Illustrator Philip Giordano living the dream—his very specific dream, that is. “Since my childhood, I had the dream of traveling and drawing animals and plants as an explorer of the nineteenth century, with the aim to become an illustrator for magazines such as National Geographic,” he once remarked in an interview with Sense of Creativity. And, incredibly enough, that’s sort of what he grew up to do.
Born in Italy to a Filipina mother and Swiss father, Giordano studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and at the European Institute of Design and has also earned a Master in Animation in Turin. His travels took him eventually to Tokyo, where he now lives and works full time as an illustrator. His work includes illustrating for magazines and publishing houses around the world, as well as illustrating books and book covers, designing toys, and animating.
“For me, illustrations meant the naturalistic ones, born from a close observation of nature,” he says. “That is why I have never drawn the human figure, avoiding it for years from my works. Only by participating in a tour organized by my school to the Bologna Book Fair, I discovered the world of picture books. I was surprised by the idea of expressing something I had inside, telling a world of pure imagination. I thought: ‘Let’s try to make a book!’”
His style of illustration is appealing to both children and adults and his work has received international recognition and awards including the Silver Medal by the Society of Illustrators and the White Raven Award. With more than 10k followers on Instagram, he’s also created a small buzz online. Follow his Instagram page for more.
