Illustrator Ayumi Takahashi hopes to promote a positive message through her joyful creations.“I want to show the younger generation the good side of life,” she said in an interview with Duplex Gallery. “I feel like that’s part of my duty as an artist… I am not a self-expressive artist. Everything about me and my life. I’m not into that. But I do want to promote a positive message behind everything and for myself as a person too.”
Indeed, her colorful illustrations have a playful feel to them that serve as instant mood lifters. And with clients that include the Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Paramount Pictures, and Coca Cola, it’s easy to see that her positive message has caught on.
“I was born in China and lived there until I was about 12 and I moved to Japan and then I came to America after high school,” said the artist, who currently shares her time between New York and Tokyo. “I was in San Francisco first and just trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Because both my parents are artists, and I was a rebellious kid, so I’m kind of not trying to be an artist.”
“But I think it’s just in your blood and it just start to come out. So I got in Art Center College of Design in California, majored in Illustration Design. When I was at the Art Center, I also went to London for study abroad for half a year for graphic design and I did a lot of editorial illustration for the New York Times, and other magazines.”
Take a look at some of our favorite illustrations of hers.
