1980
Born in Snowdonia, North Wales. Grew up in the village of
Dolwyddelan, surrounded by her mother's illustration work and her
parents' design business creating signage for parks and historic
sites.
2003
Graduated with a bachelor's degree in Visual Communications from
Ravensbourne University, London.
2003 — 2007
Worked as an art director at McCann-Erickson in Reykjavík, Iceland,
creating commercial design and advertising.
2007
Enrolled in a masters in Film at University College Dublin, Ireland,
where she discovered graphic prop design for film.
2008
Hired as a graphic designer on the TV series The Tudors, her first
hands-on set experience creating historical props.
2008 — 2013
Worked on productions including Camelot, Vikings, and Penny
Dreadful, developing expertise in period-accurate prop design.
2014
Served as lead graphic designer on Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest
Hotel, creating hotel stationery, documents, love letters, and the
iconic Mendl's pastry packaging.
2015
The Grand Budapest Hotel wins the Academy Award for Best Production
Design at the 87th Academy Awards. Atkins receives a nomination from
the Art Directors Guild for Excellence in Production Design.
2015 — 2016
Worked with Steven Spielberg on Bridge of Spies, a historically
accurate Cold War film requiring extensive handmade signage and
period documents.
2016 — 2018
Contributed graphic design work to animated films The Boxtrolls and
Isle of Dogs, designing entire miniature worlds of signage,
newspapers, maps, and packaging.
2020
Published
Fake Love Letters, Forged Telegrams, and Prison Escape Maps:
Designing Graphic Props for Filmmaking, as well as a children's book,
Letters from the North Pole.
2021
Contributed to The French Dispatch and West Side Story.
