Describing herself as a "maker of things", Danielle Rhoda is a freelance illustrator and animator based in Manchester, UK.
Originally from Poland and "partly raised" in Nottingham, she calls herself a northerner at heart after graduating from the Manchester School of Art in 2018 and deciding to settle in the city. She confesses that she loves her art as she's able to apply it to so many different mediums: ceramics, woodcuts, zines – it's the flexibility that helps bring her ideas to life. Her style is "delicate and naive", full of the kind of details many of us might miss – and she has a particular obsession with drawing bikes.
She's dabbled in a bit of employment here and there, but in the last six months, she's been freelancing, right in the middle of a global pandemic. Her business kicked off last October when the People's History Museum commissioned her to create the visual language for its 2020 year-long programme of exhibitions themed around migration. Sadly, that was all put on hold when Covid-19 reared its ugly head and Danielle has been working from home ever since. But all is well, as she has continued to work, her latest client being The New York Times.
Last week, Danielle joined us on Zoom to chat about her career so far and how she's finding self-employment, especially during the lockdown. We also talk about Brexit, her family, life in the UK over the last five years and how we've both coped since we were told to stay at home to save lives. We discover we both love dystopian fiction, zombies, cycling. And we chat about a mutual love of Manchester and why we love to call this place home. We also share tips on networking, running a business, and surviving a creative career as introverts.
