Social media has opened up a world of work for Huddersfield-based illustrator Peter O’Toole, who counts major companies such as Adidas, Disney and Microsoft among his clients.
He recently completed a project to illustrate a book and design a sports shoe for the German company Adidas, both of which came about after he teamed up on-line with Adidas collector Daniel Kokscht — who is known by the chosen name Quote.
Peter said: “Quote is regarded as one of the biggest vintage Adidas collectors in the world and he wanted to do a poster on the trainers he owned. We were just planning to sell it, but we approached Adidas to make it official and they wanted us to do a book. They flew us out to their global base near Nuremberg in Germany in June this year.”
Peter and Quote, who is German, were invited to visit the company’s archives in Herzogenaurach — an exciting prospect for both men, who are enthusiastic collectors of Adidas shoes.
As well as compiling a book about vintage sports shoes, with words by Quote, illustrations by Peter and the layout done by Colne Valley graphic artist Adam Gill, they were also asked if they would like to design a pair of retro Adidas Originals trainers to accompany the book launch.
“We had one week to pick the model and choose the colours,” said Peter. “the cool thing about it is that our faces are featured.” Peter’s image appears on the tongue of the right shoe, while Quote is on the left tongue.
There was a pre-launch event in Berlin in September and the shoes, which they named ‘Quotoole’, and the book were released last month in selected Adidas suppliers.
“The shoes were £100 and the book was £30,” said Peter, “and they sold out almost straight away.”
Peter, who is 29, and has a studio at Bates Mill in Huddersfield, is still working for Adidas and has also secured a new project for British-based shoe company Clarks, although, having signed a non-disclosure agreement, he’s not at liberty to discuss this.
“The Adidas project got my name out there,” he says, “but it came out of a passion for the brand. I have collected Adidas for 15 years. I’ve got about 50 pairs and have worn them since I was a student.”
Why does he admire the brand?
He explained: “I was just attracted to the simple yet distinctive design of the three stripes. The materials, colours, cut. They look so simple, but are so well designed. Also they have a rich heritage, so there’s always new models to discover from their back catalogues!”
He says his success as an illustrator has been aided by the rapid growth in social media. “There is plenty of work out there, but you have to know how to use social media to get it,” he explained.
“I get a lot of work through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I have 8,000 followers on Instagram. Before social media, people had to go to London with a portfolio and show it around. Now you can post your work on Instagram and people pick it up.
“At one time creatives might have studied up here, but they went to London to get work. Now there’s no reason why you shouldn’t work in Huddersfield, you don’t have to move south.”
Peter is a graphic media communication graduate of Bradford University, but worked as a gardener in Huddersfield while building up a portfolio of design clients.
He went freelance full-time in 2010, took a unit in Bates Mill, and has produced illustration work for both national and local businesses, including Dixons Ice Cream at Leeds Road.
While he remains a devotee of Adidas trainers he doesn’t wear them for sport as his leisure interest is Thai kick boxing.
To see more examples of Peter’s work visit www.peter-otoole.co.uk
In 1928 Adi Dassler’s shoes were worn at the Olympic Games for the first time in Amsterdam. Lina Radke-Batschauer was the first athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in his shoes, running the women’s 800m in world record time.
In the development phase of the ‘registered three stripes design’, Adi Dassler experimented with three, four, five and six stripes on the shoe in order to find the perfect look. A sprint shoe in 1948 was given three stripes and so an iconic Adidas brand was born.
- Adidas was founded in 1949 by Adi Dassler (hence the name).
- It grew from an earlier sports shoe business that Adi — short for Adolf — had started with his brother Rudolf in the 1920s.
- When the brothers fell out of favour with each other they went their separate ways. Rudolf became the founder of sports company Puma.
- The famous ‘three stripe’ sides of Adidas shoes were developed in 1948.
- In 1954 when Germany beat the Hungarians in the World Cup the team was kitted out with three-stripe lightweight football boots that had been equipped with screw-in studs — an innovation at the time.
- After the last of the Dassler family exited the company in the 1980s it became a corporation.
- Today, more than six decades since its beginnings, Adidas is firmly established as one of the world’s leading sports companies.
