57 — Verònica Fuerte

Graphic Design

VERÒNICA FUERTE

57

Cover Let it Blow Poster series.

In collaboration with digital artist Andrés Reisinger.

2019

VERÒNICA FUERTE

Yeh Hey in reverse.

Celebrating the first decade as a studio.

2017

Verònica Fuerte is the founder of Hey Studio, a multidisciplinary design studio based in Barcelona with an impressive roster of clients.

The work of the studio is bold, fresh and takes an in-your-face approach, with a big dash of optimism.

Exactly the kinds of qualities you need if you are to open your own studio at the age of 27, and then fearlessly forge a path for yourself, backed with a clear and recognisable aesthetic.

It seems Verònica’s last name Fuerte is quite apt.

With a shop and a podcast dedicated to raising the voices of women in business, Verònica and Hey Studio’s reach continues to evolve and range more widely.

When you first started out, you were working at different design studios across Barcelona. Seven years later, you saw you needed to forge your own path. Did you already know what design vernacular you felt was missing and wanted to develop?

I wanted to pursue my own creative path after I had worked in a few studios. I didn’t know what to do after finishing university, and I needed to learn from other people. As I was working these 6-7 years, I felt like I needed to create something on my own to further develop my style, my way of doing things. When you are working for other people, in the end, you are working with their rules and not your own. Throughout these years I increasingly felt this drive to create something on my own.

You say you wanted to create something on your own partly out of a desire for independence, but you also have a very definite style. Did you feel unable to give expression to that where you were and in the projects you were pursuing?

Yes, it was not just the style but also creativity in general. I felt like there

was a lack of creativity in the studios I was working in. I felt like I couldn’t go further with my style, my image and my creativity. And I decided to stop working, because if you try and do both things at the same time it’s not possible, you can’t succeed in either endeavour. I had to stop and think about what I wanted to do. I knew I had this style and I tried to put it into some projects, but I needed time to think about that. I needed to stop, think and explore. But not only about the design and creative aspects, but also about how I wanted to run a company. How I was going to manage things. How I was going to manage clients and my own team.

What important lessons did you learn specifically from being immersed in the Barcelona design scene?

I think your city and your environment influence you a lot. It could be Barcelona, London, New York – it could be wherever you are. Wherever you live influences you in a creative way. I am not sure in which way, but the style, the attitude of the city, the weather, a lot of things, including the friends and family who are around me.

People were looking after me, taking

care of me and giving me the power to make it on my own in my city. I never studied outside of Barcelona, and a lot of people don’t understand it. But I never felt the necessity to go elsewhere because I was happy here and I had everything here.

It just feels very vibrant and unapologetic in a way.

Yes, it is very vibrant but at the same time it is a very small city. You know everyone, and that’s good because it’s easy to connect, but it can also be hard because sometimes you find yourself fighting over the same clients.

When you thought about creating a design studio, what were some of the mental notes you had made for yourself? What aspects were really important to you?

The most important was to satisfy my thirst for creativity, to find a style and to build the attitude for which I would become recognised in the future. The name of the studio is Hey: it’s not my name, it’s not a subject you can imagine in your mind – it’s an attitude, a way of doing things. I really love the

name. It was difficult to find, but I am happy with it.

Do you associate different emotions with colours?

Hey Studio is particularly noted for its use of colour. What is your connection to colour, and do you have any early memories rooted in your childhood that you associate with an abundance of colour?

Of course, because when you are working on a project – such as a branding project – there are a lot of concepts, values and emotions, and colour is a way to express things. It’s not the only way but it helps a lot. You need to control and understand colours and not be afraid of working with them. One of the problems faced by many creatives is that they are afraid of working with colours, and they might only use one or two and don’t mix. It’s good not to be afraid.

Yes, it is very personal, I think. When I was little, I used to play with colours a lot. Not only colours but also handmade things, painting, crafts. After my classes, I would spend my time doing these kinds of things. Later, when I was at university I always loved to play with colours, and I remember in the first year, there was a course just on colour. That was one of the reasons I wanted to do design, because I thought it was nice just to study colours. It’s not something I thought a lot about when I was very young, but when I was studying, I realised that I was comfortable working on projects that were expressed in colour. Throughout the years it has remained one of the ingredients I feel most comfortable with. It’s organic. I work with it very instinctively. I mix and match very easily since I was a kid. Working with colour is very natural for me.

As a creative, everything can serve as a source of inspiration. But when you look back at the history of design is there a specific decade that you are drawn to?

If so, why?

Yes, I discovered it when I was studying at university. The period around the 60s and 70s is my favourite period because it’s when graphic design as we know it today was created. I enjoy looking back at this period a lot because it’s like looking at the birth of design. I really admire this period because there were only a few designers, – almost exclusively men of course – but I think they

Uniqlo Interior design.

Barcelona store "La Diagonal".

2019

Uniqlo Shopping bags.

2018

Uniqlo Interior design.

Barcelona store.

2018

Arrels Branding for Barcelona based footwear brand.

2015/2017

Caravelle Simple, flexible and handmade beer labeling.

An upbeat design to lift people’s spirits during the lockdown.

2020

created a universal style in this period; the modernist style and it influenced the entire world. They created very timeless things. You can see logo types or projects from that period that are still alive. For me it’s something that is very powerful. I really admire that period. It inspires me a lot. Of course, there are some things that are very old and are passed their time, but the ingredients, the initial concepts, were very powerful.

Do you enjoy working with other people?

What have been some of the most challenging projects you have worked on and why?

What are the things that take you out of your comfort zone?

I think the challenging ones, are the ones where there is some fear. This fear that makes you think, “wow, I don’t know if I can make it”. It’s something that is one step outside of your comfort zone. In the end it is an experience that makes you learn. Sometimes, it may even require partnering with someone else who can help you. That feeling of a challenge, or fear that makes you think you are unsure if you will be able to manage is a good sign for me. It’s when you are taking risks. Something that you will remember in the future. I remember projects also where I partnered with other people.

Yes, a lot. At the studio we are 6 people, but we are all designers with one project manager. In the end, we have the same approach and studies. Sometimes we hire a strategic designer or people who are not designers, but who can help us build a good presentation and make it feel like things are really happening in these areas. I love to partner because it makes you learn and go further.

When it’s something new that I have never done before. I finished university 20 years ago. I remember the first projects which were really just pure design - like stationary design or something along those lines. But now design is not like that, it’s bigger. There is no limit. I love to take risks. I love it when it’s a new project and it’s something that I have never done before. I love the feeling of being on top of a mountain and looking down at the precipice and thinking: “Wow”.

What is a sign of a successful project for you?

That’s a difficult question. To be unafraid to explore highly creative avenues.

"I always say that design is not about trends, it is about brands. So, if your brand needs to be trendy, ok, but first I need to really understand your brand. And maybe if I am 100% sure that it needs to be trendy, it will be trendy, but if not, no."

We work to create value and to create unique things. In this process, if I see that the client is doing our work, I think it is good to have a conversation about this with them. It’s complicated. The client world is not always easy.

When you meet a new client for the first time, do you get an early inkling of whether this is going to be a good project. Maybe you sense there will be much to explore, we are going to leave our comfort zone, we’re going to learn.

I think there must be roughly two sorts of clients and both can be destabilising in their own way: either giving you too much direction or not giving you enough freedom to really use your vision and language. Maybe there are also clients that also don’t give you enough of a framework of what it is they are after, and they just want you to read their mind and wow them.

Yes, we are psychologists as well. Over the years, with experience, you come to understand. Now, I can sit down with a client and the first contact gives me a lot of information, and most of the time this intuition is accurate. When someone asks you to get involved in their project it’s because you can add value. There’s a good balance between the client and ourselves. If the client starts participating in the design process, then Hey is not the right studio for them. There are other design studios that replicate things or maybe they are more of a simple-type of agency that has another approach.

Let’s speak about your podcast series Women at Work.

This project started before Covid of course. In March we did a talk at our physical store with female leaders in three different fields: photography, design and skincare. We talked about how they led a project, started their business and more. Of course, because circumstances changed, we could no longer do it live in the shop, so we decided to do a podcast. Every month we interview two women in the creative fields, with the goal of inspiring other females to run their own projects.

What has been your personal experience of being a woman in the design world? Or do you experience it as a pretty democratic space where the work does the talking?

In design nowadays we are at the end of the queue. We need to work a lot on

this. There are a lot of women studying graphic design, I think it’s more than 50% of students are female. And also, in agencies and design studios there are more women. But when you talk about the faces that represent the sector and the leadership positions, it’s all about men. I have heard that only 18% of companies are run by women.

It’s nothing! By doing this podcast I realised that the stories behind every woman are the same: we fight, but there’s cultural factors at play. The #METOO movement is only 3 years old, and there is a lot of work to do, and maybe in the design world we need to work harder. There is also this cultural phenomenon that expects women to stay home and take care of the kids.

With the podcast we wanted to inspire women to know that they can make it happen for themselves.

What would be your advice to your younger self?

I’d suggest maybe experiencing more of the world outside of Spain, such as studying abroad. You get to learn a lot when you are in a different country, you meet new people, you are outside of your comfort zone which is always enriching. I think I miss that a little bit.

PAP YAY 10-piece puzzle block made of paper.

A toy without batteries or plastic, sustainably made and easy to recycle.

Something simple to play with that also develops children’s creativity.

2018

Tortuga Branding & packaging.

2019

Hola Coffee Packaging.

Every pack is unique, the artwork is applied by hand.

2020

Hey Shop Hey Studio's first physical shop at Carrer del Dr. Dou in Barcelona.

Geometry, colour, typography and bold designs and illustrations are come to life in posters, tote bags, books and much more.

Bursting with joy Happy 2020!

In collaboration with digital artist Andrés Reisinger.

2020

Of course, when I first opened the studio, I made many mistakes, but these mistakes helped me grow and become better. It was part of the process.

You have talked about design as being a universal language. Can you talk more about the importance of that notion?

I think when we talk about images, graphics, typeface, it’s something that everybody understands. It’s graphics in the end, so it’s easy for everyone to have an opinion. So, yes, I understand it as a language. Of course, every country has their own set of culturally prominent colours and references, but I still think that design can go through these barriers. Everybody understands an image.

It is important as a designer to develop your own language, and you have managed to do that very successfully.

You do not follow trends, but nevertheless you stay contemporary in your approach. When you work with clients, I suppose you immerse yourself heavily in their identity. How do you have a conversation with a client/brand that wants a contemporary

edge in the way they are represented without falling into the trap of following trends?

I always say that design is not about trends it is about brands. So, if your brand needs to be trendy, OK, it will be. But first I need to really understand your brand. And maybe if I am 100% sure that it needs to be trendy, it will be trendy, but if not, no. It also depends on the needs of the project. If you are talking about fashion for example, then of course you need to be trendy. A brand needs to be alive for at least five years, so you need to explain it to the client. It’s like educational design, and I think it’s part of our work to educate clients, and say “OK, I know that you like it in this moment, but you need to think about the future”. Most of the time they understand.

What’s next on the horizon for Hey? I think having projects to work on as we come out of the pandemic in Europe is enough for me. Why must there always be a next step? Of course, there are projects that I would like to try, such as when I opened the physical store two years ago. That was already a big step.

"I think when we talk about images, graphics, typeface, it’s something that everybody understands.

It’s graphics in the end, so it’s easy for everyone to have an opinion on it.

So, yes, I understand it as a language.

Of course, every country has their own culturally prominent colours and references, but I still think that design can go through these barriers.

Everybody understands an image."

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