joskudesign

The most fun thing in illustrations is trying to capture the essence of the subject they’re meant to represent. In Lapin Ylioppilaslehti magazine, I got to work with several texts and one cover with almost free range, with happy writers in the end about the results.

The first image is for an essay depicting ideas of the relationships between people, nature and consumption from a philosophical standpoint, so I wanted the illustration to feel a little surrealistic. Light colours balanced the heaviness of the topic. Handmade brush strokes made it seem more approachable and reminded of people’s part in it.

The second illustration is a cover image for an issue released in the fall when new students roll in. I asked the chief editor what themes were going to be prevalent, since I wanted the illustration to cover them as well as possible. They were community, points of view, technology and the university itself, which is how I ended up with a recording screen and in it a circle of little fellas all looking from their points of view the tree of knowledge, aka the university and all the different fruits it grows in different directions.

The third illustration was for an essay about trending girl aesthetics, especially the clean girl aesthetic, and consumerism. One must have money to be able to follow trends and fashion trends often target girls as was the focus in the essay, so in the illustration I placed a girl in the traditional place of an older man’s head on bill. The surrounding imagery depicts global influence and means of validation.

CICAT2025

The CICAT2025 project already had a theme colour, but was in need of a pictogram set for different factions.

Ulla Uutela’s doctoral thesis cover

Ulla Uutela wrote in her thesis how coaching leadership style supports well-being and learning at work. I depicted the idea of that positive influence through puzzle pieces spanning across the front and back covers.

Merikartta

Visual identity, Illustration, UI Design

The Merikartta project resulted in an ecosystem that was formed to connect professionals of different fields related to seafaring and the purpose was to tackle environmental challenges of the seas. Purpose of the visuals was to make the project more tangible for everyone involved.

First design was the logo, which then expanded to a graphic guide, website layout design and several illustrations, each showcasing a particular set of environmental problems of seas around the world. Turquoise combines the blue of water and traditional enviromental theme colour green. The compass needle in the logo symbolises going in the right direction both practically and morally and the circle around it alludes to the round Earth and a life ring. Additional colours included those used in seafaring and buoys. The project environment was mainly digital, so fonts were chosen based on commonness.

In The Name Of The Moon

Animated illustration

The Sailor Moon series is known for its pastels, roses and romance, which leave in their shadow the more grim side of the story: the cosmic powers bring with them an eternal battle against evil. For the iconic transformation this illustration is therefore brutalistic in its style to highlight the often forgotten side of the series.

In a combination the two resulted in a dark colour palette, realism in elements, a lot of texture and symmetry.

Sanaseura

Event visuals are fun since there often is room for being experimental. The poetry and spoken art club Sanaseura’s event theme for spring was “Soidinmenot”, aka courtship. As the word for it in Finnish sounds a bit formal, strange and funny and is largely used in animal context, I went with frogs in the design. They also perform their courtship mainly through sound, which was perfect for this club, and bring a fun vibe for the romance theme many might find awkward. For colours it had to be bold romantic reds with the font’s O’s tweaked into wiggly hearts. Visuals ready for streets and social media!

1½ Astetta

Photography

LoimuSpeksi creates theater plays each year and the visuals differ accordingly – different themes in the play and different crew to make it happen.

1½ Astetta had themes of climate crisis and change – as the photographer of the production, I tried to implement those into the promotional photos as well. Character and production team photos were two-part, and the teams were also colour coded. I also documented the play itself.

LENTO

Poster design, Layout design

The Faculty of art and design staff of the University of Lapland hold an exhibition of their own artistic work every year. Naturally, the visual side of the poster and the catalogue should complement the theme at hand and fit both applications.

The exhibition’s name and theme was LENTO (FLIGHT), so my approach was with lots of space, light colours and airy typography. These went also hand in hand with letting the artworks shine and visuals not stealing the spotlight.

Vire

An energetic little fella for a logo of a fast-paced local company delivering fresh groceries.

Koulutusta kiertotalouteen

Kiertotalouslabra was collecting academic resources regarding circular economy on a website and needed a logo. In it knowledge seeps into fresh green both in the text and the image mark.

Cloud9

Branding, Visual identity

On a remote hill, tourists and locals alike travel looking for new experiences – they might like to rest for a moment, but still continue experiencing new and exciting things. This cafe-bakery is a space where you can daydream while awake, where reality and dreams meet – and these dreams are handmade from the finest ingredients to bring you both familiar and cozy drinks and the desserts you’ve never even dreamed of.

The concept was inspired by the moment you fall asleep, and the visuals are guided by two key words: dreamy and elegant. The cafe is geared towards tourists and curious minds, anyone who wishes to rest easy for a bit. The spacious and clean designs carry a luxurious and chill feeling. The logo’s letter forms are as if piped from liquid chocolate and the illustrations like cleaned sketches as if from clear dreams.

Behind the designs ➜➜➜

joskudesign@gmail.com