Agata Dudek

(b. 1984) – a graphic designer and illustrator.

Having graduated from the Faculty of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, she illustrates children’s books, magazines, crime novels, cookbooks and popular science books. Her work deftly combines a satirical flair and lightness with a sensitivity to the problems of late-stage capitalism.

She created the illustrations for “Trylogia gdańska” (The Gdańsk Trilogy), a cycle of novels for children by Anna Czerwińska-Rydel, which presents biographies of important figures from Gdańsk’s past. The three volumes are about: Johannes Hevelius (“Wędrując po niebie z Janem Heweliuszem” – Wandering the Sky with Johannes Hevelius), Daniel Fahrenheit (“Ciepło-zimno. Zagadka Fahrenheita” – Warm/Cold. Fahrenheit’s Riddle) and Arthur Schopenhauer (“Życie pod psem według Artura Schopenhauera” – It’s a Dog’s Life with Arthur Schopenhauer). Together with Małgorzata Nowak she created “Pora na kalafiora” (As Cool as a Cucumber), an incredibly humorous book which teaches children how to tell vegetables apart.

In 2005 she received a special mention at the “Under the Mask” art competition, two years later – at the SATYRYKON competition, in 2008 she received the GRAFEX prize, and in 2009 – the main prize at the “Dobrze zaprojektowana książka” (Well-Designed Book) competition. She was nominated for the Polish Section of IBBY Award and received the Grand Prix in the SATYRYKON competition for the illustration series entitled “Jaka jest kobieta” (What’s a Woman Like).

In the following years, her accolades included the Jury Award at the Well-Designed Book competition (2010), the Main Prize at the International Festival of Humour “Kremnické Gagy” (2010), an award at the “Najpiękniejsza Książka” (Most Beautiful Book) competition organised by PTWK (2011), the main prizes in the 2010/2011 Design of the Year competition organised by STGU (Stowarzyszenie Twórców Grafiki Użytkowej – Association of Applied Graphics Designers) and in the Grand Front competition (2012), and a nomination for the Literary Award of the Capital City of Warsaw (2012). In 2016 she and Małgorzata Nowak received the Book of the Year Award from the Polish section of IBBY for the design of “Daję słowo! Wędrówki po języku i literaturze” (I Give You My Word! Ambling Around Language and Literature) by Grzegorz Leszczyński.

She has created printed T-shirts, hand-painted shoes, murals and everyday objects. Her works have been shown at exhibitions in cities including Bologna, Berlin, Sofia, New York, Warsaw, Kremnica, Gdynia, Poznań and Legnica. In 2012 she and Małgorzata Nowak founded Acapulco Studio – a cooperative specialising in graphic design.

More information about Agata Dudek’s work can be found on the website https://web.archive.org/web/20181215172848/http://www.agatadudek.pl/index.php?/diamsabout-me/.