I was commissioned to illustrate the opening of an article about how technological, digital, and social changes are driving the need for people to rethink or reshape their skills: reskilling means reworking what you already do by acquiring new skills, while upskilling involves adding skills related to your field.
To address this topic, iconography is widely used, so I leveraged it to structure the visual narrative.
To address this topic, iconography is widely used, so I leveraged it to structure the visual narrative.
According to the suggested moodboard, the request was clear: to depict a business woman, perfectly dressed and looking effortless in her workspace... but I decided to take a different approach. Far from confining myself to idealized stereotypes, I chose to show something more realistic: a woman in front of her computer, surrounded by papers and cluttered objects. Chaotic, active, cheerful and committed. A woman who could be many of us, someone we can relate to when reading this.
Communicating from a place of reality is also a choice and a responsibility. As an illustrator, I believe it's crucial to choose which stereotypes we choose to reproduce, and how we want to do so.
Also, I took the opportunity to hide some small details to my everyday reality: the pen that a friend gave me, my favorite hoodie, a pencil tangled in my hair, my computer, mouse and glasses and many more hidden things that bring me closer to the illustration and the topic.
Revista Ohlala - 2025