Meet Davide Saraceno | Illustrator & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Davide Saraceno and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Davide, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
This is a topic that I care about deeply, one affecting most freelancers / creatives today.

When I started my career in 1999, combining my first freelance jobs with my studies, I was driven by an “uncompromising” passion and motivation that pushed me to throw myself into projects even at the cost of neglecting a healthy lifestyle, social relationships and, somehow, even my rights as a professional… When you love what you do, the lines between work and life can quickly blur.

Years later I can say that that toxic approach was encouraged not only by a certain novice naïveté, but also by a widespread self-entrepreneurial hype denying people’s need for self-care and work-life balance — both important not only to live a happy life but also to do a good job!

Well-rested brain and body are much more creative and productive… so today you can see me pushing myself to get the best stuff out but won’t see me push myself to breaking point.
I try to manage the constant pressure in a mindful way, planning my working time better, saying more no’s, trying to eat healthy food, carving out the time for extra-work activities and personal relationships.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a freelance illustrator and designer based in Turin, Italy.

I studied computer engineering for many years but I never graduated; this college failure pushed me to pursue my real passions, illustration and design, and try to make a living out of it.
Funny thing is my engineering studies helped me, after all, because they taught me a method to tackle projects and gave me some coding/analytical skills that I still use nowadays.

In 1999 I started a self-taught career in the creative industry; in 2003 I co-founded Alien Factory, a small creative studio; in 2007 I started working as an art director at Mutado, a multi-disciplinary agency based in Milan; in 2013 I returned to freelancing to focus on illustration and visual storytelling.

Having been an agency art director for many years, I still tackle every new project as a unique creative challenge asking for fresh research, experimentation and custom-made solutions: I kind of see myself as a visual problem-solver working across print, motion and digital.
This elastic/hybrid approach sets me apart from many colleague illustrators that have a strong signature style or are specialized in a certain field.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I agree, nobody is an island!

I should at least mention two people: one is my friend and ex-business partner Davide Ragona, who’s an extremely talented creative and motion design director; the other one is my friend and ex-creative director Mauro Gatti, who’s a creative mastermind and award-winning content creator.

Website: https://davidesaraceno.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davide_saraceno/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidesaraceno/

Other: https://www.behance.net/davidesaraceno