Andrea Leung is the driving force behind Aww — a quarterly print magazine that mixes animals and illustration to create what its team calls illustration therapy: a dose of happiness, creativity, and positive energy delivered through the most endearing medium available. The concept treats “aww” as a universal language, the involuntary sound people make when they encounter something endearing, and each issue is built around an animal theme: cats and dogs, bears, soul animals, food and creatures, or the relationship between humans and the natural world.
The magazine is one-of-a-kind in the independent press — not quite an illustration annual, not quite a lifestyle magazine, and certainly not the vague tenderness manifesto its title might suggest. Each issue features dozens of illustrators from around the world, commissioned to respond to the theme with original work. Issue four reimagined 24 illustrators as their soul animals for the cover. Issue five asked contributors to create visual time capsules bidding farewell to 2020. The content also includes mindfulness exercises, creative prompts, and stories designed to provoke thought about our relationship with the animal kingdom: what do our pets think about us, and what would wild animals make of our cities?
Originally based in Asia, the team relocated to London to broaden the magazine’s horizons and connect with a wider community of illustrators and creatives. Seven issues in and all sold out, Aww has built a loyal following among illustration professionals and animal lovers alike — people who understand that a publication designed to make you go “aww” is not being frivolous. It is being precise about the kind of feeling it wants to create, and then creating it with skill, warmth, and 160 pages of beautifully drawn animals.
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