Annika Nori Ahlgrim
Writer . Theater Practitioner . Artist
My graphic design work has evolved naturally out of my website design work, and vice versa. Much of my graphic design and art overlaps as I use original art that I create in my graphic design work. I strive to create images that represent the person and their brand.
In my personal art, I am inspired by queer joy, animals, disability and what it means to be human. Most of my work as The Queer Dach is representative of this and of my unique graphic and artistic approach.
I encourage you to look through the websites I have created to see my interactive graphic designs. I have created a long, never-ending, and purposefully work-in-progress page:
Artistic & Graphic Portfolio
The Recording Studio
Working with Opossumopolis Recording Studio, I created a fully hand-drawn poster along with a logo with the use of an original drawing of an opossum that harkens back to the Opossumopolis poster I created by hand. It depicts an opussom playing a guitar superimposed over the California coastline looking north over Estero Bay from a magical place called Broderson Peak in Los Osos, CA
Mother of Dungeons
A dear friend of mine come out to me as trans. To celebrate her, I made a shirt which better reflected her beloved status as an incredible Dungeon Master in countless Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. I chose a watercolor representation of dragon and cave with pink, purple and blue undertones along with a pink and blue colored 20-sided dice to reflect her trans identity.
Rhythm for Renewal is a brand representing a woman who teaches drumming. She cultivates in her lessons an understanding and love of engaging with life's rhythms. I chose to represent this with circular logos to emphasize the cyclical nature of rhythm. I incorporated the use of trees and tree rings to represent how rhythm manifests over the course of many years.
Rhythm for Renewal
Rhythm for Renewal Flyers
Working with Rhythm For Renewal again, I designed two flyers to advertise for drum classes. In one, the teacher requested her photo be present, and in the other I have used the white border to continue the design of the tree.
Tip Jar Signs
These are my creative takes on signs for tip jars for busking musicians.
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A Book Cover
This is a book cover I created for a story I am working on. To represent the gilded, luxury world inside the tower, I used an antique frame with bevelled edges to contain an image of what the gilded Tower looks like from the outside. Behind the Tower hangs a worn American flag. The authors name is below. For more information about my story The Tower, you may click here.
The Queer Dach represents my online artistic presence on Instagram, where I post my combination hand drawn and graphic art. The art that follows is personal and inspired by the animals I love.
An Owl
A proud owl gazes from a tree branch on a moonlit night.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop
A Tiger & Beam
A happy tiger lounges on a rock. This was created for the birthday of a dear friend who has a beloved stuffed animal named Beam. Beam is comfortable cuddled by the tiger in a friendly embrace.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
His Royal Wolfishness King Rougaroux Woolyfur Fluffybutt
At The Beach
King Fluffybutt, a.k.a. Roux, is my dog. He's the best. He loves the beach. I drew him on a sunset-lit beach with his crown.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
Mama Bear
for
Suicide Prevention Awareness
The nothingness felt once upon a day
Has given me the strength to carry on
From it I’ve learned to keep the dark at bay
Although at times my own firmness seems gone
I try my best to keep myself aloft
Buoyed alone upon a swelling tide
And though that buoy bursts quite oft
I patch it up, and from that depth abide
Sometimes I feel a toughness in my heart,
That keeps my mind afloat upon the waves,
Without the thoughts that tear my brain apart,
Instead of lost within undersea caves.
And only since my soul once died inside:
I am powerful; in that I take pride.
A Sonnet
Angel Marley
Marley was one of my best friend's dogs, a great dane-greyhound. I drew this for my friend when Marley died.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
The Baby Elephant
A baby elephant sits contentedly surrounded by grasslands and friendly birds.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
Jokester Monkey
A monkey teases us from the tree he wraps himself around. This was created for a friend of mine for her birthday.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
Sunset Unicorns
Two unicorns gallop under a moonlit sunset.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
If You Can Dream It...
A girl dreams her version of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan into existence through the bubbles she blows over the sea from Neverland. This was inspired by and created with a photo I took of a girl I know well who puffed her cheeks out as if she were blowing bubbles.
photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
Proud Hummingbird
A hummingbird pollinates the hollyhocks.
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
Butterfly and Roses
colored pencils, ink, photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
The Magic Forest
A little girl stands on the threshold of a room open wide to a magical forest. The mystical stag calls to her.
photography, graphic. Made with Photoshop.
Website Design Portfolio
To create beautiful websites which reflect the human, their being and their brand in order to inspire connection and imagination.
About Me and Our Work
I have been an artist for my entire life, and have told stories since I could draw. Stories come in many forms: novels, books, movies, and theater, to name a few. We can also find stories in more surprising places like graffiti, flyers, and even in Mixed Martial Arts, Formula One, and computer games… and, of course, there's your story. It's only a matter of figuring out how to tell it. Through our work together, we will design a website and online platform that represents you and the work you do everyday.
Together, we will discuss your goals and purpose for the website, and then I will ask about what makes you, you. We will work together to tell your story, and I will give you the tools you need to continue to tell your story yourself.
If you are interested in working together to tell your story, please contact me.
The digital document of the First Folio, the centerpiece of the website, was organized with a gallery, and the notes appear when the pages are hovered over. This feature works best on a device with a touchpad.
The search bar is located where the brain would be were the skull full.
The Online Database
The Hollow Skull is a collection of resources for historians, primarily a digital document of an abridged version of Shakespeare's First Folio. The digital document includes notes from a Shakespeare scholar.
Because parchment paper was used in the Early Modern Era by writers like Shakespeare, I used a piece of parchment paper for the background of every page except the First Folio.
The font "IM Fell English" was used because it mirrors the font used by printing presses used in the 1620s, when the First Folio was published. On the page of the First Folio, the spelling and size of the font has been organized in a way that title pages and posters were structured.
The Band
A site which promotes The Taproots.
Most pages have unique backgrounds depicting album covers, paintings, and photos of the band members.
It includes album samples, music videos, a gallery, tour dates and documents the lyrics to select songs.
The Artist
Created to promote the artist, her work , and her story.
The light turquoise gives the site a light, airy feeling, and allows the focus to be the artwork itself.
A simple gallery was used to display the vibrant work of this artist.
The Art and Literary Society
To manage and organize memberships and subscriptions
A timeline page truly tells a story, and is one of my favorite and the most artistic things to do as a website designer. If there is a story to tell, it will be told creatively. Please have fun exploring this brief history...
A contact page is a simple way to receive messages from the public. The contact form settings are easy to set up and the messages automatically end up in your inbox.
Thank you for your interest in my magical world
Annika
&
the Queer Dach
If you are interested in working with me on an artistic or graphic project or if you have any questions, please write to me!