About

Alice Smith is an artist and freelance illustrator
and designer based in Lancashire, UK.

Author of The Physick Garden

Art director of the Idler magazine idler.co.uk

Other half of Bracketpress bracketpress.co.uk

Alice has illustrated and designed books for publishers including:
Francis Lincoln, Penguin, Hamish Hamilton, Pan Macmillan.
Created graphics for numerous festivals, and imagery for several projects commissioned by the fashion curator Judith Clark.

Many of her commissioned and personal projects involve evoking atmosphere, humour, and story elements, with a focus on illustrating and documenting historical, scientific, psychological, sociological themes, which vary from project to project, often playing with visual allegories and metaphors to relay complex stories and knowledge, to create new and surreal interpretations. 

In developing her work, she starts with in-depth research from historical and modern reference material, experimenting with collage elements and then developing them as sketches, often utilising and blending traditional printmaking and digital media to create installations and exhibitions, in the form of framed prints, timeline murals and illustrative paper installations. 

Her work has been exhibited at various venues in the UK, USA and in Europe, and regularly exhibits and sells her work at print fairs in the UK.

Alice co-founded the small press imprint Bracketpress www.bracketpress.co.uk with her partner Christian Brett. They publish mostly philosophical and political books and prints. Much of their back catalogue contains collaborative projects with Penny Rimbaud (ex-Crass), and more recently the film maker Richard Jobson (The Skids) and Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods. The Bracketpress archive is held by the Special Collections Library at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Clients and collaborations include:
Incline Press
Exitstencil Press
Francis Lincoln
Penguin
Hamish Hamilton
Unbound Books
Pan Macmillan
Judith Clark (curator)
Marcel Theroux (writer)
Matt Hulse (film maker/artist)
Leeds Central Library: Room 700 gallery space
Barbican Art Gallery
Royal Academy of Dance's Dance Gazette
Leftbank Leeds
Leeds Corn Exchange
Littleborough Arts Festival
Rochdale Ideas and Literature Festival
Greater Manchester Museums Group
Latitude Festival
Vauxhall Motors

For more details, email: alice@alice-smith.co.uk