Olimpia Zagnoli, Milan
Milan illustrator Olimpia Zagnoli: smooth shapes, bold flat colour, book covers, magazine pieces and prints in a style you spot instantly.
What it is
@olimpiazagnoli is the account of Olimpia Zagnoli, an illustrator based in Milan. Her style is hard to mistake: smooth curving shapes, a few bold flat colours, figures built almost from geometry. She has worked for big publications and brands, and she drew the official poster for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which the Olympics website covered in an interview.
Captions switch between English and Italian and are usually one line and an emoji or two. You barely need them.
Why we picked it
It is a great example of an illustrator keeping a recognisable hand for years without getting stale. Over the summer and early autumn of 2026 the feed had a cover and sketches for a new novel from the Italian publisher Einaudi, a piece for Germany's Zeit magazine answering "what does happiness look like?" (her answer: something stuck in your teeth, a nod to embracing imperfection), plus prints and original drawings for a show at a gallery in Brescia.
The posts that pair sketches with the finished piece are the best part. You can watch a pencil idea turn into clean shapes of colour.
Where to start
- Find the post with the cover for "Una splendida rovina" and swipe through to the sketches.
- Look at the magazine work to see how one image answers a whole question.
- Scroll further back and compare old and new pieces; the palette stays, the shapes evolve.
- Save a few of her colour combinations as a reference for your own projects.
Who it's for
Illustrators and graphic designers looking for confident colour. Fans of 1960s Italian design and poster graphics. Anyone who wants some cheerful images in their feed.
Quick answers
Do I need Italian? No. Captions are short, some are in English, and the images do the talking.
Is the account active? Yes, when we checked in September 2026 the latest posts were from September 21 and 6.
Did she make the Olympic poster? Yes, the official Olympics site credits her with the Milano Cortina 2026 poster.
