With her disarming smile and relaxed professionalism, designer/art director Pia Sabbadini is a self-confessed optimist. It’s this joie de vivre that brings warmth to her work, both as a brand designer and a digital artist.
Leah Morris, copywriter and Mavens founder, caught up with Pia via remote correspondence.
LM: You work at an advertising agency part time but Picture Story is your freelance offering. What are you working on right now?
PS: My latest project is an ongoing poster series. It was inspired by a need to create something positive and personal, as a break from a commercial brief.
I felt an urge to get back to the essence of what design is: simply creating visual content to communicate a message.
The pandemic was the perfect platform for this; I found myself contemplating our new normal and considering the bigger picture.
The knock on effect of Covid-19 has challenged humankind in so many ways. It feels like a wake-up call for us to invest in the common good. I really do believe we will come out the other side much stronger and better equipped for the future, and I wanted to contribute to this conversation in my own way.
LM: One of your strengths is that your brand work is incredibly versatile, but your personal work has a distinct style. How would you describe it?
PS: It’s usually bold and colourful in one way or another. I guess because it shows my optimistic side and ‘all-or-nothing’ nature.
I like to create something that is born out of an idea, rather than just something that is just style for style’s sake. The idea informs the execution/design and I try to make the two coexist in harmony.
At the moment I’ve been experimenting a lot with optical illusions and geometry. The overarching theme is ‘perspective is everything’ and ‘change is constant and inevitable’. This has always been an interesting concept to me and has informed my attitude to life in many ways.
LM: Where can we see your work?
PS: Only in the digital space for now, although I hope to exhibit the full series in future!
Pia has over 16 years of commercial experience as a designer, art director and creative lead both in Australia and the UK. To view more of Pia’s work or enquire about a collaboration, follow @_picture_story_ on Instagram.
