Ella McLean is an illustrator and designer living and working in the Southside of Glasgow. Since graduating in 2012, she has been developing a simple, characterful style that appears across a wide range of projects, from logo design and animation to book design and large-scale mural painting.

She has worked on the design and illustration of more than fifteen publications and, in 2022, authored her first book, Simply Draw. Alongside her independent practice, Ella recently worked in website design and content marketing for Native Instruments.

Driven by a love of print and hands-on making, Ella’s personal work often begins with playful experimentation. Beyond her illustration and design practice, she enjoys exploring embroidery as an extension of her work.

If you would like to see more of my graphic design work, please get in touch for a pdf portfolio. ellamclean@mac.com


Past clients and events;
Native Instruments
The Paper Cat Bookshop, London
Shettleston Housing Association
Fed & Watered Design Studio
Saved by Robots Design Studio
Star Catchers
Scot Gov
LOM ART/ Michael O'Mara Books
Financial Times
The National Trust
UCL
Octopus Publishing Group
BBC Books
Doc Martins
V&A Friday Late
Nobrow’s ELCAF (2013 - 2018)

Book design / illustration;
Ginger Pig One Pot 2025
Tapping Into You 2025
Simply Draw by Ella McLean 2022
Winefulness 2021
The Herb Almanac: A seasonal guide to medicinal plants 2021
Grow by Frankie Bridge 2021
Open by Frankie Bridge 2020
Leon ‘Happy’ cookbooks 2019-21
Stand Tall Like a Mountain by Suzy Reading 2019
Get you kids to eat anything by Emily Leary 2019
The ‘Five Minues’ series 2017-19
Farmacy Kitchen Cookbook by Camilla Fayed 2018
Gin: The Manual 2018
Chai Chaat & Chutney by Chetna Makan 2017
Fress cookbook by Emma Spitzer 2017
Prime cookbook by Richard H. Turner 2017

Software skills
Adobe Creative suit- Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign
iPad software- Procreate
Figma