This weekend we’re having an Ilustrata takeover across our website & social media. We think it’s long overdue we put the spotlight on one of the incredible artists we work with and what a better place to start than with Ilustrata? We sent the team a list of interview questions to answer to give you, our customers, an insight into the brand and the people behind the scenes.

Keep reading to find out more…

Can you give a little introduction to Ilustrata and the people who work in the studio?

Hello there 🙂

I’m Bruno, Ilustrata co-founder and one of the illustrators there.

We’re a small studio based in Brazil. We’re a compound of three illustrators (Me, David, and Victor).

We love the Japanese universe, anime, games, and vintage stuff. It was our initiation to this world of illustration. Nowadays, we’re exploring much a wider range of thematics, but this retro Japanese taste is in our core.

How do all of you know each other? Did the business bring you together, or did you already know each other?

Ilustrata began as a project between college colleagues. Initially, we were four guys trying to create a design studio (yep, it didn’t start as an illustration company, haha).

It was in the 5th semester of graphic design graduation(2013). After the second year of the studio, we had some financial challenges, and we decided to try the illustration career; it was something that we always loved, but we weren’t sure if it could be a sustainable path. Fortunately, here we are, safe and sound, and going to our 8th year of the studio.

So, we all met in the college; Victor just entered the party a few later, in 2016, when the studio was only David and me. 

What does a typical day in your week look like for you?

Nowadays, things are pretty different due to quarantine. But in the regular circumstances, a typical day would be:

Me and David getting to the studio in the morning; Victor lives in another city, so he works from home.

We always have a small chat at the beginning of the day, mostly when one of us just watched a great movie or played an excellent game last night.

After this, we start our individual tasks; I always began my day answering the emails, David takes care of Instagram DMs and Victor will start his drawing tasks.

An hour later, I start my illustration work, I chose a nice playlist for that day, and it will take about all my day. The boys will do about the same.

We have a few moments chatting during the day, giving feedback on eachother’s work, but in general, our days are pretty calm, with a lot of introspection moments.

 We have a break for lunch and then got back to the illustrations.

What has had the most influence on your artwork, and why?

In the beginning, we were much influenced by artists that work the lines pretty well, like Bicicleta Sem Freio and Yuku Shimizu. But nowadays I believe each of us has opened our horizons and the influences are much more individual. For example, I still love Yuku’s work, but I’m much more looking to retro references. David and Victor are more connected to artists like Gaston Pacheco.

How do you come up with different designs? For example, Broccozilla, what made you bring food to life?

We are very moved by crazy ideas. And in 2016, we were participating in an illustration challenge, which theme was “Food”.

I already have the desire to play with the idea of a non-sense horror movie poster. Mixing this idea with the food theme and my personal preference to Japanese references, Broccozilla just got life.

What is the strangest print you’ve made?

I don’t remember a specific print, but we always see some bizarre applications of our art across the internet from stores stealing our designs. It’s pretty common to have them traced and mixed with other artist’s work. It’s not a cool thing, but it can be funny sometimes.

What makes you keep drawing every day?

I believe drawing is the way I can better experience this world. So how much better I got into drawing, better I can feel and experience the life, improving and developing the way I can observe the world. I don’t believe this path has an end, but it’s the end of itself. 

What’s your favourite piece of art you’ve designed, and why?

Bruno: This design, “S-head” has a special meaning to me and represents a special moment in my life.

 Victor: The recent one I designed, Baphomagic girl, it’s like one of my favorites. It fits all things I love, like magic girls demons and a retro shoujo style that I’m happy to create! Also, I love the composition too!

 David: Shiba novel: Because it brings together two things that I really like, which are animals and video games

Tell people one fun fact about you or the business.

At the beginning of our career, we really started into a garage, very cliche but true.