Name John Shelley | Role Illustrator | |
 | ||
Education Bournville Centre for Visual Arts Known for Illustration, Children's literature | ||
Nationality British (Anglo-Welsh) | ||
John Shelley (ジョン・シェリー） is an award winning British-born illustrator, particularly noted for his work in Japan.
Career
John Shelley (born 1959) grew up in Sutton Coldfield before studying illustration at Bournville School of Art and Manchester Polytechnic under Tony Ross. His first children's trade picture book The Secret in the Matchbox published by André Deutsch and Farrar, Straus and Giroux was shortlisted for the Mother Goose Award in the UK and won a Parents' Choice Award in the US in 1989.
From 1987-2008, he lived in Tokyo, rising to prominence following a series of posters for Parco, the fashion retail chain of Seibu Department Stores, and animated TV commercials for Mitsubishi Estate Co.in the early 1990s. He received a Dentsu Ad Award for a Suntory Whisky newspaper ad in 1991, and a Nikkei Environmental Ad Award in 1993. From 2000-2007, he was Vice Chairman of the International Committee of the Japan Graphic Designers Association (JAGDA).
Children's Books
Since his first book commission, Jeremy Strong's Fatbag (1983), he's illustrated titles for publishers in the UK, Japan and the USA. He's a former Board member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
In 2002 the comic character "Brat" was launched, appearing in Japan on apparel, collectors figurines and a web comic. Shelley returned to the UK in 2008 following the death of his wife, and currently lives in Norfolk.
Sources & Refs
FEN Guide November 1991
Mainichi Shimbun Face No.330 2004
Icon Magazine September 2004
The Communicator February 2002