Snippets of Everyday Life: Pearada Unahalekhaka’s Illustrations

Pearada Unahalekhaka (Cheepsatayakorn) captures small moments of joy using pen and watercolors. A traveler and seeker, Unahalekhaka was born in Bangkok and has lived in New York City and Hong Kong. Describing herself as a “visual storyteller”, her illustrations are an homage to places and people.

“Traveling is my way of life,” says Unahalekhaka. “It’s how I find inspiration, and my favorite way to capture the moment is to sketch.” According to Unahalekhaka, she makes sure to carry with her a sketchbook at all times. “I love positive energy and inspirations I get from fast-paced cities,” she notes. “I can’t really stay still.”

Having studied architecture as an undergraduate, Unahalekhaka is also a proud graduate of Columbia University with Masters in Strategic Communications. And when she isn’t sketching or traveling, she works with the advertising industry. “I discovered my true passions in strategy and illustration while living in New York City,” says Unahalekhaka. “I combine eight years of work experience in the branding and advertising industries with my study in architecture and my passion in illustration to implement design strategy and create designs that speak to the audience.”

Unahalekhaka notes that architecture and advertising are similar in terms of storytelling. “In architecture, the idea is to study your client’s needs and creating a design. In communications, instead of making a building, you build a campaign instead. I left architecture because I hated construction, but I still loved the conceptual thinking and the analysis part of it.”

With a passion for storytelling, Unahalekhaka’s Instagram page offers visual snippets of the world around her for you to enjoy.