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An illustration of a person in pink sunglasses looking at a Tinder profile on their phone. In the background, a sign for the “Sunset Hotel Las Palmas” stands before a white building and a yellow landscape.

Illustration: Toni Halonen's work has changed entirely in two years and the results are impressive

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Date
27 May 2014

Toni Halonen’s work is almost unrecognisable from when we first featured it back in 2012. The Finnish designer and illustrator has more or less abandoned the CGI characters and distorted typefaces that populated his early work in favour of something altogether more natural and illustrative – which is probably because he now keeps his own design studio as well.

Now his images are defined by bright, bold shapes, sexually charged narratives and a reductive approach to imagery that means even the simplest of lines conveys an important piece of visual narrative. Clearly this change has done him some good as Toni’s now on the radar of KENZO, Nokia and Heineken to name but a few.

An illustration from a first-person perspective of a blue hand holding two camera lenses. In the background, a bright room features a painting of leaves and windows looking out onto a sunny beach with a cruise ship.
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Toni Halonen: Observer, 2014

An illustration of a luxury poolside scene in a bold, flat style. A person in a high-heeled sandal stands in the foreground, while another person relaxes on a white sun lounger by a bright blue pool.
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Toni Halonen: Kenzopedia #1: A for Architecture

An illustration of a tube of paint against a bright red background. The tube is labelled “Kenzo” and “Royal Blue”, with a swirl of blue paint looping above it.
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Toni Halonen: Kenzopedia #2: B for Blue

A magazine cover featuring a stylised, high-contrast portrait of a person wearing glasses. The image uses a bold palette of blue, yellow, pink and black. The title “Psykologi” appears in large yellow type at the top, with the headline “Vuoden psykologi” below.
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Toni Halonen: Psykologi, Magazine Cover

A bold illustration in red, blue, yellow and white. Large yellow text reads “NO FISH”, with smaller text below that reads “NO NOTHING”.
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Toni Halonen: N for No Fish No Nothing

An illustration of a bright blue swimming pool set against a green lawn. A red curved shape, like a diving board or a piece of fabric, arches over the water.
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Toni Halonen: Sports #3, Illustration

An abstract illustration of a green surface divided by thick white lines. A small black circle sits in the upper section, while a larger red circle is positioned below.
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Toni Halonen: Sports #1, Illustration

An illustration of a basketball hoop and a red basketball. Bold black lines and blocks of blue, white and green create a geometric, abstract composition.
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Toni Halonen: Sports #1, Illustration

An illustration of a person with yellow skin and black hair, wearing dark blue sunglasses. They wear a blue garment with a white zig-zag pattern against a background of red and white vertical stripes.
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Toni Halonen: Kenzopedia #4: D for Devon

An abstract illustration of flowing, organic shapes in red, blue and pale pink. The colours overlap in smooth, curved waves across the frame.
Above

Toni Halonen: Erika’s Basement

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About the Author

James Cartwright

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James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

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