Illustrator Roberto Blefari aka Hikimi dishes up bright illustrations to 'make us feel good'

Working under the name Hikimi, his joyful artworks are bold, fun and full of positivity: "I create bright illustrations to make people of all ages feel good, using mild colours and soft lines to convey calm and serenity," he tells us. "I also add a bit of irony to excite thoughts, smiles, and empathy."

Sharing a mixture of his works, you can see how his style and approach has been adapted for children's books, editorial illustrations as well as for design and communication. "My inspiration comes from everyday life. I can't help stop looking at the world with my inner child's eyes," he adds.

"I try to imagine what the people around me think and how they might react and change if placed in a surreal dimension. And so I play with proportions and contrasts, shapes, feelings, and desires."

We love his recent illustrations paying tribute to yoga, something he started practising during the lockdown. "It did me a lot of good, and I wanted to ironically represent the balance between fatigue and lightness of daily practice, as well as the clumsiness of my body standing in a difficult position," he explains. That's something many of us can relate to.