Ross Du
Ross Du is an illustrator and graphic designer from Manila, Philippines. She creates vignettes inspired by color, culture, and history. She enjoys creating scenes around nostalgia, small joys, and cultural context through food, fashion, and furniture.
Hi Ross! Tell us about yourself - how did you get to where you are today and when did you first become interested in design and illustration?
Hello! I’ve been working professionally as an illustrator for eight years now, and illustration is really my first love. I grew up reading a lot of books with illustrations, like Roald Dahl books illustrated by Quentin Blake, Tintin by Hergé, and WITCH comics, for example. I really enjoyed them and wanted to illustrate and write my own books in my childhood. I just kept drawing ever since.
Fast forward to university years, I got my start illustrating for a local youth newspaper. I primarily studied graphic design in university though, and I worked in branding for three years, which is how I got my design thinking mindset and my flexibility as an illustrator. My body of work and style is a result of a decade of non-stop illustrating and designing.
How would you describe your aesthetic and how has it evolved over time?
To be honest, I find it difficult to describe. If anything, I’d just like to think of it as authentic, straightforward yet subtle, full of quiet life. It’s really my own mix of maximalism and minimalism.
Growing up, I loved drawing people, specifically fashion and faces, so linework was very important to me. I then got into digital illustration and had more freedom and an easier time exploring shapes and using lines to express features more cleanly and subtly, which worked alongside my growing interest in a more minimalist approach. I then worked in branding, which meant I had to be a bit more flexible with my style, which is why up to now, I tend to switch up between being clean and geometric and being more rough and maximalist with my approach, depending on the mood I want the illustration to have. I’d say it always ends up looking organic and contemporary, though.
You recently launched a brand, “Ang Manileña.” What is the vision behind this brand and what inspired you to create it?
My primary vision for Ang Manileña was to update the visual vocabulary of what being from Manila looks like. To me, the imagery has been stagnant—it’s been the jeepney, our street food, our traditional dress, etc. for quite some time—and I want to update it to reflect my current perception.
This was inspired by The New Yorker and other faux magazine cover projects such as The Parisianer and The Tokyoiter, but especially by a The Bangkokian poster I saw when I visited Thailand. Being another Southeast Asian metropolitan city, there were a lot of similarities. It made me realize that we in Manila haven’t celebrated our city through illustration in a while.
In the long run, I’d love for it to become a platform for other Filipino illustrators to display how they perceive Manila, and for Ang Manileña posters to become commonplace in modern Filipino homes.
How has your career led you to work with the Canva team and what have been your favorite projects at Canva?
After I worked in branding, I wanted to pursue illustration, and so when Canva approached me with an illustrator position, I wanted to give it a try, which was definitely a good decision.
I’m an illustrator at Canva so I help populate the elements library with quality illustrations. My favorite project has been producing illustrations that cater to Not-for-Profits. I believe having these free-to-use illustrations on the platform empower these organizations to use their time more wisely and promote their cause in a more attractive way. It’s been my most fulfilling project at Canva to date.
What’s your creative process like and how do you approach creative collaboration?
For illustration, I tend to start with a theme and then illustrate characters to deliver that theme. Then I create a narrative around the character by adding context via the clothes they’re wearing, the setting they’re in, or the props around them. I always try to ground them in a place and time to make the piece more relatable and specific—that tends to work for me better than making it look too universal.
When it comes to creative collaboration, I love to take the strengths I and my collaborators have and figure out roles we can play in creating our work. I prefer to trust what comes naturally to us and for us to just do what we enjoy. I’m grateful that I’m surrounded by talented friends who are always up for a collab.
Where do you find creative inspiration?
The past year, I’ve been into activating my other senses aside from the visual—so I’ve been inspired a lot by food and fragrance, understanding how things found around us are used as ingredients, and how they work together.
I’m also inspired by travel, especially around Southeast Asia. Our Southeast Asian neighbors are so rich in culture and have such interesting and thriving creative communities. It’s been fun looking for similarities and differences given our shared climate and colonial past.
What would be a dream project to work on for you?
My dream project is quite internal and not necessarily craft-related: it’s to create a space to co-work with fellow creative friends. I appreciate being surrounded by creative people and energy. It's inspiring to have constant conversations around art, design, and life with people who have a creative sensibility. It’s a bit of a far off dream since rent in Manila is pricey, but hopefully I’ll be able to achieve this one day.
What has been one of the most challenging projects you’ve worked on and what did you learn from it?
Lately I’ve been working with friends unfamiliar with the creative process, and it’s been difficult figuring out what they truly want with the project and for our tastes to match up. From this, I’m learning how to trust my judgment and defend my creative choices, while also listening well and meeting in the middle with other people. It’s a welcome challenge, and I appreciate the trust they put in me as well to direct the work creatively.
What advice would you give to artists and designers just starting out or looking to strengthen their practice?
I think the best thing to do to form your style and to make a body of work you feel is authentic to you is just to do a lot of creative work. Draw a lot, design a lot, and pursue your ideas even if they don’t come out 100% perfect. That way, you’ll find your patterns, strengths, and weaknesses before you can polish your body of work. Take your time and just do a lot of what you love doing if you can.
Thank you for sharing with us Ross! To view more of Ross’s work, visit her website or Instagram.
Ross was nominated by Canva. All art courtesy of Ross Du.