Nubia Navarro

A spotlight on Nubia with 8 questions and our favourite pieces.

Better known as Nubikini. I’m a Venezuelan graphic designer and lettering artist currently living in Bogota, Colombia; I specialize in the creation of digital and manual letters. Since I met typography in college I fell in love with all of its process, then I started experimenting with food and materials. I’ve been working in advertising agencies 6 years ago and I’ve had the pleasure to work alongside major brands such as Adidas, Adobe, Tiffany & Co., Sprite and Flowers of Colombia among others and since then I have wanted to merge the letters between every campaign whenever I can.

 

I consider that my approach to design is very focused on solving problems from type. I think it is one of the main elements to send a message. The typography written as such and the typography that sometimes works as an image or as a form on a poster.

Do you remember the moment you knew you wanted to become a designer?

I don’t remember the exact moment I knew, but I remember I wanted to be a designer simply because my best friend at that moment wanted to become one.
Actually I did not know anything about graphic design, I just liked to make manual gifts to my friends and was a really crafty person. I fell in love with typography before even liking design. 
It’s a funny story because I learned to love design along the process of creating graphic pieces daily and practicing.

Did you go to design school? Do you think it was necessary to get to where you are today?

I graduated like 7 years ago. I studied graphic design at the university near my home town. At that moment I did not pay so much attention to design like I do right now but I can remember cool stuff from that time and I wish I could be more THERE, you know? I was always thinking about other teenage stuff. Nowadays I think it was necessary for me to go there because I wasn’t so much a self taught person and after I started working on my stuff and stuff for other brands, my curiosity has expanded so much. Sometimes I prefer to make projects for me and have fun while I am creating than getting some tasks assigned to me but I know I would not grow as an effective graphic designer and visual communicator without those things.

Who is your favorite designer right now?

Tough question…I think I love Paula Shcer but have some other amazing designers that come to my mind right now, like, Cruz Diez, Herb Lubalin, Paul Rand, Alex Trochut and others. 

What is your all time favorite font?

I have a few that will never grow for me old but my favorite could be Druk from Commercial Type.
View Druk

What is your method of getting out of a designers block?

I think blocks are necessary to expand creativity. We as creators need some challenges to produce what we can call something worth after a struggle, you know? Whenever a creative block appears I try to get distracted from my work and go for a walk, also I invite a friend for an ice cream or simply I call someone I love. We need to get away for a moment to get that breath we need just to get back on track. Blocks can last days, even months but you will know when your brain, your heart and your body are ready to create again, just trust them.

Can you describe your ideal working environment?

I’ve been in different workplaces in my career and I think the best working environment has to do a lot with the attitude of your mates and where the energy between them is cool. Of course when you work in a team, there always will be some arguments and maybe fights or sad moments but as you team and make friends with the people around you, everything will flow. As soon as everyone understands the reality of the other, we will make awesome projects together.

Some of our Favorites

What advice would you have given yourself 3 years ago?

Mmm, 3 years ago I would have said to myself: Be more and more curious, experiment and go out to have fun, not everything has to be sad. This too shall pass.

What is the greatest challenge you have faced in your career so far? How did you overcome it?

I think the biggest challenge so far has been teaching. Sometimes you are not so confident to feel you can teach someone something they don’t know but you do. Even a small thing. Also recognising my creative process and writing about it has been difficult because we as creators are used to producing content, images and pieces for brands or campaigns but sometimes we don’t sit and have the time to think how is our creative process and how can we make it better with the years, so I’ve been trying to get better on that and documenting my process.

Want more info on Nubia?

Check out her Instagram, or Behance.

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