My Role
Illustrator and Animator
Team Members
Scott Doorley - Creative Director
Client
Stanford d.school
d.school Public Library
University libraries are full of extensive research papers and articles that are hard to navigate through. I helped the Stanford d.school create a digital library of a different kind.
The library lives in the form of an FAQ section that guides you through some of the d.school resources. The project strives to inspire discussion, questioning and ideally, a bit of support on the long way of understanding and applying design.
Why we chose surrealism?
The d.school is all about challenging people with different backgrounds and interests to find their creative side. We wanted to illustrate a world that resonates with that; a world that’s abstract enough to make everyone create their own interpretation.
Mood board sources: Stanford d.school, Bruno Mounari, absurd.design, Salvador Dali
Coming up with surrealistic concepts
Once the world started forming in my head, I collected keywords and images of objects that are related to each subject. That helped me make unusual connections and create metaphors that are deeply connected with each topic.
Refining the style
Scott mentioned wanting the illustrations to feel imperfect and handcrafted so I had fun with brushes and textures to incorporate that in the style.
I had to keep the color palette minimalist - black and white - to better fit the design of the website.
Final artwork
Final artwork
In a nutshell, my process can be broken on two parts -figuring out the story we want to tell, and then finding the right tools to bring it to life.
Bringing the library to life
Working closely with the team, I illustrated and animated 9 articles for the Design Questions Library. You can see them live on the d.school website.
Who produces better ideas: individuals or teams?
Where do new ideas come from?
When should you move quickly and when should you pause to reflect?
What are simple ways to meaningfully boost creativity?
When building a diverse team, how can you set them up for success?
How does empathy influence creativity?
Why do building, sharing, and testing a work in progress help you get to a good solution?
How do you teach someone synthesis?
How do designers “think” with “things?"
"Radositna is a rare talent and effortless collaborator.
Not only did she create delightful illustrations and animations that brought our work to life, working with her to bring them to fruition was a delight as well.
She brings more to the table than just technical talent. She can just as easily come up with a novel, insightful solution as she can deliver it on time, looking just right."
— Scott Doorley, Creative Director at Stanford d.school
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