Graphic Designer Laura Varsky

I just opened a tumblr account and my world is exploding. There are so many beautiful images and after years of focusing on the three-dimensional design object, my love of the flat image is resurfacing – pardon the pun – yet, I didn’t find this Argentinian graphic designer and illustrator through tumblr but through a random Google search for ‘swooning woman’ that led to a blog dedicated to wedding invitations. The invitation I landed on was really quite lovely but it was the typeface that stole the show. Ever since I began writing blogs, I’ve been on the myfont.com mailing list – and somehow I’ve spared their emails from the ‘send to spam’ filter I impose on every other email newsletter to guard against ignored unsubscribes. Instead, I find myself reading their interviews with typography designers even though I doubt I’m their target readership.

Typography is fascinating and endless. It’s where the human hand meets the digital world in a harmony that doesn’t compromise the purity of either. Unsurprisingly, my hunt for Laura led me back to MyFonts and then to her website where I found these beautiful illustrations on the theme of travel.

Rome

India

Orient Express

And what could make Buenos Aires look more enticing than this?

As delightful as her illustrations are, as uplifting and musical as her spindly and curvilinear typefaces can be, the patterns that fill her drawings could be marvelous textiles. As wallpapers, they surely would be a hit.

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This one makes me think of Barcelona’s beloved icon, Gaudi – and art nouveau which had a big influence on Gaudi and this city. There is a large Argentinian population in Barcelona (almost 9,000 according to a 2011 government report) and I do think the two cities share a commonality – a playful, unpretentious, vibrant mishmash of bold shapes and spirited juxtapositions heavily influenced by art nouveau but also incredibly contemporary. Some of her patterns are strongly reminiscent of the tiling of old Barcelona apartments for example.

Here is one of her commercial designs, of which there is no shortage; In 2006, Varsky received a Latin Grammy as Art Director for best record packaging.