INTERVIEW with Allegra Parlavecchio - Sicilian illustrator/designer

Hello again :)

Another Wednesday, another interview! Today I am so so excited to present to you one of my best friends, and one of the most talented people I know - Allegra.

Allegra is a Berlin based illustrator/designer, originally from Sicily. The combination of these very different cultures did leave a mark on her work and keep reading to find out how :)

Q: Describe yourself using only one word?

A: Content

Q: Favourite movie?

A: Only one? Nothing fancy but I love a good feel-good movie, “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “The Terminal” will always be at the top of my list.

Q: Favourite colour?

A: Dark blue

Q: What did inspire you to become an illustrator/graphic designer?

A: I’ve always loved colours and I always loved drawing (cliché?) so there was never a “lightbulb over my head” moment where I suddenly knew what I wanted my life to be. It was a long, slow and boring process - which is still happening! 

Q: What graphic designers do you find most inspirational?

A: Not a graphic designer, but Mark Conlan was the very first illustrator who ever truly inspired me

Q: How does your dream client look like?

A: A very open-minded, fun, and daring client. With a massive budget.

Q: Did your country or culture inspire your work?

A: Absolutely. I didn’t understand how much until I moved to Berlin and saw how different my style was from everything that surrounded me. I grew up in Sicily, immersed in the most vibrant colours - the coastal sea, the ice-creams, the umbrellas at the beach, the handmade ceramics, everything there is at its highest saturation. 

Q: Does your fashion background have any impact on your nowadays work?

A: Oh yes! I feel like my previous fashion studies really helped me recognise trends easily (if I follow them or not, that’s another story) and taught me how important is the quality of the work you produce.

Q: Is it important to you that people understand your work?

A: Not really? I don’t mind when people have different interpretations of my work. I sometimes don’t really have a clear vision myself of what the artwork represents until someone points their thoughts out and there I see it! 

Q: Tell me a bit more about your characters in your illustrations?

A: My characters are more than often inspired by the little struggles and the little joys of women’s everyday life. The feeling of the first sip of tea in the morning, a baby leaf on the plant you forgot to water, breaking the mug you just bought, a text from a friend, the anxiety of a Sunday night, a walk in the park, a food that reminds you of your childhood. I’d like for my work to simply be relatable to who sees it. 

Q: How do you see the world changing in the future regarding sustainability?

A: I don’t really know where the world is concretely going right now - there’s a lot of talks and some action, I’d just love to see more action. I truly appreciate how the overall public awareness is growing but I still find problematic how the focus is still on the individual when it should be on bigger corporations and politicians (ex. stop using straws is great but stop producing it them is better).

Q: How do you see the industry changing after 2020?

A: I just hope we’ll all take advantage of what 2020 has taught us: more compassion, more collaboration, and more flexibility.

Q: How did this year and the global pandemic affect your work?

A: Weirdly enough, it has affected it in a positive way. This was the year I finally had the time to really focus on client works and expand my online presence.
Working from home has some lovely pros but some big fat cons that not always safeguard mental health, I’ll give you that. 

Q: How do you keep yourself busy during the lockdown?

A: I’m a homebody by nature - I never truly feel like I “have” to keep myself busy. I’m content with a simple and slow home life but whenever I feel the itch for more, I just pick up my pen and draw or miserably fail at baking cookies. 

Q: Goals for the next year?

A: To hopefully be able to open my own shop. To really give it time and creativity and make something I can be proud of!

I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did.

See you soon with more interesting people sharing their story with you :)