01 May Member Spotlight: Ionut Radulescu
Ionut Radulescu
Designer
Art Director
Illustrator
Brooklyn, NY
“I think it’s more important than ever to use our creative work to empower, inspire, motivate, and try to make a change, a difference, whenever we can.”
Guild member Ionut Radulescu has been a member since 2019. A Romanian designer, illustrator, & art director based in Brooklyn, NYC, working across branding, digital, editorial, print, lettering, and illustration for lifestyle, culture, media, and tech brands.
Ionut shares
I am interested in combining illustration with design in both my commercial and personal projects, to tell stories that resonate and engage with its audiences. In both my personal and client work, I am interested in queer themes, identity and self-expression, feminism, motivation, and empowerment. I aim to inspire through my illustration, collage, type and lettering. Some of my clients include The New York Times, Refinery29, Palette Studio, Converse, Teen Vogue, Glamour UK, Dipsea, Peloton, Thinx, Hello Mr. magazine, DoR magazine, Pepsi and many others. Some of my illustration work has received notable awards several times from American Illustration and Applied Arts Magazine. I just received a recent American Illustration Award on April 2025 for my collage and type work. I was also fortunate to have notable press in various publications and platforms such as IQads, Propagarta, Certain Magazine, DART: Design Arts Daily, The Calvert Journal, Art Directors Club, AIGA Eye on Design, Teen Vogue, Design*Sponge, Showusyourtype, and FontsInUse among others. I am also happy to say that some of my work is being sold at Print Club London, a well-known screen-printing studio, print workshops & contemporary online gallery in Hackney London. I love judging and I had a few opportunities to be part of creative judging panels, including The One Club for Creativity. I also attended their portfolio reviews to give advice to students, etc.
The Young Ones competition is one of the most acclaimed advertising, interactive and design student competitions. It has a tradition of excellence dating back to 1986.
I also love to hold workshops and small creative talks, some were given for the reputable women-focused American Media Company, Refinery29. For the past 10 years, I was invited to co-teach four times a series of online classes at Bucharest, Art University in Romania focusing on lettering, typography, and illustration.
I conceived this class for the students in the Graphic Arts Department, alongside Stela Lie, professor at The National Art & Design University and founder of The Illustrator’s Club, Romania. I was invited in 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024. My work is fuelled by kombucha, music, and an unhealthy amount of mags, zines, and digital platforms. In my 13+ years of working & freelancing, I enjoyed creating visual experiences for both established and startup companies.
What traits do you think a professional in the graphic art industry must have and why?
I think it’s more important than ever to use our creative work to empower, inspire, motivate, and try to make a change, a difference, whenever we can.
And of course, to keep our curiosity and desire to grow creatively at every stage of our career path. We change as we mature, and so does our work, and we need to constantly polish our skills and push our artistic voice.
I also think it’s important to see technology as a tool and try to adapt to changes so we can stay agile and just have fun along the way, trying new things and adding to our creative skill set.
For me, it’s also beneficial to have side-projects, apart from my work and be involved in organizations, communities, and events to stay active and relevant in my creative expertise.
In short, the traits of a professional in the graphic arts, are quite diverse and also interconnected, both as a creative practitioner and as a human.
What is ethics in graphics arts? Do you think ethical responsibilities falls on the shoulders of the artist, the client/company stakeholder or both?
Ideally, it will be great for both the artist and client to have these ethics and try and make a better world by using their services and products.
I think more and more companies are aware of these and are vocal in their actions of not just selling something, but also bringing a contribution to society and ultimately to the world.
Or at least I like looking at it this way and try and follow these types of people who use their power for the greater good.
Have you ever used your work as a tool for advocacy or to bring awareness to a specific topic negatively impacting society?
As a queer, immigrant person, living in the USA for many years, I am motivated to work on projects focus queer themes, identity, and self-expression, empowerment, feminism, to elevate my community and try and make a change on my end as well. It doesn’t matter how big or small.
I worked with clients on pride projects, such as ArtOnLink, Converse, Hello Mister Magazine, Refinery29, Teen Vogue, and I feel grateful that I was given this opportunity to express myself and use my creative work to influence and inspire.
I am also part of Queer Design Club, a platform and community that exists to amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ people in design.
Where to find Ionut Radulescu
You can visit him on his website here: ionutradulescu.com or on various social media handles including Instagram @ionutradulescu and LinkedIn Ionut Radulescu.
