Where and Who We Are

This illustration, playing with the thought that what’s inside of us comes from the outside, was published with The Times Opinion article, “Where We Are Shapes Who We Are,” on June 14, 2013. The article found that “environmental cues can shape and reshape us as quickly as we walk from one part of the city to another.” The image is part of our collection of editorial illustrations being offered for the first time ever to the public as unframed or framed fine-art prints.

Illustrations have played an instrumental role in The Times’s journalistic legacy since December 11, 1861, when we published our first drawings – front page cartoons of James Gordon Bennett, rival publisher of The Herald. Today, The Times commissions thousands of original illustrations from freelance artists around the world. Artists, each with a distinct approach and personality, enhance stories with thought-provoking images that enrich the reading experience.

This image was created by Olimpia Zagnoli, who often goes by OZ and is based in Milan, Italy. She studied illustration at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan and graduated in 2007. The following year, she began publishing her illustrations in Italian and international newspapers. Olimpia draws on Futurism, as much as from The Beatles. Her unique style displays essential images, curvy shapes and saturated colors, inspired equally by art history and pop culture. She has collaborated with The New York Times, Taschen, Vanity Fair, New Yorker, Rolling Stone and many other publications. She illustrated three children’s books: “The World Belongs to You,” “Mister Horizontal & Miss Vertical” and her own version of “The Wonderful Wizard of OZ.” Her bright and ironic images have acted as a framework for advertisement campaigns for Google, Sephora, Air France, Clinique and Miller. She has worked with leading fashion brands, including Fendi, Prada and Hermes.