About

After a first short career in Musical Theatre I hung up my tights and tap shoes and studied Art History + Comparative Religion at The University of Toronto. After graduating I went back to my first love: visual art and dove into the world of illustration + art. Eric Mutrie of Design Lines has described my style as “combining a storybook illustrator’s sense of whimsy with a fashion designer’s sense of style" - and to that I say…. Why Thank You Eric! :-) I’ve worked for editorial, design + advertising clients and my images have appeared on many surfaces including wallpaper, greeting cards, dinner plates, + postage stamps.

My client list includes:

Fun Collabs: Wallpaper for Google, Wine Labels for The Toronto Raptors with Pearl Morissette Winery, Five Stamps for Canada Post, Tote bags for The Gardiner Museum and Typebooks, Dinner plates + Teatowels for the Hudson’s Bay, Greeting cards for Papyrus and Crane Stationary, Wall Murals for Oxford Properties and Quadreal Property Group

Editorial: The New York Times, Forbes Spain, USA + Tokyo, Style Advisor, LA Weekly, Gotham Magazine, The Atlantic, Vogue Japan, Real Simple, Elle magazine, Porter Airlines, Bon Appetit, InStyle magazine, The Smithsonian, The Globe + Mail, Chicago Tribune, National Post, Wall St. Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, Chatelaine, Canadian Living, Wedding Bells, Zoomer, Best Health, Literary Review of Canada, Food + Drink, Washington Post, Marie Claire, Azure, Glow Magazine, Cottage Life, LA Confidential

Design: Four Seasons Hotel, Hollace Cluny, Canadian Broadcasting Company, Neiman Marcus, The Toronto Symphony, Ritz Carlton, Good Egg, Pivot Design, Rollout, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 52 Pick up, SOAK Wash, The LCBO, Brooks Brothers, Sali Tabacchi, Viva and Co. H, M + E Design, Sputnik, Eatons, The Warren Group, Target

Book Publishing: Penguin/Random House UK, Ireland, USA, and Canada, Simon + Schuster, Harper Collins, Harcourt Brace, Little Brown + Co, Chronicle Books, Key Porter Books, Running Press.

Art Licensing: Tattly, Cloud Nine Fabrics, One Kings Lane, teNeues stationery, Urban Graphic

Advertising: Publicis, Leo Burnett, Blammo, Dentsu, Arnold Worldwide, TAXI, Air New Zealand, VISA,

My silkscreen prints are a favourite amongst Interior Designers and have been featured in Apartment Therapy, Canadian House + Home, Covet Garden, Chatelaine, and Design Lines.

Role Models: Saul Steinberg, Lena Dunham, Maria Bamford, Lotta Jansdotter, Greta Gerwig, Jenna Lyons, Lin Manuel Miranda, Miroslav Sasek, Tomi Ungerer, Hannah Einbeinder, Saul Bass, Denyse Schmidt, Paul Rand, Tina Fey, Elana Glazer + Abbi Jacobson , Jen Sincero, Rachelle McPherson (Founder of Lingua Franca ) and Ina Garten.

Favourite Things: Dinner parties, Vintage watches, Stephen Sondheim musicals, Thrifting! and making things outta stuff I find on the curb!, Kilim rugs, Used bookshops, Podcasts - especially Fresh Air with Terry Gross, How I Built This with Guy Raz, and We’re here to make friends with Jessi Klein and Liz Feldman, Folk Art + Puppets!, My Partner Myles, (yes corny) Clothes with pockets (always!), the words bedazzled, aplomb + gravitas - and celebrating the end of the week with Friday Cocktails at 6pm. :-)

Recent Work: This fall I collaborated with Design Writer Catherine Macintosh on some Custom Design focused book marks to celebrate the launch of her book Toronto Interiors. This past summer I collaborated with the Toronto Raptors + Pearl Morrissette Winery on Wine labels for 2 limited edition wines created to celebrate the Raptor’s 30th Anniversary. I also recently collaborated with The Gardiner Museum on a Tote bag to celebrate their 40th Anniversary.

Want to say hi? Send me a note: alanna(at)alannacavanagh(dot)com

To commission an illustration: Please send an email to my agent Tom Mendola at tom@mendolaart.com

To see my press Click here.