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Designer Creates 13 Perfect Circles to Draw Almost Any Animal

Everyone’s favorite blue bird—the Twitter logo—has a well-kept secret hidden in its design: the iconic character was created using 13 perfect circles that overlap and comprise its graceful curved wings and upward gaze. Inspired by this little-known fact, Toronto-based art director Dorota Pankowska gave herself a similar challenge: produce 13 different animals each constructed out of 13 circles.

Pankowska’s self-imposed rule results in a menagerie of elegantly-illustrated creatures. Colorful in their execution, the baker’s dozen share the same trait: their bodies have the same gentle flow that looks deceptively simple. We know, however, the complexity behind these brilliant designs—Pankowska reveals it in each image. Every illustration begins as a still portrait that suddenly lights up, with animated circles highlighting the intricacies that lie in these animals.

Dorota Pankowska: Website | Facebook | Instagram
via [Laughing Squid]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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