Ahead of Semi Permanent: 5 mins with illustrator, Ruby Jones

1 year ago by

In the lead up to 2023’s Semi Permanent coming up in Pōneke this November, we chat with Aotearoa NZ illustrator, Ruby Jones, who will be one of the featured speakers at this year’s event.

You can find out more about the Semi Permanent line-up here.

Are you planning on heading to Semi Permanent this year? Our friends at Semi Permanent have given us a discount code to share with our DA Community. Use the code SPDA15 to get 15% off your tickets.


Can you tell us a bit about your creative journey? How did your career in illustration get started and what did your path look like that led you to where you are now?

Drawing has been part of my life for as long as I can remember – piles of paper, pens, pencils, were always around at home so it was easy, it was just what we did. But I never dreamt that illustrating could be any sort of career. I’d done a whole lot of things for my social media, just quietly for a few hundred followers – but then one day everything changed in a bit of a whirlwind. 

On March 15 2019, I drew and shared an illustration after hearing the news about the terror attack on two mosques in Christchurch. It was a really simple image of two woman hugging with the words ‘this Is your home and you should have been safe here’. It was shared around really quickly both in NZ and globally. It completely took on a life of its own at a time when people just needed something small, some words to hold onto. A few days later, I was invited to illustrate a cover for Time magazine, on a three-day deadline. A month after that Penguin got in touch and I signed up to publish my first book. That little book, All Of This Is For You, was another surprise for me. I still find it bizarre to say it’s an international best-seller, and has been translated into five other languages with a special edition for the US. 

I’ve since released a second book, In This Body, which explores what it’s like being in a body we don’t always love, and how to sit with that and still find appreciation for it. Alongside a lot of commercial work, I still make time for personal commissions when I can. I’m also trying to get better at prioritising work that is just for me – work that might never be seen by anyone else, but is still just as worthy of being made.

With this year’s theme of ‘REFORMATION’ – what does this mean for yourself and your own creative practice?

When I think about this, I come back to images and words simply captured on a surface – once upon a time on paper, and most often now on my iPad. But playing around with papers and print and what that can do for me too. So the re-formation for me is about the surfaces, how they’ve changed, accessible surfaces that travel with me, freeing me up to work at home, work away, freeing me – that’s the reformation, the freedom. And I feel like I haven’t lost what I love, which is keeping it simple.

What are you looking forward to most at this year’s Semi Permanent event?

I think after the last few – honestly pretty miserable – years with the pandemic I’ve been craving something like this, so I’m just excited to be fully immersed in a big creative event again and to hear from people I really admire. I’m especially looking forward to seeing Ophelia and Ryder Jones, I think their work is pretty magic.

Are you able to share with us a little sneak peek into what you’ll be covering in your presentation?

I’m still sewing all the little threads of my presentation together, but it’s going to focus on how we can continue to come back to our slow, methodical artistic roots in a world where trends, technology and social media are all moving faster than ever – the power of simplicity. 

Lastly, where can we follow along with your work?

Either on my Instagram @rubyalicerose or my website rubyalicerose.com


Grab your Semi Permanent tickets. Use the code SPDA15 to get 15% off.

Announcing Decades of Design session at Women in Design Day 2025

We are excited to announce the incredible lineup for the Decades of Design session at Women in Design Day 2025 taking place on 21 March in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

6 days ago by Design Assembly

Coming in March 2025 – Women in Design Day: Moments of Change

We are excited to announce our second Women in Design Day: Moments of Change—an annual event dedicated to fostering community, celebration, and education among women in the design industry in […]

1 month ago by Design Assembly

Spring Conversations 2024: Charting new horizons for the Aotearoa design industry

Many of us find ourselves at a crossroads, feeling individually and collectively that design, Aotearoa and the world-at-large are all at a critical turning point. So, we are setting out […]

2 months ago by Mark Easterbrook

Creative Journeys: How designers and creatives are crafting their own livelihoods

Watch the replay of Creative Journeys to catch up with the conversation or enjoy it all over again.

3 months ago by Design Assembly