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An illustration of a dark silhouette of a hand holding a small, white architectural model topped with a red onion dome. Above it, a rainbow arcs across a teal background, with the colours melting and dripping down towards the model.

Sébastien Thibault is a master at turning complex issues into terrific visuals

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Date
5 December 2014

With a client list that includes The New York Times, The Atlantic and Le Monde, Sébastien Thibault seems to be the guy that heavyweight news organisations call when they want someone to distill complex and serious stories into communicative visuals. The Quebec-based illustrator has a tremendous ability to take difficult, controversial and confusing ideas and turn them into something immediate, appropriate and often very perceptive. So whether it’s the end of liberal zionism, the debate over alternative medicine or suicide rates in the military, Sebastien is incredibly adept at creating a pitch-perfect visual treatment in his recognisable style.

An illustration of a black, wilting plant stem curving across a teal background. The stem reaches towards a white Star of David, with several smaller white triangles floating below.
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Sébastien Thibault: The End of the Liberal Zionism for The New York Times

An illustration of a soldier in profile, wearing a helmet and carrying a rifle. They look down at a small circular object held in their hand, with a Canadian flag patch on their sleeve.
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Sébastien Thibault: Suicide In The Military

An illustration of three people in white lab coats playing tug-of-war with a yellow line. The line transforms into a jagged heartbeat monitor pulse in the centre of the image.
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Sébastien Thibault: There Is No ’Alternative Medicine for The Atlantic

An illustration in red, white and black. Two large red silhouettes of people face away from each other, framed by white classical columns. A smaller black silhouette of a person hides behind the central column.
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Sébastien Thibault: Twin City for The New York Times

An illustration of a silhouette of a person holding a guitar, chained by the ankle to a large white play button. The scene is set against a solid red background.
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Sébastien Thibault: Musicians do Love/Hate YouTube for Billboard Magazine

An illustration of a person in a suit seen in profile against a teal background. Their head is a dark, textured mass tied with a white string, which opens to reveal a smaller figure in a suit waving.
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Sébastien Thibault:Do Proxy Advisors Have Too Much Power for Fortune Magazine

An illustration of a massive ocean wave curling over an industrial landscape. The white foam of the wave blends into a plume of smoke rising from a factory chimney.
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Sébastien Thibault:The Rising Tide for The Walrus

An illustration of a seated figure in a meditative pose, rendered in white against a red background. A large, black serpent coils around the figure, its multiple heads forming a dark canopy above.
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Sébastien Thibault: L’éveil de l’Iinde for Le Monde

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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