Illustration or Graphic Design?

“When I started work in the design industry I was a far more confident illustrator than designer. In the jobs I worked on; I reverted to drawing – what I considered my strongest skill – when faced with an unfamiliar task.

In retrospect, this is close to being the definition of ’bad’ design: approaching a project in a way that suits you, as a creative, rather than considering the most effective communication approach for the content.

As my computer skills and understanding of typography developed, I came to rely less on my hand-rendering skills and more on digital image making and composition. Illustration became one of many tools I could employ in my design practice.

Today cover-design for publishing houses remains my favourite type of professional work. In this type of work I still have to juggle between design and illustration where often with tight deadlines and multiple projects, illustration can seem like a guilty pleasure.”

Zoë Sadokierski is well regarded in the Australian design industry. As a graphic designer, illustrator and writer she established her own practice in 2002 after completing her Bachelor of Design in Visual Communications at UTS Sydney.

She has designed almost 200 books and was awarded an Australian Publisher’s Association design award in 2005 and short-listed in 2007.

Her ’Sundays’ exhibition is about to open as a presentation of her most current ’design’ work.

Sundays 
7th-28th March
DAB Lab Gallery,
Faculty of Design, Architecture & Building,
Level 4, 702-730 Harris Street, Ultimo.

To see more of Zoë’s work click here

View Larger Map