LG: I'm a bit of an unconventional illustrator. I actually graduated in graphic design, advertising and communication, but life had a different plan for me. While working in design studios, I kept being asked to add illustrations to my projects until drawing quietly became my main language.

The real turning point came when a publisher invited me to illustrate my first children's book, How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food by Chris Butterworth. The book went on to win the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture's Book of the Year Award and has been translated into more than 13 languages. That experience opened the door to many exciting opportunities.

Since then, I've illustrated children's books, book covers and packaging for food and fashion brands, bringing stories and ideas to life across a wide range of projects.

More recently, I fulfilled another dream by collaborating with Jacquie Lawson, creating animated ecards and digital greetings. It was a wonderful opportunity to see my illustrations come to life through movement and to create heartfelt moments that connect with people in a new way.

LG: What excites me most when a client approaches me with a new project is the challenge. Every brief is like a puzzle waiting to be solved. I see myself as a bridge between a client's vision and the people it's meant to reach. My job is to find the right creative idea and let images do the talking.

When Jacquie Lawson asked me to create a collection of birthday cards celebrating every age from 1 to 100, my first thought was, “What a fantastic challenge!”. How do you create something that speaks to everyone, to children, teenagers, adults and grandparents, while making each age feel unique and worth celebrating?

I decided to use the numbers themselves as the starting point and the heart of each card, turning them into a visual narrative for every stage of life. For the younger ages, I imagined those very first discoveries, stepping into the world, learning, growing and experiencing everything for the first time, using playful animals connected to character, emotions and fun. For the later years, I wanted to approach things more poetically, as a celebration of time itself: each year something to be embraced with joy, music and a sense of playfulness, and to be lived to the fullest, as every year, especially the later ones, deserves to be considered the most precious.

LG: To be honest, I don’t have an absolute favourite design in the collection. I feel connected to each one of them because every piece carries a part of me and my vision. I still remember clearly the story behind how each of them came to life.

The sixth one (the octopus), for example, was inspired by an old wooden children’s kinetic toy I found at a market in Florence; when you turn the crank, a small octopus moves beneath the waves.

I would say that the 50th and the 70th were particularly enjoyable to create, as they were the first times I found the ideas especially playful and inventive. For the 50th, I used the number almost like a large Hollywood-style sign and added a “disco snail”, a playful element that feels like it’s saying, "celebrate to the max, but take it easy!" For the 70th, I imagined a more tender, celebratory moment, with an orchestra and an opera singer performing on a tiered cake stage. I found it particularly sweet and humorous, and the performers each have their own personality, especially the lady playing the harp, sitting on the cherry.