About Cooked Illustrations
What is Cooked Illustrations?
Cooked Illustrations is a Gold-accredited 4-day-week international visual communications studio specialising in science communication and public outreach, based in Cardiff, Wales (Companies House registration 12443755). As they put it on their own homepage: "We are a visual communication agency, cultivating science curiosity with animation, illustration and storytelling." Their work spans comics & graphical novels, creative facilitation, research posters, animation, illustration, branding and training/educational content.
The 4 Day Week Foundation lists Cooked Illustrations as Gold-accredited: "International visual communications studio specialising in science communication and public outreach. Based in Cardiff."
Where will I work?
The studio is based in Cardiff with a flexible / hybrid working policy and "minimal meetings outside core hours." Past projects include Learning Disabled Stories, Relationships of Kindness (therapeutic arts), Young Carers Card for Rhondda Cynon Taf, the Q Mare Sessions, and university research projects. A client testimonial from Dr Gareth Thomas of Cardiff University: "I really enjoyed working with Cooked Illustrations, who recently produced some illustrations as part of a university research project. Ian and the team not only produced some fantastic materials, but they were courteous, responsive, and enthusiastic throughout the entire process."
What is the Cooked Illustrations team like?
The studio is led by Ian Cooke Tapia (Creative Director & Founder, he/they), fluent in Latin American Spanish and English and learning Cymraeg. Ian is a writer, visual communicator, educator, illustrator and a founding member of the Wales Culture Alliance — a united voice of freelance artists and cultural organisations across Wales — and writer for The Ffangai. Lowri Bowden (she/her, Illustration | 3D Modeller) is a Cardiff-based concept artist and illustrator. Alexa Erazo (she/her, Animator | Illustrator | Storyboard Artist, fluent in Latin American Spanish and English) is an affiliate who came from Honduras via Cardiff and now works from California.
The studio also runs a deliberate skills development and youth employment programme, offering short, medium and long-term internships, training and work placement opportunities to anyone 16+ in Wales, the UK and worldwide — across illustration, graphic design, animation, digital marketing, project management, science communication, writing/editing, voice-over and video content. Quoting their work-with-us page: "If you're looking to become a visual artist, develop creative entrepreneurship skills, or need some experience for your future career, then you may find a place to develop those skills with the Cooked Illustrations pack."
Work-Life Balance
Cooked Illustrations is a Gold-accredited 4 Day Week Foundation employer — a permanent 32-hour (or less) 4-day week with no loss of pay. The DB-recorded sidebar fields are corroborated by primary sources: "Flexible working options are available, with remote working policies in place alongside defined core hours" and "Minimal meetings outside core hours."
Perks and Benefits
- Gold-accredited 4-day work week (32hrs, no loss of pay)
- Flexible / hybrid working with remote policies and defined core hours
- Few meetings — minimal meetings outside core hours
- Standard UK leave allowance plus the 4-day weeks
- Professional development — opportunities for creative growth in science communication
- Equipment for illustration / animation / studio work
- Wellbeing focus — work-life balance built into the studio's culture
- Real creative-purpose work — visual storytelling for science and public outreach