To everyone who’s sent in their image – both the commissioned ones who we’ve contacted directly and the open submission work – we’d like to send out our thanks. Everyone has pulled out an interesting visual angle, we’ve received some incredibly crafted and clever work, and we wouldn’t hesitate to say that Memories is going to be one of the most inspiring illustration books of the century. All the more so because of the subject matter, the way our illustrators have tackled it, and the fact that it will make a big difference to our charity beneficiary, Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres.

To everyone whose image we’re still waiting for… well, the clock is ticking. We don’t mean this in a nasty way or anything like that, we know you’re busy pros, but if you can’t get it in to us by 3rd September then unfortunately we’re going to have to drop you from the line-up and that would be a darned shame. So, for both commissioned work and for open submissions, please hit us with your image by 3rd September 2010.

So, signing off, we’d just like to say that the Memories plan is coming together. Watch this space…

all the best
Antony, Rishi, Stu, Charlotte & Garrick @MemoriesBook

DAHRA (Designers Against Human Rights Abuse), Subism and an editorial team led by Garrick Webster have teamed together to create a new project entitled Memories in aid of Maggie’s Centres, a UK based cancer charity.

Maggie’s Centres can be found at various hospitals across the UK and offer advice, support and counselling to those who are suffering from cancer and their families. It is their fundamental belief that the healing process goes beyond that of just medical treatments and it is this holistic approach that led their London centre to win the British Sterling Prize in 2009 (Britain’s best building).

Memories is honoured to support such a worthwhile charity and the work they do through creating a book that comprises of 12 personal accounts of peoples’ experience with cancer and 144 wonderful pieces of art based on these. However, unlike previous projects, 24 of these pieces are being left open to Open Submissions, with the best 24 entries being featured in the book and subsequent exhibition. It’s an excellent opportunity for new and upcoming artists, designers and illustrators to contribute to a great cause. Those entries that unfortunately do not make it into the book will be featured online as we appreciate all the time and effort you put in, but due to budgetary constraints we can only select 24.

To enter the open submissions and for a copy of the brief please email:

memories@subism.co.uk
For more information on the project, to keep up to date with all the behind the scenes work feel free to check out our blog:

http://memories.subism.co.uk
or follow us on twitter:

http://twitter.com/MemoriesBook
For more information on Maggie’s and the wonderful work they do please visit their online community at:

http://community.maggiescentres.org

We’re sending out our thanks to Jacob Denno at Popshot Magazine. Popshot fuses fantastic creative writing through the poetry it publishes with amazing imagery from the illustrators who illuminate the poems.

Jacob has contacted Popshot’s network of writers via email and the Popshot blog to let them know that we are now open to submissions by writers who’d like their work published in Memories. He’ll also be  helping us judge the entries – his experience with creative writing and poetry will be an asset.

To find out how to submit your own story about cancer, click here. Thanks again to Popshot.

The Memories project is welcoming written submissions to fill two of the positions we’ve planned for stories within the book. Here are the ins and outs of it:

We’re looking for a great piece of writing that captures a memory you have that relates to cancer. Inside the book, there will be two kinds of stories. One section is going to be by people who have lost a friend or relative to the disease, and their recollection of a day or moments they spent with their loved one. The other is about people who have survived, and their reflections on the effects the disease had on them. We’re looking for one story for each section of the book that will come via this open submissions process. (For more on the overall idea of Memories see http://memories.subism.co.uk/about-the-project/)

It’s not a competition and there are no prizes as such. The reward if your story is selected for print will be to see your story in the book, alongside 12 amazing illustrations. However, stories that don’t run in the book will be posted here on our blog so your writing will still get an audience. (Barring any that contain inappropriate material, though that seems highly unlikely!) Either way, submitting something will be a massive boost to our project.

Judging of the entries will be done by the Memories team (Antony Kitson, Rishi Sodha, Stuart Boyd and Garrick Webster) with the help of guest judge Jacob Denno. Jacob is the editor of Popshot magazine, which is a fantastic and beautifully printed forum for both poetry and illustration. See www.popshotpopshot.com

Your story needs to be 450-550 words in length. Most of the book’s content at the moment is written in prose, though we do have one poem already, and if you want to write poetry just let us know. The closing date for written submissions will be 31 December 2009. Email writers@memories.subism.co.uk and I’ll send you our full writers brief.

There will be ten stories inside, each looking at one person’s recollection of a particular day in the struggle against cancer. For each of these ‘memories’ a dozen leading artists, illustrators and designers have been invited to create their own visual response. Nearly all their submissions are in, and the work is looking fantastic.

Two further stories were put out as ‘open briefs’ and we invited creatives from around the world to email us to receive a brief and then to create an image based on the story we sent them. We are busy choosing the best submissions we received to go into the book. Watch this space.