Interview with Lovisa Johansson, Technical Writer and Illustrator from Sigma Technology Information

Can you share a bit about your background and what led you to specialize in product information and illustrations?

I have been drawing since a very young age, cartoon characters and fairytale art. All my teachers were annoyed with me because I made drawings and doodles in my schoolbooks.

But the passion stayed with me and I decided to take a degree in graphic design at Lule? Technical University. I started my own freelance business as an illustrator and as a coincidence, many of my commissions were technical illustrations, for example, wind turbines and medical equipment. After a while, I wanted to be employed instead, and since then I have worked for different companies as both technical illustrator and technical writer (I took a year-long course to learn technical writing).

Can you describe your process for creating technical illustrations? What steps do you have to take from the initial phase of the concept to the final product?

It is important to have a somewhat understanding of the product you should illustrate, therefore you need to interview the client with relevant questions for you. Take good reference photos or ask for 3D CAD reference files. When you have this, you can start making the illustration. I mainly work with Adobe Illustrator but sometimes Adobe Photoshop.

The illustrations I make are mostly black-and-white vector line art drawings. I make sure that the illustration looks as accurate as possible, not messy and that the receiver will understand what the meaning is.

How do you ensure accuracy and clarity in your illustrations, especially when you deal with complex technical information?

Try to remove as many unnecessary details as possible. Make background detail lines in a grey color instead of black. Thinner lines on background details. Make the main details with a fill color, for example grey, so they become more "in focus". The choice of colors, line weight etc. depends on what illustration style is decided for the client.

Can you share a proud moment from a project you worked on and how that impacted the client?

?It is always a great feeling when I have helped a client with deficient (or non-existent) product information to get accurate and quality illustrations.

How do you collaborate with engineers, writers, and other stakeholders to ensure your illustrations meet project requirements?

Right now, I do both illustrations and writing, but when I was just an illustrator I worked closely with the technical writers and the engineers. Sometimes only with the writers, they described what kind of illustrations they wanted, and I created and delivered. And sometimes I spoke with the engineers myself, interviewed them and made sure I understood what kind of illustrations needed to be done.

What advice would you give to someone looking to start a career in product information and illustrations?

First of all: never stop drawing! Stay creative and curious. University classes in graphic design are great. You learn the computer tools and the creative work. There are sometimes classes in "informative illustration". There are also a few 1-year-long vocational education (Yrkesh?gskola) in technical information that are good.

I also recommend trying freelance commissions. It is a really fun way to work, make connections and learn to make many different types of illustrations.

When you’re not working, what gets your time and attention?

A large portion of my time and attention (and love) is spent on my 4-year-old daughter. But otherwise, I like to paint with watercolors, write fiction, read books and go on small adventures in nature.