Katie Hatz

How often do you get to watch someone create the cover art for a popular design magazine? We watched Katie Hatz as she illustrated the cover of CMYK 51.

The handmade quality of Katie’s work got our attention. She is a true artist who, in addition to being a designer, is also a seamstress, a handyperson, a storyteller and an illustrator.

Watch as she takes inspiration from an influential psychedelic-poster designer from the ’60s to create a one-of-a-kind piece of art. “The magazine cover required a lot of work in Illustrator using the pencil tool,” says Katie. “The pressure sensitivity makes using the brush tools much more natural and the results much better looking. I like using the pen tablet with the entire Adobe Creative Suite – it has really streamlined and enhanced my work.”

A recent MFA graduate, Katie got her first taste of a pen tablet in her school’s design lab. A few pen strokes later and she put down the mouse for good. “I like to emphasize the imperfection of the hand,” says Katie. “It’s important that my work looks like it came out of me and not out of some robotic device. The tablet is extremely useful in preserving my own style.”

We know you’ll enjoy watching Katie work as much as we did. Thanks to her, we can all pick up a few tips to incorporate this charming hand-lettering style into our own art projects. A big thanks to CMYK, publisher Curtis Clarkson and art director Ron Cala for sharing their jewel designer with us!