The Impact of Covid

Illustration projects from the WIA2022 Shortlist that explore the wide-ranging, and sometimes surprising, impacts of global lockdown restrictions over the last two years.


Jessica Meyrick: I Think I’ve Forgotten How To Socialise, Refinery29

Using a bold colour palette and layering shadows, shapes and motifs, this editorial illustration conveys the anxiety many people felt when returning to socialising in public spaces after the Covid-19 Lockdowns.


Jeff Hinchee: The Kitchen Chronicles

This paper sculpture explores how the kitchen became central to many peoples’ lives during Lockdown. Commissioned by the New York Times to accompany an article looking at the future of cookbooks and home cooking.


Three women sit around a table. One woman has her hand against her head, frustrated. The other is glitching like she has a bad connection. The third is out of focus with a loading wheel in front of her face.

Jess Suttner: Unnatural Conversation in the Zoom Era

The fragmented composition of this illustration captures the isolation of endless zoom calls throughout the lockdowns and beyond, which were no substitute for real life interactions.


Brendan Totten: (Not) At Your Service

Using the metaphor of a shattered plate which could also be shards of ice, a service working is marooned on a floating island of despair. This illustration depicts the profound impact of the strict lockdowns on the hospitality industry.

Stephan Schmitz: Fatigue

This eye catching image captures the mental fatigue felt by many following a year of lockdowns, social restrictions and working from home. The single figure on the page also communicates the isolation of these experiences.


Alan Dunne: Home Truths (Covid-19 Lockdown Stories)

Working from interviews with residents of two Nursing Homes in Dublin, Ireland this graphic short story and film reflect on the impact of the Covid-19 Lockdowns on the residents lives. Using a muted colour palette and working in pen and ink, the illustrations communicate the humour, tragedy and hope in each story.


Sophie Mildner: Lockdown Rhythms

Exploring a new technique of painting with acrylics onto wood, Sophie then digitised these illustrations, and created a gentle animation that cycles through the seasons, depicting the how the rhythms of life were affected by government restrictions.


Elise Vandeplancke: Smalltalk

The isolation of lockdown meant that many people lost the ability to make small talk during incidental moments in their day. The figure tip-toeing across morsels of chit chat, conveys the anxiety of saying the wrong thing.


Lea Berndorfer: Health for All

The striking imagery in this composition communicates the huge disparity in the availability of the Covid vaccine in many countries across the world. Working in hand painted acrylics, the final illustration was then composed in Adobe Photoshop.

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