Hi, I’m Tanya Heidrich, an illustrator and designer with a knack for the monochromatic.

I have a BFA in Graphic Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and prior to being a freelancer worked for a design agency and an educational technology startup. Over the years I’ve worked with brands, publishers, universities and organizations across the world on projects including illustration, surface pattern design, hand lettering, branding, print, packaging, and more. Originally from Switzerland and now living in Spain, I’m fluent in English, French and Spanish.

You can find samples of my illustration work by scrolling down, or download my CV and a handy PDF portfolio below. In addition to illustration, I also paint murals (which you can find here), and am a seasoned graphic designer (with design work samples here).

portfolio pdf

Octopus Publishing Group

Illustrations for the book series ‘Forgotten Women’, which highlights influential women in history. Each book focuses on a different area of expertise, from artist, to writers, so scientists and leaders.

Simple Kitchen

For my thesis in Graphic Design, I wrote, designed, photographed and illustrated a 36 page recipe book aimed at helping young adults learn the basics of cooking. To celebrate the book’s launch, I designed an interactive installation showcasing spreads as posters, copies of the book, a table and chair to emulate the feeling of a small kitchen, and vinyl graphics. The exhibition encouraged folks to take a break, flip through the book, and immerse themselves into its illustrative world.

Fruits & vegetables

A sampling of hand-rendered illustrations of fruits and vegetables.

Quarantine Thoughts & Pandemic Thoughts

This hand-lettered series explores the ways our minds processed the realities of living in the midst of a pandemic, and how prolonged restrictions, social isolation and uncertainty affected daily, seemingly trivial thoughts. The entire series can be viewed here and here.

One of the artworks from this series, ‘What day is it?’, was featured in posters around the town of Gland, Switzerland, as curated by the town’s department of culture.

Sneakers Generation

I was invited by Galerie Sakura to customize a Nike Air Jordan sneaker as part of the group exhibition ‘Sneakers Generation’ in Paris, France. Open from September to November 2021, the show featured unique shoes designed by international artists.

SHO

A collection of reusable water bottles named ‘Serene Waters’. The designs are an homage to the many beautiful forms water takes, from the mesmerizing ways water trickles down windows on rainy days, to the reflection of light on the surface of a still body of water, to the curved paths rivers carve into the earth.

Pompei Street Festival

Painted live amidst the ruins of Pompeii, this mural represents a reimagined dreamscape of the ancient city. Each architectural feature was directly inspired by the city and its ruins.

Pride Patterns

A collection of free backgrounds for phone wallpapers and Zoom calls, to celebrate our beautiful LGBTQ+ community (of which I’m a part of)! A version of the design was created for each queer orientation and identity, including, amongst others, transgender, bisexual, asexual and non-binary flags. The full collection can be found here.

In July 2022 I created a mural of the design in the streets of Valencia, Spain, as a reminder that queer folks continue to deserve space, visibility and support beyond the 30 calendar days of pride month.

MyQVO

Branding, UI design and illustration for ‘Blackout’, a game in the ‘Arqade’ app of educational startup MyQVO (now CircleIn). The game merged a quiz format with compelling graphics, incentivizing students to answer correctly in order to bring light back to cities – from Paris, to New York, to Cape Town.

MyQVO

Branding, UI design, illustration and animation for ‘SpaceHam’, a game in the ‘Arqade’ app of MyQVO (now CircleIn). Upon answering quiz questions correctly, students earn time to play the game in which they navigate a rocket, avoiding planets and meteors while collecting pigs – and points!