Bold Graphics

‘Deceptively Simple’ might be an alternative title for this curated selection!

Using shape, line and colour, these illustrators use unashamedly bold, powerful, punchy visuals to draw us in, rewarding closer inspection with clever details and complexity.

Andrzej Wieteszka’s bold graphic portraits were commissioned by WEBINTERPRET for their Warsaw office’s interior windows and walls. Each image is a portrait of a significant scientist or inventor, with the backgrounds signifying the city they worked in. The window murals were printed on transparent foil with the wall murals painted by hand from vector image files. The work highlights the importance of innovation in technology through its use of bold imagery and play on printed textures.

‘Body and Soul’ by Antonio Sortino features a bright background and clever use of the boxing glove as the boxer’s face. It was used as a poster for a group show of illustration in a Boxe Gym.

Cuban illustrator Zamo Peza‘s three-colour screenprinted poster series references a strong tradition of this technique in his home country. The posters offer a uniquely Cuban perspective on the pandemic, filled with optimism, humour and positivity reflected in the bright colours and clever imagery.

Anna Vasilieva’s personal project ‘Flowers for Algernon’ combines hand-printed linocut textures and digital drawing in Procreate, using bold colours to create a striking yet softly geometric design.

Christian Ray C. Blaza’s series of gif animations are based on an article that deals with the topic of parents using technology to spy on their kids. The bright colours communicate the theme with directness referencing the aesthetics of surveillance technology.

This poster for Orvieto Cinema Fest 202 by Fernando Cobelo uses mixed media. The eye catching design contrasts a flat, bright yellow background with textural black and white in a way that feels joyful and contemporary.

Headless Greg’s university project ‘Wilson Strange’ is an illustrated book that explores the connection between creativity and mental health told through the story of a man who cannot control his brain. The geometric shapes were created using laser cut wooden pieces, painted and then photographed to create flat and 3D images that show the depths of the character’s imagination and darkness of his mind.

This stylised image by Miguel Montaner uses bright colours and simplified geometric shares to create an illustration on the theme of subtlety and persuasion.

Carlos Arrojo‘s illustration for Biotherm’s limited edition (eventually cancelled due to COVID), celebrates the company’s commitment to reduced plastic. The simple lines of sealife and waves in a range of colours weave together to create a complex pattern.

Patrícia Mafra’s portrait of Portuguese artist Mily Possoz takes elements of the artist’s style to create this intriguing image which interleaves positive and negative space to create the figure’s arms.