From Inspiration to Illustration: Believing in the Power of Beauty

[Music] [Catalina Estrada] Hi, everyone, and welcome to this Adobe MAX 2024 session. Thank you so much for being here with me today. My name is Catalina Estrada, and I am an Illustrator and Pattern Designer from Colombia based in Barcelona. In this session, I will share with you my journey as an illustrator and how beauty has helped me communicate powerful messages and influence emotions. I will also show you some key tips that have made my workflow simpler and more efficient.

So for those of you who aren't familiar with my work, I've put together a very short video to introduce you to what I do.

[Music] ♪ Back bring it back do it clean clean clean ♪ ♪ Smoke a sack keep it max sippin' lean lean lean ♪ ♪ Fuck a chill, pop a pill make a scene scene scene ♪ ♪ Fifty racks hundred bands off my jeans jeans jeans ♪ ♪ Flows chilling ♪ ♪ Walking might get dizzy ♪ ♪ Actin' from my kinny's ♪ ♪ Now I'm trappin' like I'm Whitney ♪ ♪ Yo miss Whitney ♪ ♪ My boy she ain't missin' ♪ ♪ Girl I hope you dissin' ♪ ♪ I said hold up got my glizzy bang bang. ♪ So it all started with me growing up in a house on the outskirts of Medellín where colors invaded everything. My mother was a bit obsessed with plants and color, and she turned our home into a small jungle. Her love for beauty and color was present in every corner of the house. Each room had its own color palette filled with vivid contrasts. Some pastels, also neons, you name it. And this was probably how I learned to embrace color without fear or shame since very early in my life.

The house was also filled with very unique and particular objects.

Most of them were extravagant and beautiful. While others, well, let's just say that they had their own charm.

But this taught me the importance of embracing my own sense of beauty regardless of what others might think, which sometimes it's easier said than done. But this was really very important to me later on when developing my own graphic style, a style that people could either love or hate, but hopefully not go unnoticed.

She also taught me not to be afraid or ashamed of what I like, even if it's, in my case, very easily things that are baroque or cheesy or extravagant. From her, I learned that there's beauty everywhere, even in the most unusual places.

So growing up in Medellín in the late 70s, 80s was intense. The city was and still is incredibly beautiful with the green mountains and the vibrant flowers everywhere, but it was also caused by so much violence from the drug war. So in 1999, after finishing my graphic design studies, I moved to Barcelona, which was exciting, but it also meant starting over from scratch. And in Barcelona, I miss the colors, the nature, and the light from Colombia so much that I started putting all those things into my work. And I think that's when beauty became my obsession. But not so much a refined or elegant beauty, but like a raw and almost wild beauty that fills everything with color and life and hopefully with strength.

And just before leaving Colombia, I met this remarkable woman, Gloria Bermudez, who set up a rural library in the mountains, Laboratorio del Espíritu where children write poetry, and they learn through art and culture. And I was so moved by what they were doing that I volunteered to help, and that's how I first started working on illustration.

So I started creating artworks based or inspired on the children's poems, and I turned them into scarves, which were sold to raise funds and to increase the project's visibility. So luckily, not only did the scarves work and sell well, but I was so happy with the results that I sent those illustrations to European publishers just in case they would like to publish my work.

And to my huge surprise, they decided to publish me, which opened doors to clients I never imagined.

So a few months after those publications, I was getting contacted by Paul Smith in Japan, Coca-Cola in Australia, Paulo Coelho, for whom I've been illustrating his day planners every year since 2008. So it's the cover, the back cover, the end papers, and an illustration for each month and the inside pages. So it's lots of illustrations over all these years. And I'm deeply grateful to these volunteer projects because without them, I wouldn't have been working as an illustrator for nearly 20 years already with clients like this that I would have never imagined.

So this has created a virtuous cycle where the stability from working with these big brands and clients allows me to continue supporting the volunteer projects that are still so important to me.

And one of the most common questions I get is, where does your inspiration come from? Well, besides the obvious, which for me is nature. Creativity flows best when I connect deeply with a person or a project, like the one I just mentioned, and it's quite strange. But I feel like an urge, almost like a need to make this project visible through shapes and color, especially by highlighting the beauty within them.

And then I feel I need to share the beauty that I see in them with the rest of the world.

So this is how it works for me, where connection is my main or, well, my best source of inspiration.

And now I want to talk to you about this project in the Amazonia, the Amazon River and Jungle in the south of Colombia. This is a place where beauty and intensity they merge in so many ways.

This is my friend Caro Villegas, who has been delivering school kids to over 2,000 kids in the Amazon for more than 11 years. And these kids need to study to become the guardians of one of the world's most important rainforests.

The triple frontier where Brazil, Peru, and Colombia meet is a key area for smuggling coca, the main ingredient in cocaine, due to its accessible rivers. In Peru, unfortunately, and Colombia, coca is still grown, and this makes the region tense sometimes. And this is why education is so crucial for the kids living there.

So providing better opportunities and alternative to growing coca, education can help guide them away from the drug trade and offer a more hopeful future for the community.

So last year, I decided to join my friend to personally deliver these kits and to get some direct inspiration from the jungle and the communities. Because I wanted to design and produce some scarves that would help her project get more visibility and hopefully more funds too. So after a bumpy plane ride, the adventure really begins with the ride to the market, which means lots of colors, smells, sounds, and tons of life. And I love looking at the signs and all the graphic details from the culture because inspiration truly comes from everywhere.

So now let me introduce you to the Amazon's secret protein source and local delicacy, the Mojojoy. I know this larva looks like something out of a horror movie, but don't be fooled by its appearance because they are packed with protein, and they are considered quite the treat. Now they say you have to try everything once, but you'd be the judge.

And once you enter the local market in Leticia, inspiration arrives in all senses, and I go crazy with the colors, and I start taking pictures like a mad woman because I feel that I need to have access to all those colors anytime. And here's when Adobe Capture becomes my savior. These color palettes help me bring the essence of the Amazon later on into my designs because they are like the reflection of the bridge and the intense and vivid life of the jungle.

And at night, the jungle truly comes alive.

Every square centimeter teems with life, creatures in the most amazing colors and shapes. The jungle is a living orchestra of noises, energy, and life in every inch you see. Now what could be a better idea than going out looking for crocodiles at midnight? - [Spanish] ¿A dónde vamos? - A buscar los caimanes. Yeah, 'A buscar los caimanes,' you heard that right. He said, "We're gonna look for crocodiles." So after all this, you try to sleep surrounded by these lovely symphony of animals, never really knowing what's out there. Maybe jaguars, maybe mosquitoes. Yeah, definitely. And they are relentless. Then by morning, you're exhausted. But you feel like a true survivor, like you've just conquered the wild. And let's just say it was a sleepless, mosquito filled night. I wouldn't trade for anything.

And then the real work begins because we have to organize the school kids that have journeyed through every imaginable mode of transportation. Plane, boat, motor, truck, on foot, even carried by hand, bringing these kids to the heart of the Amazon in as easy as it sounds or as we might be used to.

Then once everything is ready, we have to organize it and deliver each kit to the kids in over 30 different communities along the riverside.

And finally, we hand the school kits to the kids, to each kid, and we see the joy in their faces, and they feel seen, they feel valued, and they feel proud and important because they now have the tools they need for learning. And to me, being part of this is truly a gift.

So after such intense experiences, how do you do justice to a place that is so vast and mesmerizing? It's not easy. And then you find yourself thinking, "Where do I start? How do I even begin?" And I need to share what I feel there with others, but it's challenging because there is just so much depth, so many emotions that it's just overwhelming. But I have this small tip that almost never fails to me, which is start small. I usually begin with just one thing that got my attention and focus on that. And I start drawing it in Adobe Fresco to make it my own. Usually, I make it a bit, well, much more baroque, and I put in it lots of details and texture and adjust the colors and do the same with other small objects like flowers and leaves. And I try not to overthink it too much. And then I keep doing the same process with several objects that got my attention or that were just simply important in my trip.

And then in Illustrator, I love the pattern too. And I start making these small compositions, and I turn them into very simple patterns. And for me, this is great. Because, when I see that these patterns appear, they are like the visual shape of music to me. They are like the cadence, the rhythm that appears, how images flow, how the elements start dancing. So all of a sudden, I feel like I've created these little windows into that vast place in my memory. And through those windows, I can start expanding my landscape, and I find it easier to grow it and to develop from there.

And then, there's another favorite part for me, which is also playing around with the recolor and the generative recolor tools. And here, I spend quite a good amount of time until I have a few color options that I like or many color options that I like. And then I take them to Photoshop.

And here I paste those final color options and apply them on mockups before going to the printer. And this is a very useful step for me because I can get a better idea of how it looks as a final piece, and I can show it to the printer before jumping into production so that we can be on the same page.

And I was so surprised by the reaction from the suppliers who were going to print the scarves on the packaging. They were so curious when they saw the pieces that we wanted to produce, that they wanted to learn more about the project. And when I explained it all, it turned out that they offered to contribute in different ways. So the scarf printer, they offered to donate the scarves in exchange for printing some for themselves to give us Christmas presents to their clients because they really love the project, and they thought it was such a great idea. And they thought it was beautiful, and they wanted to be part of it. And they donated ecological eco textiles that I probably wouldn't have been able to afford. So the project became way much nicer with their collaboration.

And then the packaging printer donated 1,500 notebooks so that the school kids would be even richer and more abundant. So I started to see beauty as a ripple effect of generosity here.

They even printed these cute sticker pages inside the notebooks for the kids, and you have no idea how happy the kids were when they saw the stickers.

So as designers, we often focus on the value we bring to projects, our creativity, our energy, our vision, but sometimes it's the project that gives so much back to us and to our lives.

Working in this Amazonia project taught me that beauty, when it's approachable, has this unique contagious power. It acts like a magnet. It makes others want to join to take part on it, and to contribute in their own way.

And these projects have given me a new perspective on my profession as well. They have made me feel much prouder of my work. And I've come to see beauty as more than aesthetics, more about shining a light on projects and on people who are doing wonderful things, connecting us to something deeper and more meaningful.

It's also been a gift for my family, especially my kids who had the chance to get involved as well.

So people often tell me how much I've helped these projects, but honestly, I feel like I'm the one who has gained the most.

These experience have enriched my life. They have deepened my connections, and they have given me far more than I could ever give in return. They've shown me that the true value of our work isn't just in what we create, but how it transforms us as individuals. So in February and March on this year, we managed to deliver more than 5,000 school kits to children in more than 30 different communities across the Amazonia.

And I am really grateful to have been part of something so meaningful. And this, I really just hope that we can always find time and space to work on projects that work as bridges and that connect us with the hearts of others so that we can build meaningful things together. [CHILDREN SINGING] Again, thank you so much for your time and for joining me today. It's been a real pleasure sharing this journey with you, and I hope you enjoyed this session and that it inspires you whether in your own design process and your workflow or in getting involved in social projects and connecting with others.

You can see more of my work on my website or follow me on Instagram. My username is @catalinaestrada. So take care, and have a great day. Bye.

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Graphic Design and Illustration

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From Inspiration to Illustration: Believing in the Power of Beauty - OS800

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About the Session

Discover how to make your illustrations stand out and captivate people with Catalina Estrada, renowned illustrator and pattern designer, who will share her insights on how beauty can communicate powerful messages and influence emotions. Throughout her career, Catalina has witnessed how her vibrant designs, featured on various products, have deeply resonated with people, sparking greater interest in the projects they support.

Catalina will cover:

  • Transforming inspiration: How to transform inspiring elements around you into your own workable images with Adobe Capture and Fresco, making your workflow simple and efficient
  • Streamlining patterns: Tips for speeding up pattern creation and the color adjustment process in Illustrator
  • Visualizing potential: How she uses Photoshop to apply illustrations in realistic mockups to fully visualize their potential beauty

Technical Level: General Audience

Category: Inspiration

Track: Graphic Design and Illustration

Audience: Graphic Designer, Illustrator

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