vital.

I often work on Procreate, I find that they have a great range of brushes that feel just like you’re using a sketchbook, except it’s a much more sophisticated one. I started off sketching a group of women and putting them in different poses. After a while their clothing and their poses evolved and I added the colour in as well. I wanted the finished illustration to feel bright, fun and dynamic.

With the patterns I wanted to incorporate a mix of abstract shapes and more figurative objects that would link to a specific topic. Some of the abstract shapes repeat across the patterns which makes them look more cohesive. I also used a limited colour palette to tie them in together.

I can’t wait to see them dotted around the website!“

We’re so pleased with the illustrations, thanks so much Clarisse from the balance team!

You can visit Clarisse’s work at http://clarissehassan.co.uk, and on Instagram @clarissehassan