Sandra Dammizio

The Renaissance Woman

The Brief: Create an editorial illustration that would accompany an article in a magazine like The New Yorker, with a prominent focus on illustrated typography.

“The article profiled artist, musician and writer Mashonda Tifrere. As the title of the article was “The Renaissance Woman” and this was the text I was to illustrate in some way in my design, I decided to create a take on traditional Renaissance portraiture but with a contemporary twist. I used digital painting to render the face, juxtaposing it with flat colours in the text and surrounding illustration. The article described a “mosaic” of activities Mashonda is involved with, so I thought it would be fitting to create a collage-like mash-up of all the brands and some of her writing in the background. The colours are bright and vivid, evoking Mashonda’s role as a modern Renaissance woman in the digital space.”