The Parliament - APA FAQs Special
Cover art for the APA FAQs Supplement for The Parliament Magazine, September 2024.
This time I had the pleasure of creating the cover of the special issue dedicated to FAQs for APAs, assistants to the European Parliament. This supplement was created in partnership with Microsoft.
My illustration combines the “back to school” imagery with the most iconic and important work tools of APAs (laptop, badge, notebook, passport, phone and naturally umbrella and coffee!).
Art director: Matthew Titley.
“While MEPs take central stage at the European Parliament, APA’s are the backbone of the institution. Behind every MEP is a team of APAs, working hard on a wide range of tasks. The job description of an Accredited Parliamentary Assistant is often as broad as the job title itself. They can be found doing anything from managing their MEPs diary and travel to drafting amendments or communicating the work of their MEP to voters back home. It’s a varied and often fast-paced, but it is rewarding and directly contributes to the functioning of the EU.”
“At the start of each mandate, the new APAs descending upon Brussels often face a steep learning curve. When creating this toolkit, we consulted a selection of current and former APAs to gather their advice, tips and tricks on how best to survive and thrive in the Brussels bubble. From discovering the cultural quirks of your new colleagues and learning how to champion a policy area to getting the lowdown on what to wear at Parliament, we’ve tried to cover all bases so you can hit the ground running.”
my illustration on The Parliament’s homepage.
Making of: dalle bozze al definitivo
As always, my work starts translating the client’s brief into quick sketches, trying to find the best graphic solution.
In this case, I submitted the following drafts, three variations of the same theme:
Once the AD had identified the most convincing composition, I arrived at the final illustration by going through some colour tests.
