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George 'jumping for joy' as his eejits win national competition


By Alan Hendry

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George Mackay, winner of the character and animation section in the 2020 License This! awards hosted by Brand Licensing Europe.
George Mackay, winner of the character and animation section in the 2020 License This! awards hosted by Brand Licensing Europe.

Caithness illustrator George Mackay has taken top spot in a prestigious national competition after his madcap band of eejits captured the imagination of the judging panel.

George, from Thurso, said he was "jumping for joy" after being named as a winner in the 2020 License This! awards hosted by Brand Licensing Europe (BLE).

He has created around 300 eejits over the past 15 years. Aimed largely at the seven to 12 age group, his quirky and colourful characters can be found on stickers and prints and in a popular card game called Bahoochie.

The 43-year-old hopes he can raise his profile through his success in the competition, which is aimed at unlicensed brands and properties to help them secure new deals and extend their creative efforts into the global licensing industry.

George believes the eejits are suited to a wide range of products and says the ultimate goal would be to see them feature in short animated films.

The competition is normally held in London but took place digitally this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. George was among six brand designers who were chosen as finalists across two categories, and he had to create a pitch video ahead of this week's live judging on Zoom.

The judges said they were looking for new creative concepts.

“At the end of the Zoom call, once we'd answered all their questions, they did a vote and announced the winners there and then," George said. "The other pitches were superb and I thought I didn't have a chance."

He was amazed to be declared the winner of the character and animation section and was soon receiving messages of congratulation on social media.

The other category, brand and design, was won by Lancashire-based Tracey Colliston for her Owl’s Nest illustrations of woodland creatures which can be found on gifts and greetings cards.

This year’s two License This! winners will receive a free exhibition stand at Brand Licensing Europe 2021, one year’s membership of the industry trade association Licensing International, PR support and advice from industry experts. In addition, all finalists will receive legal consultation from competition sponsor Wynne-Jones.

“Basically this is a first step," George said. "It means I will take a fully kitted out stand at next year's Brand Licensing Europe expo in London where I'll be able to pitch to publishers, agents, animation studios, people like that.

"I've been told it could open a lot of doors – even just being a finalist opens a lot of doors."

A group of George's quirky characters.
A group of George's quirky characters.

George, a self-employed mechanical design engineer, uses Affinity Designer software to create his eejits.

Recently he produced a 44-page book containing rhymes for different characters. It is available to buy online and through Eye Candy gift shop in Thurso.

"I've sold 50 per cent of my stock and that's just in a couple of weeks," George said.

Now he is aiming to develop the storytelling aspect of the eejits and the world they inhabit.

George explained: “What I'm probably going to do is expand the world of the characters. What I've got now is a catalogue of characters so I want to really give them somewhere to live, a world to bumble around in, and put more storytelling into the brand.”

Although he didn't study art at school, George says he has always been fascinated by characters – whether through watching cartoons as a youngster or collecting comics.

The idea for the eejits came to him after he began doodling "strange wee creatures" and learned how to digitally ink and colour them.

He has a membership site through Patreon .


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