From South Korea to Canada and Montenegro, here is a new cutting-edge crop of designers you need to follow on Instagram. Here are our top ten illustrators you need to follow this fall for daily inspiration, comics or just for sheer inspiration. Hopefully, they’ll help you spark some ideas.
Courtesy Elise Gravel
Elise Gravel
A comical author and illustrator who makes funny books for kids, this is where you can find doe-eyed pigeons, cartoons of whales, gawking crows and cute street scenes of Japan through the eyes of one quirky illustrator who has really found their own style.
https://www.instagram.com/elise_gravel/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmdsatzF7-E/
Association of Illustrators
This account is a wild card because they’re always posting pics of illustrators plucked from their membership. As a side note, the Association of Illustrators helps with best business practice, pricing, copyright and contracts, as well as portfolio advice. Check them out!
https://www.instagram.com/theaoi/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmgDcB9Hw9q/
Ryan Snook
This Canadian illustrator brings together comics with photography and a wicked sense of humor to his editorial design, there’s also something retro about his characters that’s a throwback to old Disney flicks.
https://www.instagram.com/ryansnook/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhwOtf-jsVb/
Mariano Pascual
This designer, illustrator and visual artist from Argentina is based in Barcelona, and creates grid-based design work that is a throwback to the 1980s. Not to be missed!
https://www.instagram.com/mariano_pascual/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmiRLkUlO7r/
KR
KR is a tattoo artist in Seoul, South Korea, who creates minimal, illustrative designs for tattoos, from interpretations of Alice in Wonderland to comics with short captions of text.
https://www.instagram.com/m_tendo/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmDgwXDB2M9/
Ellen Jewett
This stunning artist and sculptor creates lifelike animals that run the gamut. From intricate drawing to feather-based sculptures of realistic-looking birds and sea creatures, this account is not to be missed for design inspiration.
https://www.instagram.com/ellenjewett/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlZVn-dHQ8j/
Josefine Svärd
This Swedish designer and illustrator creates black ink illustrations which are often encased in a strange shape on the page – like a diamond or a circle. She specializes in nightscapes and nature, most of which takes us back to another time.
https://www.instagram.com/wildwither/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnA6pfoj6kL/
Custom by Sophy
This Swedish artist has a self-proclaimed “fetish for decay, forests and literature.” Her black and white ink works are very Narnia, in a way, and have many fantastical elements like masks, wings and otherworldly creatures.
https://www.instagram.com/custombysophy/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm1KB1JBjKC/
Eli Klemmeck
This self-proclaimed illustrator “from the mountains” is known for creating black and white drawings of a skull character set in spooky Halloween-type settings like haunted houses, graveyards and with zombies under a full moon. Fun and with quotes that make you think, like “Peace of mind is hard to find nowadays.”
https://www.instagram.com/neomlei/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnDRbZmn0hH/
Zombijana Bones
This Montenegro-born artist and illustrator (whose real name is Andrijana Vešović) creates charming comic vignettes (often with pastel palettes) that tap into the everyday life of the illustrator, from creative block to pizza cravings.
https://www.instagram.com/zombijana/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnDuy69FZNS/