Sant Jordi, El Periódico

For the Sant Jordi edition of Abril, the literary supplement of El Periódico, Philip Stanton created a project that celebrates the people behind literature. He drew 70 hand-made ink portraits on vellum of authors, editors, literary agents, and the creative team of the 64-page magazine.

The project emphasizes the human touch, no AI, no machine learning, just the same instinct to create that has existed since the earliest cave paintings. Each portrait reflects the artist’s personal interpretation, giving the illustrations warmth and character.

Creative Director Jorge M. used 58 of the portraits as black-and-white spot illustrations for page headings, adding a cohesive visual identity to the magazine. The project celebrates Sant Jordi and the people who bring literature to life, showing that behind every story there is a human hand shaping it.

You can see both the original drawings and the final results in the images below: