Hannah Bonn X Wild Child Cacao: interview with our new art & cacao artist

9 May 2023

Hannah Bonn is our 5th art & cacao designer! Her work spoke to us in all its crisp boldness. Here's an interview with the London-based designer, (just 29!) poppin' color in your cacao this summer!

Hey Hannah, we are excited to introduce you here to our cacao friends. Can you give us a small introduction? 🙂

I’m a 29 yr old, work-from-home mum of two living in London, and it’s exactly how you would imagine – busy! Just how I like it though, I have a need to be on the go, I’ve had some struggles with my mental health throughout my life and it helps me to be active!

Tell us about your passion for illustration and design.. How did it all start?

I’ve always been a creative person and knew from day one that I would end up doing something within the industry, but it took me a long time to find where I fit in. I went through lots of phases; traditional painting styles, working with fibers to make wall art, when my son was born I even made a lot of his clothes, and at one point thought that was my calling! It was collecting picture books with my kids that really drew me to Illustration in particular, and I quickly learned how broad Illustration work can be, which is why I enjoy it so much, there’s enough variety in the work to keep it interesting!

You worked for quite some brands. What was the project you are the most proud of and why?

Thanks! It’s really hard to pick, I have two that stand out;

Working with Gorman on a children’s wear collaboration was amazing. It was the first time I felt like this could actually be my job and not just a side hustle. The fact that I was trusted with a whole collection was a real confidence boost and being able to keep a few of the pieces for my children as a keepsake felt really special.

The second was working with Vans Europe on their Christmas window dressings. They actually ended up expanding the Illustrations to more of an interactive section within a couple of their stores which was cool. Most of the time I see my work on finished products online, so it seeing it in person in such a big store was another one of those moments where I was like, I can actually do this!

I could go on, I’m always so grateful for the work that comes my way, I love seeing mine and a client’s vision come together.

A small gallery of HANNa's work:

Where do you get your inspiration from? Who/what inspires you?

Again children’s books, I love the simplicity and the storytelling, my children and I love Judith Kerr! I take lots of inspiration from scientific Illustrations, Old Matchboxes, vintage advertisements, etc and try to put my take on things, with of course, bright colors and simple shapes.

Where do you sketch the best? At home or you have a workplace somewhere?

This is a funny question, I’m a bit like Harry Potter and I work from a tiny cupboard in our apartment with no windows! I used to work from our sofa but It was so hard on my back, I decided to clear out the coat cupboard so I could set up a small workspace. It’s not at all fancy or aesthetically pleasing but its a step up from the sofa, and one step closer to the studio I’m dreaming up!

Tell us something about the image and the idea behind the image? How did you came to this design for Wild Child Cacao?

It was truly a collaboration with Eva and Malou and myself. I asked them to send me some examples of my own work that they were drawn to, and they liked the idea of a Still Life. I really wanted the Cacao pod to be front and centre and use colors that are typical to my work, which I always describe as bright and joyful. For me I like my work to be bold and simplistic so it can be recognizable if you were to look at it from across the street, but also with enough going on that it’s still interesting to look at, which is what I wanted to do with this Illustration.

What kind of technique/program/device did you use? Are all your illustrations digital?

I really enjoy working traditionally best, however, I don’t have the space or time (with my youngest still at home) to do that as much as i’d like. So the majority of my work is digital at the moment which of course I also enjoy. I tend to do a lot of the sketching and working out colors on Procreate as it allows me to work on the go from my iPad and then I’ll tidy everything up with Photoshop.

Nice. We’ve noticed you work quite fast, don’t you? 😀

Yes! I do tend to work fast. Once I get an idea I like and I can imagine how I want it to look in my head then I have to get it down on (digital) paper ASAP, even if that means working until the early hours. It’s not the healthiest way to work, and I do often burn out and have to take some down time, but it definitely gets the work done in double time haha.