Humour, the Best Way to Communicate with Global Audience

In today's international world, being a freelancer means being available to the entire world. No matter where you're from, one needs to adapt to various clients and cultures to create a portfolio. Fil Dunsky, from Russia, with almost nothing Russian in his designs, uses humour and pun to make his illustrations work for brands all across. A little rendezvous gives more insight on how he creates what he does.

CG: Your illustrations are cartoonish in appeal. What is your style of illustrations? What would you call it? And what have been your inspirations during your design journey?

Fil Dunsky: For many designers, type of style is undefined. I don' t know what my style is. All I know is that I put in a lot of love in my design, bake it and make it scrumptious so that the end user enjoys it. Through my design journey, my inspirations have been Oksana Grivina and Andrey Gordeev. Oksana was the first digital freelance illustrator I saw that mesmerised me. Ever since, I've been inspired by her work and learning her style and technique. And Andrey is my best friend who was the reason behind me leaving an office designer job to become a freelancer.

CG: From the look of it, your designs have a story. Where do you get such stories?

Fil Dunsky: How designs manifest depends a lot on the task. Sometimes, the briefs are actually instructions that give less room for experimentation, and hence one simply has to recreate what the client imagines. No matter what the brief, the steps to arrive at an idea always remain the same. Boil the brief in your mind, sketch some ideas and then get one of them approved by the client before the chosen one is carefully finished. As for where I get my stories, well nature and creation are inspiring itself. Just look around. This world is so beautiful and full of stories, isn't it?

CG: What would you say is 'Russian' about your illustrations? How has designing in Russia, enhanced your illustration style? How do you make your designs to relate to an international audience?

Fil Dunsky: I don't think I have any Russian influence in my designs. I have never felt Russian, especially when the world has colluded and boundaries have been merged due to the internet revolution. Deep down inside, we are all international and there is no division that shows up in designs. Cultural influence comes from the client side at times, I feel. When I've drawn for clients from the UAE or China, they have specific cultural elements that need to be included. But that does not mean a designer needs to change his or her style.