Jo Ratcliffe is a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

based artist known for her kaleidoscopic animations, strange hand-drawn characters, and spindly scenes sometimes overlain atop live action footage. She is frequently commissioned by fashion labels and magazines to create art films, animations and editorials that appear both online and in print. Her illustrations are highly visible, regularly featured on the covers of ''Vogue Nippon'' and ''Vogue UK,'' as well as in the promotional imagery of

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

. Ratcliffe is also an animation director and designer for notable clients such as

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

Kenzo is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *賢三, "wise, three" *健三, "healthy, three" *謙三, "humble, three" *健想, "healthy, concept" *建造, "bu ...

Barneys New York Barneys New York Inc. is an American luxury brand founded in New York City in 1923. It has introduced major designers including Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, Christian Louboutin, and Ermenegildo Zegna to the US market. Barneys N ...

Jimmy Choo Datuk Jimmy Choo Back from ...

and

. Her in-house studio consists of herself and a specialist team focusing on illustration, animation, graphic design, logo design, and other various disciplines.

Early life and education

Born in

Berkshire, England Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, Jo Ratcliffe studied painting and print making at Saint Martin's College of Art and Design in London. Just out of college, she got her first art job drawing the comic book adventures of "Cindy" for Marvel Comics. Ratcliffe wielded this same hand-drawn aesthetic in her early editorial work for London-based fashion-art magazine, Dazed and Confused, to which she regularly contributed, incorporating illustration into graphics. Although she came from a background of working with traditional media, Ratcliffe later taught herself Photoshop and Illustrator - still her tools of choice.

Career

Jo Ratcliffe is known for her animated fashion films, typographic work, and graphics. But her surreal illustrations of lanky, hand drawn women have also garnered attention from magazines lik
Another MagazineV Magazine

Juxtapoz ''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...

, computerarts,

NOWNESS Nowness (stylized NOWNESS) is a digital video channel that was launched in 2010 by its founder Jefferson Hack as a brand of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.

and "The Gentlewoman." Stylistically, Ratcliffe's work lends itself to fashion and hand drawn illustration. Ratcliffe has served as director and designer on fashion films both animated and live-action for high-profile fashion labels, including Nina Ricci, Kenzo, Chloe, Jimmy Choo
Barneys New York
and Cole Haan. In an interview with crane.tv she discusses a project she did with Kate Moss and, fashion house, Balmain in which she was asked to convey Moss's mood through animation. In addition to animation and illustration, Jo Ratcliffe also specialises in logo design as well as set design. Her sets have been used on photo shoots for American Vogue and Wallpaper Magazine. And her candy colored, typographic work appears on the album cover of

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

's "Teenage Dream.' Ratcliffe has also worked extensively with famous photography duo

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin Inez van Lamsweerde (born 25 September 1963) and Vinoodh Matadin (born 29 September 1961) are a Dutch-American fashion photographer duo, whose work has been featured in fashion magazines and advertising campaigns. They also produce independent art ...

as members o
theCollectiveShift
She collaborated on Lady Gaga's 2013 music video

Applause Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performance ...

as the animation director. Previous notable collaborations have also been made with Nina Ricci and

under Inez and Vinoodh. Clients include:

, Balmain, Nina Ricci, Chloe,

Jimmy Choo Datuk Jimmy Choo Back from ...

, Vogue Nippon,

British Vogue British ''Vogue'' is a British fashion magazine published based in London since autumn 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine ''Vogue'' and is owned and distributed by Condé Montrose Nast. British ''Vogue'' editor in 2012 c ...

, Another Magazine, V magazine, Dazed and Confused Magazine, Wallpaper Magazine, Nylon Magazine, and Nowness Magazine.

References

External links

*
Jo Ratcliffe at theCollectiveShift
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliffe, Jo Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English animators British women animators British animated film directors British women film directors English illustrators British women illustrators English art directors People from Berkshire Alumni of Central Saint Martins