Alex CowleyHome

Spend more than five minutes with me, and you’ll probably learn that I’m rather partial to a bit of Formula One.

I’ve been obsessed with the sport since 2012 and have watched the odd race going all the way back into my childhood.

One other interest which has followed me through life right from childhood is my passion for drawing. I don’t think it’s possible to overestimate the sheer amount of cars I’ve drawn in my life… my parents kitchen walls used to be covered in them when I was young. But as I moved into college, university and then my career as a creative, the time I had for illustration dwindled and I soon found myself drawing very rarely, and mostly for work.

In early 2019, I decided that this needed to change. Armed with my old iPad Pro, an apple pencil and a copy of Procreate (which is a wonderful app), I decided to participate in the 100 Day Project and create a small illustration every day for 100 days. What to draw? I mused on a few ideas before deciding to draw something that I absolutely loved: Formula 1. And so, the Pitlane Collective was born.

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Growth

I soon got up to speed (pun intended) and the 100 cars flew out, becoming more refined and more detailed as the days went by. Each day I posted to the @pitlanecollective Instagram account, and gradually I built up an audience of like-minded F1 fans. After the cars, I illustrated the most recognisable F1 tracks and set up a small print store to sell a few prints of the illustrations. Soon, I announced a limited edition annual: a physical book covering the F1 season including all drivers and Grand Prix events, which ticked off a major bucket-list item of mine: to produce my own book.

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The project has snowballed and continued to grow, enabling me to push my artistic and illustration skills while learning all sorts of additional things such as social media marketing, building an organic audience, running an online store and producing physical products such as books and prints. Going into 2022, the Instagram account has 13,000 followers with an active and engaged audience, and I’ve fulfilled over 700 print and merchandise orders to more than 20 countries, which is far beyond my wildest dreams for the project. It’s been an absolute labour of love, and I can’t wait to see how it continues into the future!

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Check out the store: pitlanecollective.com

Instagram: instagram.com/pitlanecollective