Design WOO

Until recently, Australian-born, New York based designer and illustrator Deanne Cheuk was the creative force behind the stunning and progressive visuals in art and culture magazine Tokion. We spoke to her recently about her eclectic work schedule. Many people know you through your art direction of Tokion. You really pushed things on that magazine. It must have been fun to work on? ‘It was great, especially to come from a history of self-publishing. I didn’t have to deal with the stress of funding and content, I just got to have fun with the design and typography. I was really bored of the design of other magazines at the time, and I felt like there was a lot of opportunity to do something different, so I just went with it. As far as pushing things visually — at the time I was developing my illustration style too so that really influenced the design of Tokion’. What projects have you been working on this past year? ‘I’ve been working with the fashion designer Sue Stemp on prints for her collections, and also working in my studio on new paintings and drawings in preparation for an art road trip to China in October with Jose Parla, Ro Starr and Young Kim’. Ever pine for the beaches and fresh air of Perth? ‘Never. I pine for my family and friends there, but I don’t miss Australia. I love New York!’ What state of mind do you need to be in order to really create something special? ‘I usually work on a few jobs at a time but I spend as much time as I can on each before I move to the next. Ideas generally come for one job while working on another. I guess my mind is wandering while I work. Maybe that’s why I can’t work with music on — I like to work in silence’. What was the last piece of work by another illustrator or designer that totally blew your mind? ‘I just saw the cover of Beautiful Decay the other day that Alex Trochut did, I thought that was incredible!’

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