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Interview with Argentinean Illustrator Vanesa Carosia

Written on 4 April 2011, published in Interviews with 1 comment

For my first interview I thought I’d speak to Vanesa Carosia. Vanesa’s an Argentinean illustrator now based in Madrid. Her work has been used by such marketing giants as Coca Cola, Chevrolet, Vodafone and Real Madrid. She also has a creative hand in many smaller, less commercial projects. I was lucky enough to work with her a few years back when I was starting out. I thought that this would be a nice way to catch up…

Hello Vanesa and welcome to the HM blog. Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, I know you’re very busy being a new mum. So, for those of us who don’t know, who is Vanesa Carosia and what does she do?

Hi Nathan, here goes… For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a designer and Illustrator from Argentina who’s been living and working in Spain for the last few years and who’s recently become a stressed newbie mum. I work in visual communication, using different mediums, some more traditional than others. This goes as much for my client work as for my own.

I understand that you are from a family of artists, your brother Ed Carosia is also a successful illustrator. Were you surrounded by creative influences from an early age?

I’m sure that being born into a household with so many drawing boards per square metre (my father is a draftsman) must have influenced me, although I’m not sure “creatively”. Rather I think that seeing my whole family doing the same thing made it more of a natural thing to spend hours sat alone with a pencil, tablet or needle and thread. I suppose this ends up providing some sort of creative results, right? I don’t know.

How and when did you start in the world of professional Illustration?

Well, it was a slow process. It took a long time to separate it from my work as a graphic designer. Until then, which wasn’t very long ago, I used to slip illustrations into my work wherever I could. For example, I used to work at a small editorial that couldn’t pay for images with copyright, so I would create the illustrations myself. It was the same when I worked in advertising and as a freelance. It has always been an important tool in my life as a designer.

You’ve worked on campaigns for companies such as Coca Cola, Chevrolet and Renault. What would you say is the biggest challenge in creating for an international brand?

The biggest challenge is getting your idea through the marketing department! If you’re lucky enough to be working with someone who really wants to communicate a creative idea,  who uses a more personal language, then the battle is half won. The rest is just about doing the same job you’d do for your local baker.

Im sure there are many people out there who dream of making a living out of illustration but maybe aren’t sure how to go about it. Do you have any advice to offer.

Don’t try it! ha ha, I’m only joking, but the truth is that I don’t only make a living from illustration. The reality, is that there are few people who do. It’s a poorly paid profession and generally not held in very high regard. Except in a few cases, people who illustrate story books, school text books, and everything else in-between (including some of the bigger companies) either combine their illustration work with another profession, like photography, design, gardening, live very precariously or they live with their parents.

The editorial media doesn’t help either, they invite young graduates to get their work published with no payment other than the honour of having their work appear in their fantastic magazine. The poor grad student accepts, because it’s the only way that they’re going to get published, and have something for their curriculum. It’s a vicious circle that’s pretty hard to break out of, unfortunately it’s a problem we constantly battle with.

Would you ever think about starting up your own studio or are you happy to stay a free and easy freelancing mum?

It’s not easy being a freelance anything, and much less being a freelance mum, so to be both is extra hard! At least for me, as I’m uncommercial and very unorganised. Having said that I’m very happy with the freedom and that makes up for a lot.

What would you say is the most challenging aspect of being a freelance illustrator?

Well, I’d say its very challenging dedicating yourself to selling and sustaining a project without a company or team to back you up.

Are there any current illustrators who you think are the bee knees?

Loads, but I never manage to keep up with any of them… there are too many! What I see now more than anything, are certain trends, styles and all that. A few years ago I could have given you some names, for example in my blog I have have links to works by Olaf Hajek, Lorenzo Petrantoni, Carolina Melis, Sara Fanelli, Camilla Engman, etc.

I know that apart from being a mother and illustrator you have many other side projects. What else are you working on?

I have some personal projects open that I dip into on a random basis, at the moment they range from a childrens story book illustrated with fabrics, to a collection of dolls animated with “stop motion”. I’m also in the middle of a very difficult project, moving house!

So what’s next? What does the future hold for the Carosia clan?

Right now I’m finishing writing a comic, based on my own recent experiences. My brother will be illustrating the comic and I have very high hopes for it. One of my hopes was that Iñaki Gabilondo (famous Spanish reporter/journalist) was going to present it on his show, but it seems the show has disappeared along with the channel it was on. I just hope he hasn’t disappeared!

Thanks a lot for taking the time from your hectic schedule to talk to us.

Thank you, now I’m off to change some dirty nappies…

If you’d like to take a look at some more of Vanesa’s work you can drop by her website here. You’ll also find her at her blog. You can drop by Ed Carosia’s blog here.

Good Luck!