Born in 1970, Sophie Blackall grew up in Australia where she learned to draw on the beach with sticks, which has not altogether helped her sense of perspective. She completed a Bachelor of Design in Sydney in 1992 with honors, which furnished her with useful Letraset, bromide and enlarger machine skills. The following few years were spent painting robotic characters for theme parks, providing the hands for a DIY television show and writing a household hints column. 

In 2000, Blackall was seduced by New York. She has lived and worked in Brooklyn for the past ten years. Her editorial illustrations have appeared in many publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Architectural Digest, Town and Country, Vogue and Gourmet, and she has animated nine tv commercials for the UK.

In 2002 she illustrated the childrens book, Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges (Chronicle Books), which won the Ezra Jack Keats award in 2003. Since then, she has illustrated dozens of other books for children including the book she wrote about her son, Are You Awake? Her "Missed Connections" illustrated series was published in 2011 as Missed Connections: Love Lost and Found.

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Sophie Blackall

All raw and real uncooked stuff born from the pleasure of thinking with a mouth.

Design Matters by Debbie Millman features interviews with designers, artists and cultural leaders, including Lawrence Weiner, Barbara Kruger, Malcolm Gladwell, Eric Kandel, Stefan Sagmeister, John Maeda, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, Michael Arad, Milton Glaser, Massimo Vignelli, Paula Scher, Steven Heller, Jonah Lehrer, among others.

In 2011, Design Matters received the People’s Design Award from the prestigious Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards.

Subscribe to Design Matters for free on iTunes, where new episodes are uploaded weekly: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/design-matters-debbie-millman/id328074695

I love music and am open to listen to any obscure genre. however my forte lies in Korean pop, and i am not that big of a performer, so i contribute through mixing and mashing songs. cheers!