Illustrator Chester Holme describes himself as “a simple man,” adding that he’s not trying to change the world. Instead, his goal is much more achievable, and arguably much more worthwhile: make people happy. “I just want to make people laugh and get that spark of connection with me and the way I see things,” he explained in an interview with Ballpit Magazine.
We can attest that scrolling through his Instagram page might just cure your winter blues. His simplified caricatures are composed of color and shape. “I like working with small palettes of strong colors, thick lines, simplified shapes, and flattened perspectives,” says Holme.
According to him, finding just the right color palette is the hardest part. “I sometimes feel like there’s some super obvious and simple trick that everyone else knows about that means you can generate a beautiful palette with no fuss,” he jokes. “I’m constantly looking for color pairings and combinations and scavenging them for my own filthy ends. I’ve got a massive folder on my computer of colors and palette ideas that I’ve found all over the internet, or in books, or out in the real world. When a new project comes along, I go straight to my folder, cobble a few scraps together and come out with a palette. It’s a process that works to varying degrees of success.”
His method seems to have worked, with his illustrations amassing to a coherent and playful color story or reds, yellows, and greens. Based in South East London, Holme has attracted clients as big as Virgin, House of Vans, and Twitter. You’d want to follow his work just as well:
