You are an illustrator, a tattoo artist, and a poster designer. Your illustration for the rebranded Orka earned the brand agency Brandenburg Iceland's first Bronze Lion at Cannes. Can you talk a little bit about your collaboration and how the news made you feel? Can you share some highlights and significant takeaways?

Working with Brandenburg on the Orka illustration was the smoothest collaboration I've ever had. I was a bit stressed before the first meeting. I have experience working for a branding studio in Poland, and I remember working with big clients always meant a big struggle and endless corrections and adjustments, but this was not the case this time. I had so much fun with this project. I received a really good brief and a lot of freedom—but with clear direction, so it was a dream scenario. Both the award and just being part of this project made me feel seen and truly proud.

What obstacles did you encounter in the process, and what did you learn from them?

None that I can remember. I usually have an easy time working with my clients, especially when I do posters or illustrations. I like to think that the style of my work is so coherent and settled that when people hire me for a job they know what to expect, so they can trust me. There generally isn't a lot of back and forth between me and clients, just the brief, the sketches and client’s feedback, and then the completed artwork. That's how it was with Orka.

For me the most laborious type of project is designing a custom tattoo, many people come with a preconceived vision of how it should look and I haven't worked with this medium long enough to always get it right away.

What drew you to illustration and why do you love it?

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, and over the years, it has become my means of expression. I am rather introverted and shy, and I have a hard time communicating precisely how I feel with words—but I feel I can share so much more when I draw. It's a universal language that everyone can understand. Being an illustrator is like being a translator, or more like materializing the unspoken.

Can you talk a little bit about your creative process?

It depends on the type of work I'm doing, but let's take a poster, my most beloved format, as an example. I get an email from a client, read the event description, and by the time I finish reading, I have my first ideas, which usually end up being the best ones. A poster is a quick-response object, and the process of creating it reflects this nature, in my opinion. You have to make a catchy connection so that what makes sense to you when you read the brief should make the viewer react the same way—no overthinking.

I usually write down the ideas, then maybe go make some tea or do a little something to let them sink in before returning to my desk to read them again. If I like them, I start making very rough sketches. If nothing feels right and I start to struggle, I open one of my poster albums and look at old (usually Polish) posters, analyze them, and reflect on my own ideas.

Once the sketches are ready, I do the detailed drawing and lettering with an ink brush, often on many different layers of paper, and scan it. The rest is just computer work, assembling the poster and coloring it digitally.

In your bio you say that you are "here to speak visual language for grassroots organizations, minorities and anyone who likes things to look fun." Can you describe why this is significant for you?

I have a very strong sense of justice, and any unfairness makes me mad. My skills are the weapon I use to fight for the world I want to live in. Graphic design exists to convey messages in an accessible way, so creating posters for important causes is my favorite and most fulfilling thing to do.

What is your advice for self-employed artists who are struggling? In general and for artists of foreign origin here in Iceland?

The struggle never ends, but you just learn to accept it. It's really hard to make it when you are a foreigner; you have to build your social network from scratch, and there are no gigs accessible for outsiders. But that makes it even more rewarding when your work gets recognition because you know you earned it yourself.

It's such a small market here in Iceland, so it's easier to shine, but at the same time, it's harder to get enough commissions to live off it. I'm always juggling many jobs at once.

Right now, I am lucky enough to have everything I do be in my field of interest and education, but this wasn't always the case. It takes a lot of patience and can be frustrating, but don't give up.

Now that you and the team have won one of the biggest advertising awards in the world, what's next for you?

I'm curious about that myself! I hope I get to work on more projects like Orka—commercial but with a lot of visibility and artistic freedom.

I also hope the venue situation downtown improves so there will be more live music and more posters to create. Next month, I am co-curating an exhibition at Gallery Port, and I'm really excited about that.

I don't like to be limited to illustration; I want to have all the fun.

Be sure to follow Natka on Instagram.