Linn Fritz illustrates the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2021

Colours are given liberty to take centre stage whilst disproportionate characters gleam with joy surrounded by their favourite books in Linn Fritz’s latest commission. Animations bounce around the boards, leaflets and flyers of the Scottish capital in anticipation of the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s launch, aiming to instil a sense of joy around reading.

Fritz, the Swedish and East London-based illustrator of Pocko agency, is the co-founder of Panimation, a community of women, trans and non-binary individuals aiming to support one another within the animation industry. Fritz was invited by EIBF to illustrate the festival’s 2021 campaign, working with the Scottish agency Tangent Graphic, after last year’s was postponed due to the pandemic.

Fritz’s animations, which usually display pleasant scenes of movement such as watering plants, cycling, and walking dogs, would seem to be the ideal fit for a campaign which seeks to remind us of the simple joy within the act of reading a new book or the comfort of picking up your trusty old favourite for a re-read. “As always”, she mentions, “I like to capture the moments of life through the beauty of the everyday, using colour, shape, line and playfulness.”

Fritz says that Tangent Graphic and the festival trusted her completely with her original style, which was part of the “beauty” of working closely with them. It was important for both the artist and the festival that they “try to represent everyone and create a sense of belonging”.

Despite beginning the project just as the pandemic was emerging at the start of the 2020, Fritz overcame the challenge of having to hold off all her creative energy. She claims there is a “deep satisfaction about being able to create something” and gathering inspiration from the physical and cyber worlds; "it’s always a battle to keep the passion alive in spite of self-doubts.”

This was Fritz’s first campaign, so it was a “foreign feeling” for her. “I try to find inspiration in everyday moments of life and people watching”, she tells me. She claims that the festival is such an important event, and the largest of its kind in the world, so when designing, she had to consider the festival’s distinct feel, trying to capture the energy and location. Fritz even traveled to the city for a few days to gather all the inspiration she needed just before getting started, which helped her tremendously.

The festival launches on 14 August 2021 and will run till the end of the month.