Anastasiia-Ku is the mother and daughter design team of Anastasiia and Nataliia Kucherenko, based in the Ukraine.
anastasiia-ku – pink and purple flowers in vector
anastasiia-ku – leaves
They are both long-time lovers of drawing, and that shines though in many of their designs, which are a mix of individual and collaborative efforts. Nataliia’s portfolio is more traditional, filled with flowers, lyrical damasks and ditsy florals, while Anastasiia’s is filled with whimsy and sweetness, and she equally loves geometrics and maps.
“I love maps!” Anastasia told me. “So everything maplike attracts my attention: structure, streets, buildings, cars and buses, people, parks, etc.” She started creating a series of cartoon maps, and her first one was this image, which tells the story of one street in four seasons.
anastasiia-ku – abstract seamless lines
anastasiia-ku – tribal lace doodle
Other inspiration comes from traditional folk and naive art. She is fascinated with traditional patterns from different countries of the world, and is drawn to their simplicity. “the more simple the image, the more it attracts me.”
As for other artists, she told me that “I admire many artists really, but my mom is my biggest inspiration.”
anastasiia-ku – map of moscow
Her first degree in Chinese Linguistics took her to Tianjin in northern China as an exchange student, where she worked as a translator and teacher. She enjoyed it so much, she ended up staying for three years. It was while she was in China that she was commissioned to draw some illustrations, and told me that this was the spark that made her decide to develop herself professionally in art and design, alongside linguistics.
Five years later, her design business is growing, and Anastasiia is living in London completing her studies. “I really enjoy staying here, in such a creative atmosphere. Everything in London is all about arts and design, so I guess this is a great place to grow as an artist!”
anastasiia-ku – houses in winter
Anastasiia says she was once given a great piece of advice by well-known illustrator, Tatiana Rusanovska, which has always stayed with her. She told her to always learn, experiment, and not to be afraid to switch to new work if you can’t finish the first: “If you are drawing a square many times and can’t get it right – take a blank sheet of paper and start drawing a circle. Then you will get you square right!”
You can find more of Anastasiia’s and Nataliia’s designs in their Spoonflower shop, spoonflower.com/profiles/anastasiia-ku, and on their own website, anastasiia-ku.com.