The brief for IF Italian Festa 2025 was simple: make it feel Italian, not touristic. Tourism reaches for the postcard. Culture reaches for the person.

IF Italian Festa brings Italian food, music and culture to Melbourne every year. For the 2025 edition, I commissioned an original illustration series of seven archetypes, each embodying a distinct slice of Italian life: the pizzaiolo, the donna fashion with her coffee, the aperitivo ragazzo, the nonna who cooks without recipes, the bambina who dances, the ragazzo artista, and Tazio Nuvolari, speed as poetry.

Because Italy is not a place you illustrate. It's a cast of characters you recognise.