An interview with the winner of our Festival logo competition

On Monday I was delighted to unveil Giada Giusti’s logo as the winning entry to our competition for a design for the Festival of Children’s Literature we’re holding in Birmingham on November 9 2013.

I’ve since had the opportunity to talk a little with Giada about her work, and today I share that interview with you, and a sample of her portfolio.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
My name is Giada and I work as an illustrator and graphic designer. I’m a graduate of the Istituto Europeo di Design. I’ve drawn ever since I was a child, and I particularly enjoy character design. I love illustration, graphic novels, animation and photography – and I always draw to music!

How would you describe your own style?
I think that my style mixes traditional drawing and digital art. It is a little bit ironic and Gothic too.

What were your favourite books as a child?
When I was a child one of my favourite books was Alice in Wonderland. I also loved Maurice Sendak’s illustrations for Else Holmelund Minarik’s Little Bear, No Kiss for Mother by Tomi Ungerer, and The Wizard of Oz.

Which children’s illustrators living now do you particularly admire?
There are many artists that I admire, one being Lisbeth Zwerger. Two Italians illustrators I particularly like are Maurizio A. C. Quadrello and Sergio Mara.

Why did you want to become an illustrator?
I decided to became an illustrator because of my passion for drawing and because of my capacity to create and imagine the characters of the stories. Illustration is a way of representing specific moments in a tale, and I find that very interesting.

Have you already illustrated any children’s books?
I’ve illustrated a short novel for a magazine called “Dall’Italia” and others short stories for children’s books contests.

Is there a classic story e.g. a fairy tale, which you’d particularly like to illustrate? If so, why that particular story?
I don’t have any preference for any particular classic story to illustrate – they all have something a little mysterious, with plenty of fantasy – so all of them are appealing!

What are you working on right now?
Currently I’m working on a series of illustrations for an exhibition and I’m working as a graphic designer.

Giada’s website: http://www.giadagiusti.it/
Giada on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/giada.giusti.9
Giada on Twitter: @ru_giada

Our thanks go to Giada for creating such a striking logo for our festival, and we wish her every success in her career.