Bianca Beneduci Assad

0:07 [Applause]

0:08 Thank you.

0:10 I didn't trip, so that's a good start. So, before I introduce myself properly, I have a couple of confessions to make. My first confession is that I have really, really bad stage fright. And when I got the email inviting me to speak here, I basically texted all my friends and I said, "This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.

0:30 I then very quickly replied and said, "Yes, please have me." , my second confession is that I also have quite bad imposter syndrome. So, even now on stage, I'm kind of wondering if they booked the wrong Bianca. And maybe they did, but it doesn't really matter now cuz I'm here. I'm going to talk at you for about 10 minutes unless someone drags me off. , okay.

0:54 Now that I got my dirty secrets out of the way, I can properly introduce myself. Hi everyone, I'm Bianca Benedicia Assad and I'm an illustrator and animator. I always find it a little bit tricky to explain my career because I have so many side quests.

1:10 So I think the easiest thing to do is to probably start right at the beginning. [Laughter]

1:19 I grew up in Brazil where I had the classic childhood of an illustrator with ADHD. I spent all of my youth having very big feelings, doodling, creating comics instead of paying attention to anything at school. Sorry, Mom and Dad.

1:31 I think it kind of worked out okay. My first ever job was animating cartoon characters for a TV show called The Amazing World of Gumbo. It was really amazing. First job, but actually a little bit strange, especially considering I had to move from Brazil to Ireland and I was 19. Everyone else was like 35 and I did not know what a pub was. There have been many twists and turns since then, but I'll spare you the boring details and just say that nowadays I split my time between freelancing for motion design studios, commissioned illustration, teaching, personal projects, art markets, and of course, the odd panic attack. So, in the motion design world, I've worked for big studios like Bach, Hornet, Passion Pictures, as well as independent ones like Moth or Wednesday. I normally work across design, animation, and art direction. And as an illustrator, I've done work for clients like Timeout, TfL, Gif Fans, and my all-time favorites. It's nice that.

2:50 Thanks, guys. Please do keep sending me jobs. , I also try to work with small independent brands whenever I can or political organizations. The work in the middle, for example, was done to help create a positive vision of migration due to climate change. But my favorite outlet, and what I'm here to talk about today, , is my personal work. I drew this one on a day where I felt like I needed to be nicer to myself by calling myself a stupid cow. Overall, you could say that my work is playful, silly, honest, colorful. It usually centers around characters that, like me, are a little bit crass and have very big feelings. One of my favorite things to draw are female characters that range from a bit grumpy to completely consumed by rage. And I like it that they don't obey strict gender norms. I guess it's sort of revenge for a childhood where I was forced to wear uncomfortable pretty dresses and told that girls can't swear and also, you know, just patriarchy.

4:06 I also really love to draw characters who are trying really hard to keep it together but are clearly failing. Like the one on the right is probably me right now. , I do use a lot of humor in my work, but it's very jolly and fun, but actually if you look at it more closely, there's usually a miserable or a melancholic feeling underneath it all. In a way, it kind of reflects my personality. Like I keep repeating, I do have very big feelings. , I'm always observing the world, myself, and the people around me, and thinking a little bit too much about life and things.

4:46 But I'm also almost always having a really stupid laugh about it all. I guess it's sort of like a pessimistic optimism, not unlike my favorite form of highbrow internet memes. I guess the humor in my work is a nice relief from pain, but also allows feelings that might be a little bit too embarrassing or difficult to become a shared relatable experience. For example, this one's a snapshot of my thoughts every morning. I was going to read it out, but I think you guys got it. , or this comic that I drew to get myself through deranged depression season, or as other people call it, Christmas and New Year. I like to use playfulness and humor, not just to soften the shame around difficult feelings, but also to disarm my audience. It helps me share political messages that I'm passionate about in a way that feels light and accessible. Although I feel like this one might have pissed the odd person off. There's quite a delay laugh there. I love that. , I also really enjoy creating merch. So, like this wonky butterfly sticker and this wonky butterfly rug or this very silly hat or this very friendly scarf. My friend Hell, who's in the picture, is here. She's gonna kill me that I used her picture. , I find that making merch is a really fun way to connect to people in real life away from screens. Especially as an illustrator, I spend so much of my time just alone behind a computer. So, I find it really good for that.

6:41 It's also a really, really good way to test new ideas. So, for example, last year just the night before an art market, I impulsively decided that I would offer these ugly dog portraits for whoever wanted them. People showed me a picture of their dog or they brought their dog over like beautiful toast on the left there and I drew I drew this quick wobbly portrait of them. Super last minute silly idea, but actually really helped me bring back this kind of looseness to my work that I felt like I was missing at the time. To me, it's quite interesting to see how these wonky dog drawings then translated themselves into commissioned work and my personal work. So, right now, I'm really enjoying letting my playfulness express itself in these kind of stranger proportions and imperfections, especially like the needy, anxious dog there. And actually, speaking of anxiety again, I do have one last confession to make. And the truth is that being on this big fancy stage in front of so many peers and a camera, , it's really tempting to want to impress you all. And part of me wants to make my life or my work seem cooler or more successful than it is. And you know, I could keep trying to find some stuff to impress you with, but what I've learned from doing the kind of work that I love making is that sharing the little the little hidden corners of my mind tends to resonate a little bit better. So, here we go. It's no secret that many visual artists are struggling at the moment. And despite the glamour of this, I am too. To give you an idea and perhaps to make some of you feel less alone, I did a little poll on my Instagram stories. I know it's not exactly science, but still, out of more than 170 artists who responded, 23 said they were booking less work than usual. When I asked how people were feeling about their careers, more than half admitted that they were either freaking out or in full panic mode. Over 90% of artists said that they were worried about the impact of AI. In my darker moments, I'm not going to lie, I start to wonder why I make any work at all. There are infinite number of people who are more skilled, more talented, more intelligent than me.

9:02 But the truth of why I keep making work is simple and probably a little bit cringe. I do it because I am human. And as a human, I have something to say to other humans. And that's it. Being alive is fun, but it's also weird and hard. [gasps and laughter] And my silly drawings make me feel less alone in this weird mess. And in turn, sometimes make other people feel less alone, too. I love it when someone slides into my DMs with a me too or a lol saying, "Sure, it's not a turn price. I don't think they give those out to people who draw cartoons. [Laughter]

9:44 [gasps] But in a way, maybe it's better than a turn a price. [Laughter]

9:49 For a little moment, I can steal someone's attention and make us both feel a little bit of relief from And that is what I think any art is for. Connecting one human to another human and going, "Yeah, same here." So, as the use of AI expands through our industry, this is what I keep holding on to. The power of being human. Even while I hear tales of countless brands, brands, sorry, deciding against using illustrators, shrinking budgets, agencies getting permission to come up with AI prompts, making personal work reminds me of something a learning model can never replace.

10:28 Our silly little human feelings, and our need to express them to each other. Even if my career ends or the apocalypse begins, maybe especially so, I would still make funny drawings winging about life. And even if Samund or Mark Zuckerberg become our lizard overlords, you should still keep making your humanmade art too. Bonus points if that work makes fun of them. Thank you.