The Guide for Army Families

I am the product of an army lifestyle. The first 10 years of my life I lived abroad through my dad working as a civil servant for the MOD. My practice involves utilizing my distinct cartoon style to interpret a range of themes.

I was hit with a major sense of nostalgia while on a tour around Kinloss Barracks. I wanted to draw on this feeling more when we talked about family life within the army briefly as I realised this feeling was about visiting a place I had been before, I was around people who had a similar lifestyle to me. I needed to find a way to combine this idea of lifestyle and my feelings towards that lifestyle. I stumbled across the guidebook for Army Families online, and I knew I could do something cool with that using my digital expertise.

I want people to make their own minds up about how they feel about the army. When you’re a kid living within the army environment you’ve got no choice but to just get on with it. I still look back fondly about my time there. The army, regardless of whatever role someone plays is just a job like any other. My work is displayed as a form of comparison between the two versions of the guidebook, one which has been ‘redone’ by me. Alongside it is the full original document so the scale of the project can be seen too.

I have learned a lot of things including how I can use my Visual Communication skills in a Fine Art context. Creating a professional booklet is something I haven’t done for a while but knowing I can use it as an art piece itself is an exciting prospect.