Danielle Lawry
They’re not out yet, but when they do appear, there will be tens of thousands of tulips blooming on the grounds of the state Capitol. It’s a sure sign of spring in Madison and Danielle Lawry drew inspiration from this scene for her May cover illustration.
Danielle, a Madison-based graphic designer and the art director of On Wisconsin magazine, broke down the forms of the flowers into their simplest shapes against the backdrop of the state Capitol.
Art director Tommy Washbush says he first met Danielle when she contacted him to create an illustration for On Wisconsin magazine’s 2023 “Future Issue,” and he always hoped she’d one day do an illustration for Isthmus as well.
“Danielle’s more of a graphic designer than illustrator, but when she does illustrate, she loves drawing plants, leaves and patterns, so we did some brainstorming and eventually settled on a design that works to her strengths,” he says. “Normally we try to avoid the Capitol building on the cover since it’s so obvious, but the idea of placing the focus on the Capitol lawn flowers and pushing the building into the background, almost blended in with the sky, gave this a unique angle. And besides, the April cover was of a rain-soaked street, so ‘May flowers’ had to come next, right?"
See more of Danielle’s work at daniellelawry.com.
Danielle Lawry
Previous examples of Danielle Lawry's illustrative work.
Danielle's drawing style and preferred subject matter led the way in deciding the theme of her Isthmus cover illustration.
