Q&A with Carlo Giovani
Toys are cool.
Paper toys too. Carlo Giovani is cool. He makes paper toys.
But that is the least of it– the illustrator and graphic designer’s portfolio of paper creatures (remember when these were all over the web for a while?), prints and graphic design pieces are so vibrant it makes your eyes zonk out and take a relaxing bath.
From his workshop the young Brazilian craftsman commands a steady stream of clients who seek his magic touch to lift their campaign’s visual media into the next level. In his own words he likes to find “new ways to represent ideas and concepts” by blending techniques and materials, and when we spoke he was busy doing just that on several new projects.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your background and history in art and graphic design?
A: I started to draw professionally very early, with 11 years old,
illustrating a child book called “Dream”. This book made part of a child book series wrote and illustrated by children. Since i was a little kid, i remember myself drawing something or making some strange object with wood or paper, but with this book, i discovered that was possible to get some money with things that I made for free, with pleasure!It was unbelievable for a kid! I spent some years made illustrations for t-shirts, posters of a friend’s band, logos for my own band and those kind of teenage jobs, until I got into the University, in Graphic Design. After the university, I worked for two years in a publisher until I got out and made my own studio.
Q: What were you’re early artworks like? Did you begin by working with
materials like card, fabric, fruit etc?
No, I begun with ink, pencil and that kind of material, but i ever like to made my own toys…Very early I started to work with clay, paper and sometimes, food, fruits, clothes, etc…
Q: People seem to go crazy for your card designs… Why do you think
this is?
A: I think it happens because in my work with paper i looking for some
nostalgic feelings. Something that we feel when we found an old toy on the antiques market. More than this, I think my design is very simple, easy to understand even for people that don’t understand anything of art or design. Communicate easily and quickly is very important to me, and to do this, I cut everything that is not important on my artworks. I learned to do this, making infographics or graphic diagrams for magazines.
Q: What is the origin of your packagepeople, like the Chinese tea lady. Personal inspiration or commission?
A: All my work is commissioned. And I always try to put something special or personal even sentimental thing on my works. The chinese tea box was made originally as a gift for VIP guests of a chinese commemoration party. I needed to create a gift for those commemoration, and I thought that a funny and lovely tea box could be a nice one. That kind of thing people really could not put away.
Q: Do you follow the Brazilian street art scene? What do you think of it?
A: Yes, in São Paulo, even in other big cities in Brazil, there are a huge quantity of talented street artists. In Brazil we have some grave social problems, and the streets are a popular space for creation and expression. For many of these artists, the unique space. Fortunately, it has been changed and some art movements are growing up and putting these artists on display here and in other countries. It is very important because the street art, not only in Brazil, is a very natural and powerful way of expression.
Q: What artists are you a fan of just now that you would reccommend?
A: Kako, a brazilian illustrator friend of mine. He has amazing digital lines. Mar Hernandez has a unique and lovely characters that I like so much. Herbert Baglione, a brazilian street artist.
Q: You “like to work with different medias and technics, mixing
them to create new ways to represent ideas and concepts.” What comes
first usually: the media and techniques or the
concept?
Usually the concept and the ideas comes first, then I think which is the best way to represent it. But sometimes, clients ask me to use a specific illustration technic for his jobs or a concept of a Job is create using my works as reference.
Q: What is next for Carlo Giovani?
A: For the moment in the studio, we are finishing a series of 10 chapters of a stop motion animation for TV and a series of a paper toys called “Criminal Toys”. For the next year, there’s a lot of things to do…. some package projects, toys, more animations and… who knows? The unexpected is the most interesting thing on our work.
A big thank you goes to Carlo for taking part in the interview– check out his website below and, if you can, buy one of his paper toy people.
Links:
CarloGiovani.com
Buy ‘Criminal Toys’ from BancaDeCamisetas.com.br
Posted in Art
Tags: brazil, carlo giovani, Graphic Art, Interviews, papercraft
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The stuff you did for Pepsi is awesome!! Love your work, my son loves origami, I will definitely be turning him your way for some inspiration! Very Cool -
Magnificent!!! Thank you Pepsi for bringing me the delights of Carlo Giovani!
mucho gracias!!!
Do you offer the pepsi recycling book? This would be a great publisity tool for Pepsi and a learning tool for children. I loved the book and your ideas.