Iskra Johnson

Current

• Principal at Iskra Design, Inc.

Education

• University of Washington

Recommended

1 person has recommended Iskra

Connections

35 connections

Industry

Design

Iskra Johnson’s Summary

I am a letterform artist and illustrator. I work with my hands using a brush, a pen, or a twig or -- or any number of mark-making tools to create signs and symbols that express human emotion and identity. Ok, that sounds really abstract. But what that MEANS, in the world of computer generated everything, is one-of-a-kind brandmarks that cross platform from the crass and commercial directly to the heart. When I design a title for a mass market romance or mystery, the reader reaches for that book--they don't know why, but they get a feeling for the story, and they have to have it. When I design a brandmark for Hilary Duff's perfume or Gardenburger, or FreshExpress, the consumer knows immediately, subliminally, through the most ancient of the arts, the WORD, what the product means for them.

I love my work. I am an actress, channeling the meaning of words through a multitude of styles and a vast knowledge of graphic culture. I look for clients who understand beauty and marketing, and that they aren't mutually exclusive. Clients who understand the difference between a font out of a box and a uniquely customized brand. I have worked for many familiar entities, including:

Kraft, MGM, Estee Lauder, Clairol, American Express, Time Warner, Simon & Schuster, Dreamworks, The Discovery Channel, the NBA, Nissan, Toyota and the United Nations.

Iskra Johnson’s Specialties:

I am a letterform designer and illustrator. I have an uncanny ability to understand the psychology of words, the speaker, the audience, and the shape that words should take to express a brand. I work with advertising agencies and design firms worldwide. My latest specialty is handwriting, and you can see my work in advertising campaigns in magazines, on television and on the web where the human "voice" is expressed through casual, evocative personal application of pen to paper.

Iskra Johnson’s Experience

• Principal

  Iskra Design, Inc.

  (Design industry)

  1981 — Present (28 years )

  I have been principal of Iskra Design since 1981. I provide lettering, calligraphy, and calligraphic illustration for clients world wide.

Iskra Johnson’s Education

• University of Washington

  BFA , Painting

Additional Information

Iskra Johnson’s Interests:

I'm interested in meeting people with a love of letterforms, calligraphy, signs and symbols, and gesture-based art. I create one of a kind corporate identities for major Fortune Five Hundred companies, the little guys, and everybody in between. I am also a painter and fine artist, with a mission to knit together the current graphic zeitgeist and the interior world.

Iskra Johnson’s Groups:

•    Linked:Seattle
•    American Institute of Graphic Arts
•    Communication Arts
•    Tools of Change for Publishing
•    Typophile
•    Book Cover Designers

Iskra Johnson’s Honors:

Type Director's Club, Print, included in many anthologies of lettering and design, such as Trademarks and Logotypes of the World, The Creative Stroke, and Super Logo Design (Tokyo)

Iskra Johnson’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch