Hello and welcome! I'm Juha, an illustrator and a designer based in Helsinki, Finland.
I have a strong background in illustration, graphic design, and UI/UX design. My practice combines design thinking with artistic experimentation, and I often explore new technologies in my art. I'm an iPad art pioneer and currently exploring virtual reality as a tool for illustration and animation. Ethical and ecological values are important to me, and they also guide my work.
I'm a full-time freelance illustrator and designer. I've also worked in the video game industry as a marketing artist and in a design agency as a graphic designer focusing on visual identities, brands, and accessible UI/UX design. I have experience in large and small projects and can work both in a team and as a solo designer. I'm always looking for cool new projects, so feel free to contact me if you have an idea where we could collaborate!
juha@juhakoivusalo.com
Professional Skills
- Illustration
- Animation
- Web Design
- Graphic Design
- Virtual Reality
- Storytelling
- Character Design
Tools that I mostly use
- Procreate
- Procreate Dreams
- Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher
- Figma
- Blender
- Quill
- LumaFusion
Super Brief Work History
Between 2014 and 2016 I was employed at Frozenbyte's marketing team as a marketing artist and graphic designer. My responsibilities included web design, key art for new games, the design of various marketing materials such as banners and flyers, and I also helped with promotional videos. I also redesigned the logo of the company, illustrated new banners for their own website and created numerous t-shirt designs. I was involved in games such as Trine 3, Splot and Nine Parchments.
During 2015 and 2018 I worked at Lahti Institute of Design as a part time teacher. I taught bookbinding for both the bachelor's students as well as for the open UAS.
From 2016 until 2024 I worked as a designer and illustrator at Redandblue. During these years I was tasked with designing brand identities, accessible websites, illustrations and animations, and infographics for various clients such as Sanoma Pro, Ruosniemi Brewery, Kone Foundation, Maaseutuverkosto, Music Finland, Scanfil, Coala, Fortum, Allianssi, Mielenterveyspooli, Laiho Group, Ilmastoinfo, and Työkanava, just to namedrop a few here.
I founded my own freelancing company already in 2014 to be able to take side gigs every now and then, but moved to full-time freelancing during summer 2024. I began working for Sanoma Pro again on two new book illustration projects, and have also been involved in Aalto University's Luova Lämpiö research project as a creative professional. I'm also currently working on a personal comic book project supported by Taike, and finishing my master's thesis about VR discomfort in VR illustrations and animations.
Find me and other illustrators at finnishillustrators.com ↗
Illustrator & Designer
juha@juhakoivusalo.com