Ana Duje
- Anna Lilli Garai
- Sep 26
- 4 min read
Ana Duje is an Argentinian illustrator known for her clean geometry, sharp color palettes, and playful tone. Her practice has grown through travel, from Argentina to Barcelona and beyond, with each place leaving traces in her visual language. Whether through projects with Apple, Nike, or Adobe, or in her own work, she uses clear forms and strong colors to turn ideas into images that feel direct and lively. What defines her work is a mix of curiosity, small details, and a sense of structure that keeps each illustration striking yet approachable.
Q: You’ve lived in Argentina, Barcelona and now beyond. How has moving around changed the way you see and draw the world?
A: Looking back, I feel like living in Hong Kong probably had the biggest impact on me, partly because I was just starting out as a full-time freelancer, but also because Asia in general, and Hong Kong in particular, have this unique energy that is so inspiring. But regardless of the specific place, I think traveling makes me more open, more observant, more curious, and it pushes me to translate my experiences into my illustrations. Everything, from a sticker on a wall to a street scene, feeds into how I depict the world.
Q: Your style is built on bold color and sharp geometry. What first pulled you toward that language?
A: As a very structured and methodical person, I’ve always been drawn to clarity and impact. Bold colors and geometric forms let me distill an idea to its essence while keeping it visually striking. It started as a fascination with how such simple shapes can convey mood and movement instantly, and it stuck because now it just feels like me. But it’s also a reflection of what people respond to in my work and what clients push me to explore. If you look at my illustrations from two, three, or even ten years ago, you can tell they’re mine, but you can also see how my style has evolved over time. I think people who follow my work show me, in their own way, what works and what doesn’t — but more than that, client work has been essential to the growth of my personal work. Every time I face a challenge for a client, like drawing something I’ve never done before, I discover a new element or detail that I fall in love with. That discovery then becomes part of my style, keeping the work fresh and evolving.
Q: Playfulness runs through your work. What do you look for when you want an image to really feel alive?
A: I look for energy and curiosity. Little unexpected details, dynamic compositions, or exaggerating proportions (even more than usual) can make an image feel playful. It’s about keeping a sense of wonder, like I’m discovering the scene alongside whoever is looking at it. For me, the secret often lies in the actual shape of the character. One challenge related to this is that I feel like many artists (some far more talented than me) don’t need to rely on composition so much because their style is already defined by some sort of abstract energy that surrounds it (a combination of color palette, line style, feel, etc.). In my case, I think the style is mostly defined by the shapes themselves, so I rely heavily on the geometry of it all, which sometimes makes it challenging to innovate with each new piece.
Q: Travel is central to your practice. Do new places change your work right away, or does it filter in slowly over time?
A: It’s a mix. Sometimes a color, a shape, or a street pattern jumps right onto the page. Other times, it simmers in the background, slowly influencing how I see composition or narrative. Travel keeps my work evolving: it’s never a sudden transformation, but it’s always happening. Even when I don’t travel, there are a lot of things that stay in the back of your mind every time you go for a walk, every time you talk to someone, every time you watch a video. Consciously or not, they build a kind of mental catalog of inspiration that you can draw from whenever you’re facing a blank canvas.
Q: You’ve collaborated with Apple, Nike and Adobe. How do you keep your own voice clear when working on such big platforms?
A: I focus on what feels essential to me in every project. Even with big clients, I try to translate their brief through my own visual language rather than letting it dilute my style. It’s about balance: respecting the brand’s vision while keeping the elements and storytelling that make my work recognizable. That said, sometimes you’ll encounter projects that pay well but don’t make you feel particularly proud, and that’s ok too. We’re doing this for a living, after all.
Q: When you sit down to start something new, what moment still gives you the most excitement?
A: In every single piece I make, there’s always this moment when it all just clicks. That instant when a few shapes on your screen that were feeling like going nowhere suddenly start to come to life on the page. I don’t even know how to properly explain it, but it’s just this feeling of realizing that you’ve just made something, it just appeared "out of nowhere" from your own brain.
