Vidhya Nagarajan

Vidhya Nagarajan is an illustrator and letterer. She specializes in bright and dense line-based drawings. Her work has appeared in magazines, books, newspapers, packaging, and beyond. Some of her clients include Google, Apple, The New York Times, and Penguin Random House.

Nagarajan earned her MFA from the Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and her BFA in Communication Design from Washington University in St. Louis.

Personal website

"The Lighter Side of an Iron Lady" hand lettered in a gothic font in white with blue shadows on a red background. Below this, the text "DESPITE PLAYING STRICT MARGARET THATCHER AND SKEPTICAL DANA SCULLY, GILLIAN ANDERSON IS A TOTAL GOOFBALL. BY GLENN WHIPP". To the right, a photo of Gillian Anderson in character as Margaret Thatcher in the TV series The Crown.

Lettering Opener for The Los Angeles Times, 2021

Illustration of three people wearing sunglasses in bright patterned outfits on a bright lime green motorbike. Above and below them, the text "GIGANTIC BREWING COMPANY" "PARTICIPATORY ACES" "HAZY IPA" in bold, vibrant fonts. The leftmost person points ahead and the other two hold baskets of fruit. A toucan rests on the "C" in "GIGANTIC", which is nestled in the background, a lively landscape of fruit trees.

A Beer Label for Gigantic Brewing’s new IPA, Participatory Aces, 2020

Lady Justice stands barefoot in front of a muted red background, balancing the scales in her left hand, a sword in her right. She's dressed in (what appears to be) Handmaid's Tale garb — a red dress and white headdress — and the scales tip about, catching fire.

Made in protest of Supreme Court Judge Amy Comey Barrett's confirmation, 2020

An illustration of various people in a red, yellow, and black color scheme: in the center, a cloud hovering above a ladder bears the text, "THREE DAYS AT EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE BY: YAYOI KUSAMA". Information about the installation surrounds the various illustrations; in the top left is the text, "So many people go to the Kusama exhibit to take pictures of themselves, and especially in the "infinity mirrored room," but what does it look like when they discover the rest of her work? Would they be as compelled? Over the course of two weeks in November I made multiple visits to the David Zwirner gallery to find out more."

A monthly written and illustrated column for The New York Times about events in New York art and culture, 2019

Portrait of K.L. Saigal before a microphone in a dazzling spotlight, with a glimmering landscape in the background.

Google Doodle done in honor of Bollywood's first superstar, K.L. Saigal, 2018