Interviews

Javier Mariscal sees himself as an image-maker. These images are then developed into products in different media and disciplines – in fact, there are so many it’s easy to lose count of how many there are. His projects include graphics for shops, interior design, sculptures, landscape painting, illustration, even feature films. The designer perhaps most famous for his unforgettable Olympic mascot, Cobi, for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, is indefatigable. For the past 30 years, Valencian-born Mariscal, who lives in his adopted city of Barcelona, has designed in an irreverent, fun, playful, occasionally provocative way – firstly on his own and, since 1989, as part of a team. Estudio Mariscal employs 22 people – administration personnel, graphic and industrial designers, architects, IT specialists and audiovisual technicians – and collaborates with many others on individual projects.  

El Último Grito – EUG for short – is a very distinctive studio which you could almost describe as groundbreaking. It was founded in 1997 by Madrid-born Rosario Hurtado and Robert Feo who was born in London but grew up in Madrid. They both moved to London in 1990. In 2007, they relocated to Berlin and now divide their time between there and London. Today, they describe themselves as ‘a creative studio focused entirely on design’.  The name of the studio (meaning the latest craze or – in French – le dernier cri) reflects a sense of humour they’d like to see design in general infused with. Their work has a free-spirited, playful quality conducive to finding inspiration through experimentation – be it through using materials with tactile qualities or through the most ordinary everyday rituals, such as how you roll up a newspaper.  

Barcelona-based industrial design studio Mermelada Estudio was co-founded by Juan Miguel (also called Juanmi) Juárez, Laura Blasco and Alex Estévez. Their projects – which strive to be distinctive – counterbalance a strong, individual character with neutrality and (...)

Although designer Cristian Zuzunaga is originally from Barcelona, for over 10 years he’s lived in London, where he studied typography and graphic design at the London College of Communication. He then did an MA at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 2007.His (...)