Wiesław Smętek

Wiesław Smętek (1955) is an illustrator, graphic designer, and painter. He attended the Liceum Sztuk Plastycznych in Bydgoszcz and later studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, where he graduated in 1981 from the Faculty of Graphic Arts. Since then, he has worked as an independent illustrator and painter, specializing in magazine covers. From 1991 to 2020, he created over 1,000 covers and more than 3,000 illustrations for leading German-language publications. In 2014, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg held a solo exhibition titled "Covers and More" dedicated to him.
He has designed for various newspapers and magazines, including Die Zeit, Stern, Der Spiegel, Handelsblatt, Die Weltwoche, Dialog, Geo, Kapital, and National Geographic.
Awards
XYLON 10, Switzerland, 1989
Bronze Medal ADC Germany, 1993
Gold and Bronze Medals ADC Germany, 1996
Silver and Bronze Medals ADC Germany, 1998
ADC Switzerland Award, 2007
He received the European Newspaper Award (Illustrations and Covers for Die Zeit) in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015. Most recently, he was awarded the Goldene Eule in Vienna, Austria, in 2023, and the DIALOG Prize from the German-Polish Society in 2023.