Joan Varitek is a freelance illustrator and graphic novelist working out of Chicago, IL. She graduated from MIAD in 2007 with a BFA in Illustration and Sequential Art. She is always looking for new gigs and networking opportunities. 

She is a visual narrator who specializes in the youth to young modern market, offering a fresh, poppy, figurative style. With content including short narratives, pinup girls, sci-fi, retro, awkward teens, hyperactive children, and metropolitan hipsters, Joan's illustrations aim to reach a colorful audience with a heart of humor and subtle sense of subversiveness. Her work communicates a playful, tongue-in-cheek humor through the use of bold design and dynamic compositions. Influenced by kitschy cartoons, indie press comics, magical girl anime, 60's French pop music, space travel, and mod fashion... you are guaranteed to find bold linework and bright colors in every page.

Joan works in a range of media, from brush and ink, to creating digital imagery with a Wacom tablet in Adobe CS3. Joan has worked on a multitude of projects, ranging from punk rock album covers to PBS Kids programming promotions.

She is available for freelance or commission work, see her work at www.joanvaritek.com and contact her at [email protected] .

Specialties
Sequential art, cartoons, comic book style art, colorful illustration, children, teenager, young modern, editorial, ink line art, figure drawing, portraiture, logo design, cover design

BBDO New York
GSP Marketing
Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Time Warner Cable
Craftsman Tools
Katen Consulting
Garagehammer Podcast
Cyphan
Studio Hemogoblin
Hollow Clone Films
Chicago Costume
Earth Ed
Tub Ring
Kopy Kat Aromatics
Au Bon Climat Winery

Joan Varitek
847-809-3367
[email protected]
www.joanvaritek.com

Education
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
BFA, Illustration, Sequential Art, 2003 – 2007
Specialties
Sequential art, comics, editorial illustration, advertising, ink line art, figure drawing, portraiture, logo design, album and book cover design, t-shirt design, painting, typography, package design, layout design, concept art, animation. Fluent in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Flash.
Experience
Illustration, Costume, and Art Direction at Studio Hemogoblin
November 2010 - December 2011 (13 months)
Helped to develop, create concept art, choose materials, and construct costumes for L5 film project. Worked with actors on set as wardrobe assistant during shooting. Created illustrations and film poster for the release of the film.
Freelance Illustrator, Layout Designer at SureCount
March 2011 - December 2011 (10 months)
Worked with creator to develop a set of flashcards used for diabetes meal planning and sugar management. Included typographic layout, print design, background illustration.
Freelance logo/t-shirt designer at Arizona Treasure Hunt Committee
October 2011 - November 2011 (2 months)
Developed unique artwork for the prize t-shirts to participants in the 61st annual Arizona Treasure Hunt featuring the mascot and the various themes of the annual hunt.
Freelance Illustrator/Logo Designer at Goap Etc.
September 2011 - October 2011 (2 months)
Worked with client to create a bold logo design for web, print and packaging use for natural soap products. Vector illustration and typography.
Freelance Illustrator at Pixeldom
March 2011 - October 2011 (8 months)
Building website, print, and game assets in a pixel art style for a start-up social media/pop culture site. Created full pixel art city banner for the blog design.
Digital Photo Retoucher at Mac Duggal
July 2011 – September 2011 (3 months)
Using raw fashion photographs and performing digital retouching and enhancements, color correction, and cleanup for placement in catalogue page layouts. Created page layout compositions with edited photos, text, and digital background.
Freelance Illustrator at Chicago Costume
October 2010 - November 2010 (2 months)
Created vector silhouette illustrations of characters in Halloween costumes for print ads appearing in the Red Eye, Hoy, and other Chicago periodicals.
Freelance Illustrator at Earth Ed.
September 2009 - September 2010 (1 year 1 month)
Illustrated a series of black and white images, infographics, and comics to be used in a presentation about recycling and ecology. Integrated line art with typography to make bold illustrations.
Freelance Illustrator at BBDO
June 2010 - July 2010 (2 months)
One of 10 Chicago artists chosen to create a portrait illustration of a sponsored athlete for the 2010 Chicago Marathon mural on the Bank of America building and for use in marketing materials relating to the event.
Freelance Illustrator at Cyphan
March 2010 - July 2010 (5 months)
Illustrated unique badge design for a first year sci-fi convention. Layout design featuring portrait illustrations of the guests of honor in a cartoon style.
Freelance Illustrator at Garagehammer Podcast
June 2010 - June 2010 (1 month)
Created fantasy character portraits and banner design for the podcast Garagehammer.


 

Honors and Awards
Society of Illustrators Annual Scholarship Competition 2007
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design 3/4 Scholarship
MIAD Grant

Recommendation
"Joan Varitek is tirelessly devoted to her craft, for which she finds endless reserves of enthusiasm and energy no matter the circumstances. Her design sense is remarkable, her style is unique, and her capabilities rival those of the highest ranking cartoonists/editorial illustrators in the industry, which makes Joan a rare gem to stumble upon. I can recommend her without any reservation to
generate fantastic, stand-out, timely work."
— Stanley Von Medvey, Creative Director at Studio Hemogoblin