Graphic Design Illustration Interviews Member

POP Meets | Josephine Rais

posted by Si Cunningham November 26, 2020

Our new series meets the people behind some of the industry’s most inspiring work. This week, Berlin-based illustrator and designer Josephine Rais talks about her creative journey, as well as the need for more diversity and gender parity within the industry.

Pictorial representations have been my greatest strength since my childhood.
I have quite a vivid imagination, when I try to capture a thought, it always manifests itself as an image in my head. My creativity has always been encouraged and supported at home, which has definitely shaped me. After some small detours I finally decided to study product design. During my bachelor’s degree I realised that I was much more attracted to visual communication and especially to drawing. During my Master’s studies [in Strategic Design] I first had the idea to start my freelance work, which I finally pursued, encouraged by my social environment.

It’s very important to me to depict diversity, and I hope that at some point it will no longer be considered special, but rather normal.
As far as the portrayal of my characters is concerned, I believe that I am strongly influenced by my hometown Stuttgart and my chosen hometown Berlin. Both cities have very different cultural influences and are so diverse. Observation is another important aspect that influences my work. I like to look at people or things and reassemble them in my head. The beauty of drawing is that I can create my world exactly the way I want it to be. I’ve always been very attracted to colourful things – except for a short phase when I only wore black!

I’m passionate about the projects that give me the feeling of making a difference with my work.
My latest project is for the American Lung Association and Facebook, which aims to educate parents about the dangers and risks of vaping in their children. Moreover, I’m always delighted to work with female-owned companies such as Dipsea or The Female Company. However, I would like to say that I am incredibly happy and privileged to have had so many great opportunities. I try to approach every project with the same enthusiasm and energy, no matter how impressive the client is. I’m very grateful that I was able to turn my passion into my profession.

Our industry needs to employ more women, or give women the same opportunities as men.
This should start much earlier, such as promoting young girls in the creative industries and encouraging them to follow this path. In fact, my parents also advised against it at first because they felt that the path “as a woman” was too uncertain. I think it is still a social problem. In any case, more awareness of the role of women in the creative industry is needed and it would be nice if an increasing number of women in creative professions would not remain just a trend.

Currently, the creative scene is suffering greatly from the limitations of the pandemic.
Even though much can be pushed into digital space, there are serious consequences, especially in Berlin. Some friends of mine are affected because they can only pursue their profession and their passion to a very limited extent. That is a great pity and unfortunately the creative industry is not necessarily considered to be systemically relevant. We can only hope that the scene will recover again.

My inspiration is permanently drawn from everything that surrounds me.
This can be anything from music, food, friends, architecture, travel and events. In the last months I have realised that I gain a lot of inspiration from change –– or rather that I need variety and have to stimulate my mind with new impressions from time-to-time. In fact I believe that contrasts in everyday life have a very positive effect on my creativity.

In the beginning you need a lot of endurance and patience.
But the most important thing is to believe in yourself. This is easier said than done, but I believe that if you really want something and put your heart and soul into it, you will achieve it. You should take the time to experiment, find your own way and look less at what others do. The exchange with other creative people is always a great benefit for me personally. You can learn so much from each other and be inspired by each other. You can also ask for help sometimes. And last but not least you have to communicate your work and your goals to the outside world. Of course you can hope that everything will come by itself, but I’m a fan of taking things by myself.

Work-wise, 2020 has been super interesting for me.
I have some great projects in the pipeline I am not allowed to talk about yet, but I’ve recently signed [to] the illustration agency The Different Folk and I’m very excited about our journey together. There are some dreams I hope to realise in the Future, like an exhibition, an art book or a mural on a big building. Personally I wish to focus on more analogue work again, like painting or tufting.