When growing up, I realized I had a slight issue with authority and would probably never be able to hold a 9 to 5 job. I knew I needed to find a career path that was flexible enough and would allow me to one day become independent so I went for Art school to study graphic design and advertising.

After my studies I did an internship at Studio Airside, in London, and later got offered a permanent job there as a junior designer. I absolutely loved the Airside years: back then it was my dream job, I loved their work and their ethos. It was a perfect match for my personality and a very inspirational place. We were given real freedom there and they always pushed to work on personal projects on down time. I learned a lot there and after 5 years, I felt ready to become independent and focus on my own illustrative work. It was a tough decision, a bit like a break up for me. But I knew I had to make the leap.

As hard as it was, I never looked back on my decision. So far, I have been lucky enough to be given a lot of freedom and leeway by my clients, which is a great feeling. I think this partly comes from the field I'm in: Illustration still holds a sort of magic and mystery and I don’t have to endure the same skepticism that my fellow graphic designers sometimes go through with clients. When a client commissions you, he already bought into your work and he needs you to bring a concept to life. He expects you to have ideas, to make decisions and, most importantly, to leave a mark on the project. You're not only here to style things up, people come to you with a problem and you have to find the best solution. It's the reason why I love the challenge of doing commissions.

After 3 years as an illustrator, I feel I need a bit of a change right now. I am very compulsive and produce a lot on a weekly basis, which can be draining. I often wonder if I will be an illustrator all my life... Illustrators’ career are hard to sustain for decades, only a happy few manage to reinvent themselves all the time and stay current. Becoming a one-trick-pony is what I fear the most. I'm trying to change things up at the minute and experiment with new mediums like illustration on objects and textiles. This year, I'd love to try my hand at scenography for window displays and to collaborate with product designers in order to create objects...

The creative world is moving at light speed and constantly moulting and I think it's important to frequently question yourself: to know what you really need, what you love, what makes you happy at the moment and do your best to get it. Of course, you have to make choices which unfortunately includes making sacrifices... But hey!

Malika Favre

French Illustrator based in London.