Soon after the start of the lockdown, I was approached by The Crystal Palace Town Team to create an eye-catching illustration for a community website in south London. In response to the COVID-19 crisis they had created a website where local businesses could publicise their goods and services, assisting their commercial survival and for the local community to find goods and services easily during the crisis. They needed an image that would draw the attention of people to posts on social media (and the pages themselves) instead of just a bland text link.
The Crystal Palace Town Team is a voluntary group of local traders, community groups, residents and local authority councillors set up to promote and improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of the neighbourhood area of Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood.
My finished design is based around an image of a wire shopping basket, but also incorporates local landmarks: the park sphinx statues, the large sculpture of Sir Joseph Paxton and the TV transmitter tower, thinly disguised as the handle. Also, within the struts of the basket is the image of the Crystal Palace itself that lends its name to the area (but was destroyed by fire in 1936). The rainbow motif is something that many people have used during the pandemic to symbolise hope, community and support.
