Who can you trust in a post-truth world?

Illustrations for The Long+Short inspired by London crowds

Illustration of a crowd of people

Illustration of a crowd of people

I was recently commissioned to create three illustrations for the digital magazine The Long+Short. It wasn't a straightforward commission as the concept of trust was integral to the article and it didn't immediately conjure up easy imagery. I persevered, though, and am pleased with the diverse trio of concepts I came up with. The above image is essentially about suspicion and is directly inspired by the oodles of people you see walking around central London. These characters mainly came from people I've seen in Trafalgar Square and Borough High Street.

Illustration of a jumbo jet with balloons

Illustration of a jumbo jet with balloons

The next image was about a loss of trust. 'Cautious Jumbo' was the unofficial title I gave it and you can hopefully see that someone on the plane felt the need to add some helium balloons to help it stay in the air.

Illustration of a girl in a breathing mask with flowers

Illustration of a girl in a breathing mask with flowers

The final image was a mixture of suspicion and lack of trust, I think. The woman is no longer confident that the sweet-smelling flowers are what they purport to be, hence the breathing mask.

The Long+Short is an online publication owned by the innovation charity Nesta, an organisation I did a body of other work for that you can see here.