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InspirationIllustration

Nick Alston's fun and playful illustrations inspired by Tokyo's charm

British illustrator Nick Alston gets more than his fair share of inspiration from living in Japan. You can see Tokyo's charming influence in many of his bright and colourful illustrations. It's the kind of thing you'd expect from being based in the world's largest and most exciting city.

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Open book with a minimalist illustration of a face with closed eyes and horizontal lines across mint green pages, held by colourful bulldog clips

Nick studied Illustration at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee before undertaking an MA at Camberwell College of Art in London. Describing his style as "fun and simplistic", has worked and collaborated with a variety of clients including Anorak Magazine, Belly Kids, Google City Experts, The V&A and Print Club London.

We especially love his recent series of Eye Spy illustrations and his cover for The Tokyoiter, which he says was inspired by the first time he saw a Sumo wrestler: "It was at my local station, where he was looking at his phone, waiting for a train."

All images courtesy of the artist

Colourful illustration of a busy Tokyo street scene with lantern signs, a tower, shops and crowds of people under a blue sky
Illustrated figure on a bicycle riding through rolling green hills under a blue sky with Japanese characters and "Shimanami Kaido" text above
The Tokyoiter magazine cover featuring an illustration of a sumo wrestler in a blue patterned robe looking at his phone against an orange background with white circular patterns
Two simple line drawings clipped to a grid background: a figure with hands framing their face on blue paper, and a figure with wavy hair on orange paper
Two pages of Nick Alston's illustrated notebook featuring simple line drawings: a sad face with long hair on blue paper and a minimalist figure on yellow paper, held open with colourful clips against a tiled background
Two simple line drawings on coloured paper pinned to a grid: a yellow sheet showing a minimalist face with hand raised to head, and a green sheet depicting a side profile with an open hand beside it
Two pages of Nick Alston's simple line drawings held by coloured clips, featuring minimalist figures with curved striped forms against white and green backgrounds
Illustration of the word "Farrago" composed of icons including a rifle, deer skull, boots, hands, bottle, badge and banknotes on a light blue background
Three cartoon characters with antler-like branches for hair, wearing colourful clothes and striped accessories, illustrated by Nick Alston with the text Sento-Kuiv below
A storefront with Japanese signage and a large black and white mural of a sumo wrestler in a dynamic pose on the shutter door
Illustrated Tiger Balm ointment jar with red hexagonal lid, blue sides, yellow label featuring a jumping tiger, and green circular stamps on yellow background
Stylised character with geometric patterning covering half the face, wearing a cowboy hat against a pink background, labelled Westworld below
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