Carmen ISART FABRA

1. What was your first job, and how do you feel remembering it now? 

My first job as a graphic designer was as a tile designer. I designed a small series for the kitchen and bathroom with an elephant cooking and an elephant in the shower... I remember the manager's unfriendly treatment of the employees, we were all women. 

2. Describe, in your own words, what your current job is and what it consists of. 

I currently work directly with the editor in the project department of a publishing house and manage the team of graphic designers. 

3. How did you discover that the world of creativity was right for you? Was there a moment in your life that you attribute this discovery to? What train of events has brought you to where you are today?

I didn't discover it, it was part of my path through life. Creativity has been with me since I was a child, it was a change of direction in my studies that reconnected me with creativity in the artistic field. I wanted to be a veterinarian, but after two years studying biology at university with poor results, a change of direction brought me to study graphic design at a school in Barcelona. There I discovered how happy I felt in class, learning and that the results were good. Since then and until today I have always worked as a graphic designer, enjoying this wonderful profession, learning and teaching about it too.

My most important references are from my childhood, Hergé's drawings, his clear and clean line and the synthesis of detail, the mastery of the scene and the planes, the rhythm and his beautiful chromatic palette. And Quino, in black and white and with his simple and powerful line, and for his account of real life. I think the work of both are the basis of my graphic preferences. 

4. In a constantly growing and expanding industry, how and where do you usually find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant? 

I find inspiration outdoors, in the streets and people of my city, Barcelona. A sign in the subway, a haircut of someone passing by, the clothes of a stranger, a shop window, the label of a jar of jam in a supermarket, the decoration of a shoe store... make connections and new ideas in contact with the real world. So do a song, magazines and the internet, but a walk in the physical world generates a lot of emotional and visual activity in me.

5. If you had to choose a job or project that you are most proud of, especially for the creative work and innovation it required rather than for its recognition or success in the industry, what would it be?

Certainly, this is a confidential personal project and I can't talk about it.

But I carry in my memory a proposal for a cover with a black and white photograph that the editor approved on the first try even though he only wanted to publish color photos. The power of that photograph together with the color and typography perfectly conveyed the character of the character and the news. 

6. Which creative disciplines do you commission most, and are most interested in seeing more of and why? Which of these disciplines are you most interested in seeing at CONNECTIONS? (ie photo, film, production, social, experiential, vr, cgi, animation etc)

Photo, film and illustration but I am very interested in animation because audiovisual is currently a must.