Creator Spotlight: Olena Panasovska
Olena is a Ukranian icon designer with two higher education degrees and two children. Her obsession with icon design has blossomed over the years, and she currently enjoys working without a boss and planning her own agenda. We chatted with Olena to learn about her approach to designing icons successfully, and the methods she uses to turn her well-researched subjects into concise yet elegant icon forms.I was born into a family that valued intelligence and believed every one of us should graduate. Over the years, I worked in many different roles from public administration to being a lecturer, coach, coordinator, and even a supervisor to a team of journalists at a magazine. I remember the days when routine became uninteresting. I took up other activities. Then, during the financial crisis of 2008, I was also pregnant and began to focus on a new problem: creating reusable diapers for budget-minded mothers.
So my background has been varied, and I had never previously thought of myself as an icon creator. A year before I created my first icon I became interested in studying art — only for personal interest and not any practical benefit. At first, the history of art opened my eyes to an entire world history that we were not told about during school. Then I went deeper.
How would you describe your overall aesthetic, and how has it evolved over time?
It was my brother’s idea to turn me into an icon creator. I never had a burning urge to be a designer. I even resisted his efforts to teach me. But he helped me learn how to draw to Noun Project’s standards and it piqued my interest.
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