Girls in Design- Spotlight On: Gemma O’Brien

Welcome to the second part of Girls in Design! You can find part 1 on Jessica Hische here.

Today’s spotlight is on Australian typographer and illustrator Gemma O’Brien. I had the pleasure of seeing her talk last week at the Sydney design conference Semi Permanent. I was initially struggling to stay awake due to battling a pretty intense food coma. Then the bubbly Gemma bounds onto stage, a ball of energy- waving and smiling and instantly winning the audience over. I snapped out of my slumber pronto and was hanging onto her every word.

Gemma attracted the eye of the design world back in 2007 through her blog For the Love of Type. Things really took off for her when she drew lettering all over her body in the performance piece “Write Here, Right Now” and she was invited to speak at the international design conference TypoBerlin while she was still studying at uni!

Her hand drawn typography is stylish and elegant, she even designed Bob Hawke’s (Australia’s “favourite Prime Minister”) 80th birthday invitations!

She also creates stunning illustrations, often incorporating typography into the images as shown in this drawing of a jaguar with letterforms in its fur.

Gemma currently works at Animal Logic and her previous clients include The New York Times, Design Made in Germany and Canon. Check out more of her work on her blog!