Lisa Maltby Studio

30/05/2026

29/05/2026

29/05/2026

12/05/2026

Great to see my hand painted lions out in the wild 🦁
These were created for the Pride of Yorkshire Trail, raising funds for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity. Proud to see them at the launch event last week amongst the other incredible lions. Watch this space for them hitting the streets of South Yorkshire!

https://www.lisamaltby.com/project-updates/pride-of-yorkshire-painted-lions

22/04/2026

Garden birds are in decline but here are some simple things that can help them:
1. Feed birds seasonally. New advice from the RSPB is to use bird feeders between 1st November and 30th April. The rest of the year feed them small amounts of mealworms, fatballs or suet instead. This stops birds congregating around birdfeeders in months diseases can spread more easily and when natural food is more available.
2. Clean any bird feeders and water baths daily so diseases aren’t spread as easily.
3. Fill your outdoor space with bird-friendly plants instead – such as sunflowers, teasels and ivy.

The have recently changed their advice on feeding birds in light of new research, so check out their profile for more info. And tell your gran.

This animation was made from studies of bird movements for an old project that never took off (see what I did there?!)… so I’ve repurposed it for the love of birds.

05/03/2026

Happy world book day! This is a design I created for for their new library card and tote bag, launched for the national year of reading. I was briefed to illustrate a card that included elements that have a connection to libraries and also the city of Sheffield. This was a challenge at such a small scale, so my solution was to illustrate a bookshelf that could contain lots of items. The colour palette was devised to complement the existing children’s library card (brilliantly illustrated by the fabulous ), and of course included the library’s brand pink to complement the logo. Swipe to see some of my process and the final designs. Thanks for the project !

25/02/2026

How do you get your ideas? 💡 🧠

This is an illustration of how I filter information and process ideas which I used in a lecture about ‘ideation’ last week. However, I find it fascinating how we’re all wired differently – some of us take in a lot of stimuli and need to filter through it to spot patterns before deciding on an outcome. Others start with a goal and then fill in the gaps, working in a linear fashion.

I’m in the former category: I’m good at spotting patterns that others miss, ensuring I have deeper understanding to solve the ‘right’ problems, but I can exert an excessive amount of energy doing so and it can take me on tangents. You may be better at defining goals and be much more efficient with tasks, but risk missing important clues that would ensure you’re answering the right questions (look up top down and bottom up processing). This is why diverse teams and learning approaches are important because we all have unique ways of processing that result in different strengths.

So, before you try to be better at ideas, perhaps you first have to understand how you operate and play to your strengths. Learning how I process information has helped me to do my best work, allowing space to research and be ‘curious’ whilst also implementing ways I can strategically think about the bigger picture more (which doesn’t come naturally to me). I love my job because it provides a collaborative framework – working towards clients’ goals whilst often exploring different creative routes within them.

How do you process information?

04/02/2026

Some sneak previews of my painted lions for . I think this was the most challenging project I’ve worked on, painting far too much detail on tricky surfaces… and in the cold! I’ve included a pic of when all my paint started peeling off and I had to repaint the base colour - always one for a drama! A little spider kept me company throughout the project, which I started to get super spiritual about until I accidentally varnished her into the work on the last day (god rest her soul). Despite the challenges, I absolutely loved the experience and hopefully you’ll like the result when they’re out in the wild later this year. My lions incorporate messaging about courage and living authenticity. I hope you’ll feel uplifted by them when you see them… and a special prize if you can find the spider 🕷️ 😉

31/01/2026

A day to kick off the national year of reading today! As part of the event, I took part in a q&a with about my work and the process for the new library card design that I worked on last year (all will be revealed in the next few weeks!). In the meantime, here’s a glimpse of the tote bag design. It was a joy to meet the wonderful Lord Mayor .saeed_ and meet others at the event - thanks if you came along! I’ll share more about the library card design soon. Time to get into a book… 📖

28/01/2026

‘Love’s other name is understanding.’
A few years ago I watched a documentary about two scientists who were bound by their love for each other and their shared obsession with volcanoes. It’s a fascinating, funny and moving story about their relationship and scientific discoveries. Halfway through the film the narrator compares the love these two people had for their specialist interest with their love for each other — both rooted in curiosity and a quest for understanding. She concludes: ‘love’s other name is understanding’, and it’s been on my mind ever since, so illustrated it. It’s a helpful reminder that true love doesn’t jump to conclusions, but takes the time to understand.
If you like it, you can buy my illustration as a print or a card to keep or gift to someone you love. ❤️

https://www.lisamaltby.com/store

(The documentary is called ‘fire of love’ - I highly recommend if you love documentaries about quirky people too!).