Jilipollo is one of our favourite illustrators in the entire Creativepool community. Is style is shockingly good, finely detailed and unique, to the point that you'll hardly find anything similar in the Creativepool community. So of course, when he won a Bronze and a Silver in The Annual 2021 for his illustrations, we were all happy for him here in the team.

Javier Medellin Puyou ("Jilipollo") has won a number of Bronzes in The Annual over the awards' lifetime, but it wasn't until Los Gemelos that he managed to snatch a Silver. The work is an illustration created for a podcast, attempting to reflect the intriguing atmosphere of the story in the two twins you can see below. It is a stunning work of art, one very well worthy of a Silver in a category as competitive as Illustration.

Today we are getting Behind the Idea to learn more about Javier's work and how it was able to secure such a coveted award in The Annual 2021 competition.

What do you think impressed the judges about this project?

I am honored to have received a silver award for my work "Los Gemelos". I tried to reflect an intriguing atmosphere in my work through expressions, colours and perspective, and thus reflect the personality and story of the characters. I think that this, as well as the process of the work, could have been of interest to the judges.

What was the brief?

I was asked to make an illustration that had to reflect a podcast chapter of the magazine Migala. The podcast chapters talk about urban stories of the capital of my country, Mexico, so the chapter talks about the life of two twins, their low class life and how they became delinquents, the life of their mother, uncle, grandmother... and despite they were family, at the end they died alone, just as they lived their life.

Tell us more about the concept. How did it come to life, and why was it the right choice?

Despite being a long story with several chapters, I believe that the essence of the story lies in the personality formed by the lifestyle that these twins led, the family problems, the lack of love and attention, the lack of a father, as well as the constant economic problems that led them to commit crimes. The representation of the weapons shaped like birds reflects this.

In the end, they were always alone, despite having relatives close to them. It is for the latter that both they and their family are inside cages without any contact between them, despite being close to each other in the same tree that represents the family nucleus.

How did Covid restrictions influence your winning projects and how did you approach these new challenges?

It seems to me that since all this began, creatives began to see the world from another perspective, and as they say, difficult circumstances in life are triggers for creativity. We cannot let ourselves fall in these times, I think that we must know how to face both creative and professional challenges in our field to survive and propose individual and global solutions. Creativity is a very effective tool for this.

What is one funny or notable thing that happened during the production of the campaign?

While I was working on the illustration and placing the characters inside the cages, while being very close to each other, it left me thinking and somehow relating this analogy to the circumstances we are going through the pandemic: we can have people relatively close, but at the same time we find ourselves isolated from each other, almost as if we were also caged ourselves!

How long did it take from inception to delivery?

I think it took me about twenty days, from embracing the subject, coming up with ideas, sketches, revisions and finally having the final result.

What do you hope it achieves for the client?

I hope that my contribution will be important for the book and the collection of stories that are told in its podcast, as well as attracting more people interested in those fascinating stories.

What advice would you share with other agencies and individuals looking to grab an award?

Work hard. Be disciplined. Don't blame third parties for your failures and mistakes, and always learn from them. Be passionate. Eventually you will improve and will be more professional.

What is your most exciting project in the next year?

I am planning to create an online community where enthusiasts and I can interact and share experiences and illustration tips through workshops.

Will you enter again in 2022? If so, what are your hopes?

Of course I will enter again, hoping to receive the gold award!

How do you plan to display your award?

Proudly in my studio!