Drawing Her Own
Path to Success
Bestselling Author Rachel Ignotofsky on Sharing
the Wonders of Art and Science Through Design
By Leslie Dinaberg | Photos by Thomas Mason | January 12, 2023
Most writers find their way to the page as readers first, but New York Times best-selling author and illustrator Rachel Ignotofsky had a different path. “When I was growing up, reading was always really difficult for me, and it was these super illustrative books that I read in my local library that allowed me to actually see myself as a smart kid and approach reading on my own terms through also looking at the pictures,” she said.
With her books for young readers — starting with her first book, Women in Science (2016) — kids find that “the illustration has introduced you to the topic and has taught you something before you read a single word. So you’re already going in with knowledge, rather than completely dry,” said the now 33-year-old writer/illustrator, who began her career creating greeting cards for Hallmark.
Even when she was drawing birthday cakes by day, her interest in science piqued her creativity. She started creating “super information-dense posters” about topics like human anatomy and biology that she thought were interesting and used them to get jam-packed, information-focused freelance projects on a Holocaust documentary and with cancer research foundations.
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