| Italian Pasta Illustrations, Including delicious staples like Spaghetti, Penne, and Ravioli, by Illustrator and Artist Yaansoon |

This illustrated collection is one of 3 art prints created to promote staple Italian agri-food products in 2 markets outside of Italy. Commissioned by the Italian Trade Agency – ITA (Agenzia ICE), a governmental organisation based in Rome, these Italian pasta illustrations feature 12 popular dried and fresh pasta shapes.
The Brief
In 2018, I won a request for proposal (RFP) floated by the Italian Trade Agency – ITA, inviting select design agencies and independent illustrators to place their tenders, with a section explaining their overall approach to making the art prints stand out in overseas markets. Winning the tender meant I had to create 3 illustrated collections featuring Italian desserts, Italian cheese, and Italian pasta – all within a consistent illustration style.
This illustration commission was on occasion of the Italian Culinary Week 2018 (Italian Cuisine Week), which translates into Settimana della Cucina Italiana nel mondo in Italian, celebrated for the 3rd year in a row.
This illustrated collection includes 12 illustrations of some of Italy’s famous Italian pasta, both fresh and dried. The long, short, cylindrical, shell-shaped, filled and flat-sheet pastas in this artwork are as follows:
Spaghetti, Penne, Rigatoni, Ravioli, Conchiglie, Tortellini, Gnocchi, Orecchiette, Farfalle, Fusilli, Fettuccini, and Lasagne (Lasagna).
Tidbit: Why does pasta come in so many shapes?
Italian sauces and cooked ingredients are often paired with pasta shapes specifically designed to hold the sauce in the best way possible.
12 Italian Cheeses
Check out the Italian cheese illustrated collection, with details on the overall deliverables, commissioned by the Italian Trade Agency – ITA.
Sweet Tooth
Take a look at the 3rd illustrated collection featuring 12 Italian desserts considered to be some of Italy’s most iconic sweet offerings.

Client: The Italian Trade Agency – ITA (Agenzia ICE).
About Client: ITA is a governmental agency, under the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Ministero degli affari esteri e della cooperazione internazionale – MAECI). At the time of this project, the agency was organizationally part of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministero dello sviluppo economico – MISE). The agency’s full name in Italian is: Agenzia per la promozione all’estero e l’internazionalizzazione delle imprese italiane.ITA/ICE has offices in 70 countries worldwide.
Year: Oct – Nov 2018
Illustration Technique: A Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 tablet was used to create these Italian pasta illustrations. The line work was created using digital various ink brushes in Adobe Photoshop, and the ArtFlow app on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 smart tablet. Professional-grade watercolour washes were then incorporated into the illustrations digitally. I completed the black line hand-lettering using custom digital ink brushes in Adobe Photoshop.

Leave a Reply