I spoke to Russell Abrahams, founder and Creative Director of the illustration studio Yay Abe.
Russell’s journey as an illustrator started back in 2013. While working on a second year project at CPUT, guest lecturer Brendon Barnard picked up one of Russell’s doodles and advised him that he should start to focus on illustration. It was a small piece of advice that would jumpstart his obsession with drawing.
“Last year was definitely a blessing,” Russell expressed when mentioning the projects he had been a part of. Under his personal brand, Fatlip Russell, he had the opportunity to work on the key visuals for the Redbull Amaphiko Film Festival in collaboration with Made Agency. Another career highlight was being selected as one of the winners for the Woolworths x Pharrell tshirt competition. In his description of all the projects that he was a part of the words ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’ always came up. This is a reflection of the attitude he has towards his creative process. The multiple projects that Russell has been part of are a demonstration of how he likes to describe the way he thinks about his illustrating style. Russell enjoys blending together geometric and organic shapes in his work. Over the years he has learned that embracing a visual language that crosses multiple styles is what has helped his work do develop technically and aesthetically. This stems from advice he was given by a mentor about practicing ones craft as being the most important element in perfecting ones abilities in any creative field. Seeing his work being associated with such well-known brands has encouraged him to take his illustration work one step further.
Not letting his nerves discourage him, Russell has taken the decision to move away from his personal brand and to start a new illustration studio in Cape Town called Yay Abe. “The vision for Yay Abe is to become one of the most prominent voices in South African popular culture by using illustration as the driving tool. I honestly want Yay Abe to only create work that is authentic and engaging to its audience,” Russell explained. Part of his decision to step away from his personal brand was informed by his desire to build a business that could empower other people. He wants to create a platform that will be a catalyst for other illustrators of colour to get into the industry. With a number of projects in the pipeline already, be sure to check out Yay Abe on Instagram to keep up-to-date with their work and to find out when their website will officially be launched.
