Anna Hurley
Anna Hurley is a designer and illustrator who spends most of her time drawing things for fun and profit. She has worked on branding systems, packaging design, and many children’s books, as well as illustrated a plethora of printed items. We spoke with Anna to learn more about her creative process, where she finds inspiration, and her favorite design resources.
Hi Anna! Tell us about yourself - how did you get to where you are today? When did you first become interested in design?
Since I was a young kid I’ve always loved art. However, I grew up expecting to never make a living off it. So I decided instead to study graphic design in college. It really wasn’t until college that I discovered how passionate I truly was about art and design; it’s as if that part of me lay dormant since childhood and was being awakened. I got very lucky and met a lot of amazing people along the way who taught me an immense amount and were incredibly patient and inspiring.
After college, I dabbled in a lot of areas: book design, greeting card illustration, in-house illustration in tech, and at a design agency doing packaging design. I’m currently a full-time freelance illustrator, working on children’s book illustrations, editorial illustrations, branding, illustrations for websites and games, and many other fun projects! Each experience has taught me so much, and I feel so lucky and grateful to have crossed paths with so many inspiring people.
Design and Illustrator Anna Hurley
How would you describe your aesthetic and how has your visual style changed over time?
My aesthetic is typically called vibrant, colorful, and upbeat. It’s hard to say exactly because it does depend on the project. I like to infuse positivity in my work, even when I’m feeling down, maybe especially when I’m feeling down. My work has a somewhat vintage vibe that I’ve tried to evolve over time. I love mid-century art and my illustration heroes are mainly from that era, so while studying and learning from my favorite illustrators, I’ve worked hard at making my art feel like me, so I hope that’s worked somewhat!
What’s your creative process like and how do you typically work through a project?
After going over the brief with a client and finding out what about my work they like, I’ll usually start sketching some ideas out as to how the composition should be or what the subject is. If it’s a really conceptual piece then I might come up with a few potential ideas to share with them. This phase usually takes the longest because there’s usually quite a bit of back and forth with the client. After the sketches are approved for coloring, I’ll try out a few color options, which is my favorite part but can sometimes take me a long time because I like too many colors! After that, there are usually a few changes here and there, and then I send off the final!
How do you avoid burnout?
I’m a big advocate for taking care of one’s mental health. There are lots of ways to work on making sure I manage my time well, and being aware of what my strengths are, knowing how long things might take me to do, and being clear with expectations with the client on any given project so that I’m not overextending myself.
But burnout can kind of be viewed as a result of not taking care of oneself. Not putting one’s mental well being first, before work. I actually have a history of not setting boundaries in my personal life, and so while working on that part of me, I’ve learned that setting boundaries and expectations in my professional life is just as valid and important for my mental health. I also recommend meditation, journaling, and yoga, but doesn’t everyone always say that? It’s seriously true though.
What’s been one of your favorite projects to work on and why? What would be a dream project?
I worked on a series of children’s books with Chronicle Books called the Little Zodiac Books series, and that was really fun because they all matched as a set. I think my designer brain was really satisfied making everything look cohesive and like they’re all part of the same family. I also really love working on packaging design, and I did a few projects with the good folks at Olio on some egg carton packaging, and that was really fun because it all got produced exactly as I had envisioned, which is kind of rare!
As far as my dream project, I’m a big fan of all types of games: video games, board games, tabletop RPG games, you name it, I’ll play it. I’ve never been asked to design, illustrate, or art direct one, and that would totally be the ultimate dream creative endeavor for me. I just think that would be so fun to do. Especially a board game with all of the matching pieces and cards!
Where do you find creative inspiration?
It feels cheesy to say that I find creative inspiration everywhere, but it does pop up in unexpected places sometimes! Because I love packaging design, I find tons of inspiration by just going to the supermarket. I even get inspiration from going to the farmers market because I love to draw food. I study a lot of art history and I get tons of inspiration from all of my mid century illustration heroes. Fashion illustration and textile design are also super interesting to me. Don’t even get me started on going to bookstores and looking at the picture book section. And because I play so many games, video game illustration and board game design are incredibly inspiring to me too. Honestly, at this point, it might be easier to write about what situations don’t inspire me!
Do you have any favorite design resources?
My design resources usually stem from a large collection of vintage books that I’ve accumulated over the years. These are usually by Mary Blair, Bernice Myers, Abner Graboff, Alain Gree, Alice and Martin Provensen, to name a few. I also like to collect cookbooks that have interesting illustrations in them. In my free time I also like to peruse the blog Fish Ink (fishinkblog.com), they have a ton of fun resources!
What advice would you give to designers who are just starting out?
Put out into the world what you want to get back. This can be useful in a lot of personal ways as well, but what I mean is that if you want to do work on a specific project, then even if you don’t have projects or clients at the moment, work on something personal in that same field and share it with the world. If you keep doing that, you’ll not only get a ton of useful practice, but you’ll get people seeing your work and wanting to hire you for those very same types of projects.
Also, be sure to take breaks and be kind to yourself. Starting out something new is brave and exciting, and no one knows how to do everything right away, or even ten years down the road! Keep at it, you’re planting the seeds that will help you grow.
Thank you for sharing with us Anna! To see more of Anna’s work, visit her website and follow her on Instagram.
All images courtesy of Anna Hurley.