Dr Vassiliki Tzomaka
Head of Creative Industries and Humanities
- Phone
- +44 (0)1473 338177
- v.tzomaka@uos.ac.uk
- School/Directorate
- School of Business, Arts, Social Sciences and Technology
- Vassiliki Tzomaka ORCID
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Dr Vassiliki Tzomaka is Head of Creative Industries and Humanities and Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design and Illustration at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ. She is also a practicing graphic designer and illustrator and a published children's picture book author and illustrator.
Vassiliki has over 25 years of in-house and studio experience in strategic marketing and visual communication. Through various positions she has worked on projects for blue chip companies (HSBC, Nestlé, Rockwell Automation, Unilever), established NGOs (Nacro, OSCE, WWF) as well as SMEs and local charities such as the Ipswich Council for Voluntary Service.
As an educator she is a firm believer that employability should be at the core of creative learning as much as the development of personal expression. Her academic ethos is therefore grounded in the relationship between industry and academia, examining the challenges designers and illustrators face as creative professionals. She is committed to ensuring that graduates have both the technical expertise and the critical awareness needed for their professional practice.
In 2017 Vassiliki successfully completed her PhD in Children’s Picturebook Illustration at ARU’s Cambridge School of Art, investigating the role of narrative in non-fiction picturebooks. She developed the practical outcome of her PhD research Wilder West (2017) into the 'Extreme Environments’ picturebook series published by Thames and Hudson. Her books, have been translated to Dutch, Romanian and Chinese and can be found in libraries across the world. They combine graphic illustrations with scientific facts to playfully introduce young readers to some the world’s most remarkable biodiversity. Hoot and Howl Across the Desert (2020), was selected by the Reading Agency and WWF for the Summer Reading Challenge 2021, a national initiative to promote reading and learning to children. In 2022 it was also chosen by the UN Sustainable Development Goals committee as a recommended book for children to understand the importance of SDG15: Life on Land. Her second book Dart and Dive Across the Reef was selected for the 'Sailing Across an Ocean of Stories and Pictures', Bologna Children's Book Fair touring exhibition.
Since joining the ºüÀêÊÓƵ in 2021, Vassiliki has taught on practical, industry placement and contextual modules across all levels of the undergraduate graphic design and illustration degrees.
PhD Students
Vassiliki is accepting PhD students whose research interests include practice based creative research in design, illustration, picturebooks, information design, publishing. As well as traditional PhDs is interested in collaborative practice-based research projects that involve multiple researchers working across disciplines both within academia and industry.
External Examiner
Since January 2025, Vassiliki has held the role of External Examiner for undergraduate Illustration pathways at the ºüÀêÊÓƵ of Worcester, across five programmes:
BA (Hons) Animation and Illustration,
BA (Hons) Creative Writing and Illustration,
BA (Hons) Fine Art and Illustration,
BA (Hons) Graphic Design and Illustration, and
BA (Hons) Illustration.
Previous Experience
Before joining the ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Vassiliki taught on a number of degrees at ARU, including the BA in Graphic Design, BA in Illustration, BA Animation and Illustration, BA Digital Media and the MA in Children’s Book Illustration, and on UAL’s Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at Colchester School of Art. She has been a visiting lecturer for the MA in Illustration at ºüÀêÊÓƵ for the Creative Arts and an external examiner for doctoral research in Children’s Book Illustration for ARU.
Vassiliki’s research interests lie in nonfiction picturebooks, reflective practice and multimodal communication design with a focus on investigating how narratives, illustration techniques and printing processes can be combined to enhance book design and learning. She is particularly interested in topics that involve environmental awareness, conservation and the celebration of cultural diversity.
Vassiliki was an invited speaker for the panel The Boundaries of the Book: Illustrated Non-Fiction for Children at the London Book Fair 2022. More recently she contributed to the Picture Books For All exhibition which was co-curated by her colleagues Nigel Ball and Rob Ramsden, in collaboration with Suffolk Archives. In 2021, Vassiliki and her colleague Jane Hackett, co-founded the Ladies, Wine & Design Ipswich chapter of the global LW&D initiative launched by Jessica Walsh, which aims to empower underrepresented creatives in East Anglia. Since then, with the support of a HEIF grant, they have organised a number of events bringing together creative professional women to address topics relating to creativity, careers and design through open discussion and debate. If you would like to contribute, please get in touch.
International Engagement
Vassiliki has been a design consultant for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) since 2019. She has worked on the design of reports, guidance tools, policies and factsheets that have been translated and disseminated across Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and North America in every European language. In 2021 she designed the ODIHR 30 year anniversary milestone mark. She has also devised and designed the iconographic system that has been used across all reports and publications since 2022.
Selected designed publications:
OSCE/ODIHR (2022) Strengthening the Resilience of NHRIs and Responding to Threats: Guidance Tool. Warsaw: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
OSCE/ODIHR (2023) Enhanced Understanding on Freedom of Movement in all Phases of the Conflict Cycle. Warsaw: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
OSCE/ODIHR (2021) Border Management and Human Rights: Collection, Processing and Sharing of Personal Data and the Use of New Technologies in the Counter-Terrorism and Freedom of Movement Context. Warsaw: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
OSCE/ODIHR and Penal Reform International (2021) Protecting Human Rights in Prisons while Preventing Radicalization Leading to Terrorism or Violence: A Guide for Detention Monitors. Warsaw: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
OSCE/ODIHR (2020) Cross Border Mobility in the OSCE Region. Warsaw: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
OSCE/ODIHR (2019) Gender Responsive Short-Term Visa Policies. Warsaw: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
Books
Tzomaka, V. (2021) Dart and Dive Across the Reef. London: Thames and Hudson. Co-editions in American English, Romanian and Chinese
Tzomaka, V. (2020) Hoot and Howl Across the Desert. London: Thames and Hudson. Co-editions in American English, Dutch and Chinese
Artist Books
Tzomaka, V. (2017) The Wilder West, artist book, edition of 3.
Tzomaka, V. (2010) Word Spin, artist book, edition of 3.
Tzomaka, V. (2009) Word Picnic, artist book, edition of 10.
Selected recent publications
Tzomaka, V. (2023) 'The humpback wrasse', in Hickey, T. (ed.) Sea Change: Save the Ocean. Hereford: Otter-Barry Books. Published in association with the International Centre for the Picture Book in Society.
Tzomaka, V. (2019) 'Interview with Allan Drummond: the role of the classroom in nonfiction narratives', Bookbird, 58(1), pp. 83–88.
Tzomaka, V. (2016) 'The role of narrative in nonfiction picturebooks: a diagrammatic analysis to define the creative nonfiction picturebook', in CONFIA 2016: 4th International Conference on Illustration and Animation, pp. 203–213.
Conferences and Exhibitions
Tzomaka, V. (2025) 'Building Creative Communities', ºüÀêÊÓƵ Unlocked: Creative Industries, ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Invited panel member.
Tzomaka, V. (2024) 'Crossing Wild Deserts and Ocean Reefs: a nonfiction picturebook journey', Children's Literature Festival 2024: Extraordinary Journeys, ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Speaker and workshop leader.
Tzomaka, V. (2024) Dart and Dive Across the Reef, included in 'Sailing Across an Ocean of Stories and Pictures', Bologna Children's Book Fair touring exhibition. Opened at the 39th IBBY International Congress, Trieste, 2024; subsequently shown in Naples and Palermo.
Tzomaka, V. (October 2023) 'Alternative Illustration for Nonfiction Picturebooks', Pop Up Projects Pathways Initiative. Invited speaker and workshop leader.
Tzomaka, V. (May 2023) 'Illustrating Wildlife in Children's Picturebooks', Children's Literature Festival 2023: We are the Wild, ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Speaker and workshop leader.
Tzomaka, V. (October 2022) 'Picturebooks for All: the nonfiction picturebook today', Picturebooks for All, The Hold, ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
Tzomaka, V. (April 2022) 'The Boundaries of the Book: illustrated non-fiction for children', London Book Fair, London. Invited panel speaker.
Tzomaka, V. (2019) 'Alternative illustrations for nonfiction picturebooks', in A World of Information: Children's Nonfiction, IBBY UK Conference, Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, London, UK.
Tzomaka, V. (2013) 'The adaptation of folk tales: practice-based observations', in Myth, Fantasy and Fairy Tales in Literature and the Arts Conference, 16 November 2013, Anglia Ruskin ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Cambridge, UK.
Design Events
Roundtable: 'Curating for Suffolk', with guest speaker Emily Shepperson. ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2025
Hackett, J. and Tzomaka, V. (2025) 'LWD Ipswich: a global initiative on a local level', IP1 Magazine, October.
Workshop: 'Design for Packaging', with Ilia's Kitchen, 2025.
Talk: 'Lessons Learnt from a Career in Curating for Exhibitions', with Emma Roodhouse and Sammi Wong. ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2024
Performance: 'Let's Iron Things Out– exploring the value of labour-intensive practice’, with Kristina Tonev, ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2024
Roundtable: 'Understanding Copyright', with guest speaker Ruth Flaherty. ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2023.
Workshop: 'Celebrating Women in Cookbook Design', with Ilia's Kitchen, 2023.
Panel discussion following Professor Helen Pankhurst's lecture ‘A Life of Purpose’. ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2023.
Talk: In Conversation with collage artist for The Guardian Michelle Thompson. ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2023.
Roundtable: 'Social Media Planning', with Jane Hackett and Vassiliki Tzomaka. ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2023.
Roundtable: 'Start Up and Rebrand', with guest speaker Clare Culley. ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2023.
Day Conference: 'Women in UX and UI Design' with Any Highland; 'Art Direction for E-Learning Platforms' with Sally-Anne Walker; 'Illustration for Nonfiction' with Beatriz Lostale (winner of the V&A Illustration Award). ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2022.
Talk: Sky Photographer of the Year winner Gillian Allard. ºüÀêÊÓƵ, 2022.