Artist and illustrator Magda Archer’s irreverent, colourful pieces play with nostalgia and innocence to convey relatable feelings. We partnered with Archer to bring that tongue-in-cheek relatability to the streets with posters featuring an ice-skating, happy mouse with the headline “THIS CHRISTMAS…STAY POSITIVE ABOUT STAYING NEGATIVE.”
Playing with the fatigue that we all felt entering yet another Christmas during the COVID-19 pandemic, Archer’s unique and upbeat style offers a different perspective. We pasted the posters on the streets of London and New York, brightening up the world at Yuletide. Posting on Instagram, Archer said, “WE’RE TRYING HERE little ice-skating mouse in the hand-knit!” and got a major positive response from her followers, which is all you can really ask for!
Archer is an accomplished artist with an instantly recognisable style. She trained at Ravensbourne College of Art, Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art. Her CV includes a number of group exhibitions, the children’s book Watch Out Arthur!, and a solo show in Manchester. Speaking to Ingenue Magazine about developing her unique style, she said, “It’s something that changes, that develops, all the time. Simply put, I paint what I would like to see. My paintings tend to be little references to things that are happening to me. Why they look how they look is a bit of a mystery to me, but they have evolved. That’s the way it works. I like bright, cheerful colours and I do laugh when things go wrong in my life – so I guess these things come out in what I am painting.”
That ability to not take things too seriously is needed during such a dark time, and we’re proud to have brought just a little bit of that levity to our struggling city streets and passers-by.
