About designer, Zevon de Tonssk

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Zevon de Tonssk kicked off his career as a graphic designer at a small advertising agency in Sydney, Australia. After sharpening his skills, he struck out on his own, freelancing first solo and later with Warwick Gibson Studios. There, he wore the title of Art Director for SailWind Quarterly and Surf Ski Quarterly, juggling magazine layouts while also cooking up ad campaigns for clients.

When the Mac II computer hit the scene, Zevon jumped on the digital wave and founded Drawing A Living Pty Ltd. (great name, right?). From 1987 to 2002, the company helped push digital art forward in Australia, racking up a few industry “firsts” along the way. He was the first to render Mickey Mouse on a computer under Disney’s official license, the first in Australia to produce digital art for direct pre-press film separations, and one of the first to blend photography into digital illustrations—well before Photoshop filters became everyone’s best friend.

In 2003, Zevon moved to New York, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2015. Together with his wife, Amanda Lane, he co-founded de Tonssk & Lane, a design studio that kept them busy with a wide range of creative projects until the pandemic forced the doors closed in 2020. Afterward, Zevon took on a role with Allianz Global Investors, which he enjoyed right up until the company had to shut down its U.S. operations in 2022.

Now, let’s pause for a personal detail — Amanda lovingly calls Zevon a “metrosexual.” Why? Because no matter the situation—surfboard under his arm, at the racetrack, or behind his computer—he somehow manages to look like he just stepped out of a style magazine. His designer’s eye isn’t limited to graphics; it spills over into fashion, grooming, and an ongoing curiosity about how style shapes the world. Simply put: the man never shows up looking anything less than put-together.

Outside of design (and looking sharp), Zevon is a devoted surfer, motorsport junkie, and lifelong sci-fi nerd. Since the 1970s, he’s devoured genre-defining works like Frank Herbert’s Dune, Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, and Tom Robbins’ Jitterbug Perfume. In April 2025, he even published his own novel, Lanternflies: Saga of the Qãtu Illim available on amazon.com —proving that his imagination doesn’t just stop at visual art.