With her passion about Graphic Designs, Illustrations and Art in general, she creates her own view of female Skateboarding! Carlota Novo Gonzalvo is telling us more about her secret habits, like her ability to pick up stuff with her toes, or even more important her amazing talent to design out of nothing, something really special! We are extremely excited to get to know this rad personality a bit more, so lean back and enjoy this lovely Interview with Carlota Novo Gonzalvo!

Hi Carlota, can you please introduce yourself to our readers?

Hi! My name is Carlota, I’m a 25 year old Spanish Graphic Designer and Illustrator and I have just recently moved to The Netherlands. I like drawing, skateboarding, 80’s music, analogue photography and coffee. Fun fact about me: I can pick up stuff with my toes.

Luckily we crashed into your Instagram Account that showed us some of your Art and Graphic Designs. How did your journey started and what does creativity means to you?

I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid, always surrounded by pencils and markers. I took painting lessons, but that was not really my thing, I couldn’t be completely free to draw whatever I wanted, so I stopped with that. After high school I was a bit lost with what I wanted to be in life, but then I found out about Graphic Design. That’s when I figured that that’s what I wanted to be, I wanted to make a change with my art, I wanted to become the person behind the brand, I wanted to be a Graphic Designer.

You already have been working for several Companies in Spain, England and now you’re in the Netherlands. What do you find in those different Places and how does that come together?

Since I was very young I’ve always been adventurous and curious about many things. I’ve been travelling since I was a kid and my parents have always supported me in all of my decisions. I lived abroad in the US when I was 16, I’ve participated in International projects in Turkey and England, I lived in London and now I’ve been living in Utrecht for almost six months. I think life is too short to live always in the same place, you must get out, see the world, meet new people, try new cultures, and never judge, always be open to new experiences.

Skateboarding means a lot to you, do you get your inspiration by exploring the streets on the wheels?

I started skateboarding when I was already “pretty old” but I’ve always been very interested about it. You don’t see many girls skateboarding at my hometown, that’s maybe one of the reasons why I didn’t get on my board until my twenties. Living in London really opened my eyes about the skateboarding community. I felt very welcome and always looking forward to the monthly Girl Skate Jams. Skateboarding lets me see shapes and streets in a completely different way, and I think that’s how my “Combinations” series started (Skateboarding chocolates).

What in general does the female Skateboard Community means to you as Artist?

As I mentioned before, the Skateboard Community helped me being more confident about my Art but also about myself, as I used to be a very insecure person before. Social media has also helped me with spreading out my art and most of the feedback I get back from it is very positive. I can see that people like what I do and that makes me want to keep on learning and try new styles and formats, from paper, to digital or even screen printing t-shirts with my own designs.

We could imagine that creativity is something that takes time and passion, how do you handle assignments who are not that inspiring for you?

Yes, creativity definitely takes time, but that doesn’t matter when you love what you do. I’ve never really worked in the Skateboarding Industry, so pretty much everything you can see on my website or instagram is personal stuff that I do because I want to. I’m currently working for a Growth Hacking company and most of the work I do is focused on website design, stationery, illustrations for start-ups or logo designs. However, I always find the time to do what I like and self-learn new things, such as motion graphics.

 
You have such an amazing talent that overs you so many ways in the future, where would you like to take it in the next few years?

I would definitely love to see my own t-shirt designs in stores. It’s something hard to achieve by my own, but it’s something that I look forward to. I’ve sold t-shirts online before, and at the moment I’m selling a limited edition t-shirt that I designed to encourage women to skateboard and to give more visibility to the female skate scene.

What advice would you give to other ladies who would like to get their meanings on to paper?

Just get a pencil and a paper and start doodling. I think drawing is all about practice, just like skateboarding. Drawing is definitely something you can learn to do. I try to draw something at least once a day, it may not mean anything but it helps you to improve and you get used to it.

Thanks a lot Carlota for your time – we wish you all the best!

Web: carlotanovogonzalvo.com Instragram: @carlotaillustrations