Brand Spotlight: an interview with Catalina Gonzalez, illustrator.
Ceci (Principal Brand Designer at Auth0) chats with Cata (the mastermind behind our amazing illustrations) about the joys and challenges of making an illustration style for the refresh of the Auth0 Brand.
Catalina González (a.k.a Cata) built their experience working in design studios in Costa Rica, until they became head of illustration at the renowned Futura agency in Mexico City. Until today where they have their own studio specialized in branding, illustration and editorial. Instagram / Web
I remember finding Cata while I was endlessly browsing Instagram, looking for new talent who could collaborate closely with our brand team. What made me fall in love with their work was the way they use fragments of objects and link them together to creatively –and certainly unexpectedly– communicate complex ideas. That’s how their illustrations ended up being part of the final mood-board that set the course of the evolution of our brand.
In September 2020, I got in touch with them for the first time. From our early conversations I knew that everything would work out well, Cata was full of ideas, creativity and a great ability to conceptualize.
This exciting journey together began by defining a more unique illustration style for our brand, so we decided that we could create some illustrations for our Design Principles as an excuse to start exploring those characteristics in depth. At that point our team already had quite a few things in place that would help them understand the fundamental rules of the new visual system we were putting together… So, that’s how the story began! But I think this was enough from my side, let’s get to know them better now.
– Ceci: Cata, I’m so happy that we’re finally having the opportunity to talk about this project. I want to start by saying that I love your work, it is complex, playful and surreal, leaving a lot of room for the imagination to go through every detail to find its meaning. Can you tell me a little about the process to create them?
– Cata: Hi! I also feel very happy and honored to be able to talk with you about the whole process that we went through together. A lot of what I try to do is play with metaphors. There are times when an idea is hard to unravel, so I do a lot of super quick drawings that reference the concept, from proposing the most literal, to the most complex and surreal, then I mix those ideas together to make things more fresh and unique. I don’t know how to explain this but I also like to approach the project in a “romantic” way. I play with putting myself in the user’s shoes and imagine that they are so delighted to use the product that they feel like they are in the clouds, as if everything is flowing perfectly, almost as if it were unreal. I mean, exaggerating things helps me come up with even more creative and crazy metaphors.
“Exaggerating things helps me come up with even more creative and crazy metaphors”.
– Ceci: Do you do these drawings automatically, or do you previously make lists of words, look for references…?
– Cata: I always start by looking for references, but I already know the style for Auth0, I understand the logic of the system, we have developed it together. Now, we already have the ingredients, I’m just mixing them.
– Ceci: Did you have a formal education in illustration?
– Cata: Yes, at the University of Sciences and Art of Costa Rica I studied graphic design and took some classes on illustration techniques. But I kept learning on my own because I had to. I have never been one of those people who have a notebook and draw every day, in some way my managers have imposed it on me. Then I realized that it’s something that I love doing! I think my managers over the years have believed in me more than I did in myself, and I’m very grateful for that because otherwise I wouldn’t have achieved all the things I’ve done.
“I think my managers over the years have believed in me more than I did in myself, and I’m very grateful for that because otherwise I wouldn’t have achieved all the things I’ve done.”
– Ceci: Let’s talk about our first call… What was your first impression of the project?
– Cata: I remember that I wasn’t aware of how big and important the project was. I think now, how crazy the trust that Ceci had in me to do this! (laughs). However, from the beginning I felt comfortable because the direction was clear. It was great that we explored a lot! We did a lot of iterations on different things like colors, density, strokes, and especially how to represent each concept. Not sure if it was a trick of yours or it turned out that way, but starting with only five illustrations gave me confidence. If you had told me that we were going to do a hundred I would have gone crazy! (laughs)
– Ceci: Well, I think one has to trust the process. If there is a defined direction, I am confident that the pieces will gradually fit together.
– Cata: Definitely. Now the thing is how to keep reinterpreting the concepts so that the illustrations don’t look the same and keep having interesting metaphors! (laughs).
– Ceci: Your style is dynamic and fun, however a precise geometry and an orthogonal grid are always present — structuring and ordering the composition. And that is exactly what we wanted for our illustrations to perfectly dialogue with our visual foundations, a style that was at the intersection of creativity and logic. How did you develop that style, what was the inspiration?
– Cata: Actually I developed this style a few years ago, while working on other brandings I’ve done. I think the base came from researching classical artists, especially cubism, in an attempt to understand their work in order to reinterpret it and do something much more contemporary. And to create the style of Auth0 I also mixed it with something Pop, the bright and contrasting colors, as well as the type of shapes I think have something Pop.
– Ceci: Your style is quite complex as well, you play with so many elements at the same time, I think that makes it very unique. It’s hard to avoid being overwhelming or hard to read, isn’t it?
– Cata: Yes, but I remember that was also a process between the two of us. Because at the beginning I had shared some proposals with more elements and you told me to clean them up a bit. Also the matter of generating different visual layers where the most predominant elements are followed by the secondary ones to generate a visual balance, I think that was a joint discovery as well.
– Ceci: There were also other fundamental characteristics when choosing your work. For example, your style is mostly flat, but you manage to give an idea of depth and spatiality by playing with the superposition and scale of the elements, which helps to create that somewhat dreamlike and surreal space where everything is possible and metaphors are born.
– Cata: Yes, I had to work on adapting my style to make it fit better with the visual style of the Auth0 brand, and that was a long process, but I think they ended up working very well together. And definitely that this crazy style also helped a lot to tell very complex concepts.
– Ceci: …speaking about concepts, I remember something you told me that I found interesting, you said: “it’s okay if you’re not too detailed about what we need to represent, I like having a more intuitive approach”. Could you tell me more about this idea?
– Cata: I think when there is too much information we can lose focus on what we are trying to communicate and become more confused. I think it’s more helpful to keep it clear, keep it simple I guess. I prefer to get closer to the idea through quick drawings that we can review and shape together.
– Ceci: One of the things that I have always valued highly is the cultural richness of working for a completely remote company. So Cata, you were born in Costa Rica and then you moved to Mexico where you are currently living, right? How did the culture of your country influence your work?
– Cata: Honestly not so much. I think that designing, or for me it has been like that, is a very emotional job. The design reflects how perfectionist, detailed, obsessive… one can be. I think that coming from Central America, where there are no design opportunities, has influenced my desire to excel. But in terms of aesthetics I don’t see any influence, it’s wrong in some way (laughs), but it’s a reality. I think I was more influenced by what happens worldwide, in terms of design and art, classic and contemporary.
– Ceci: What do you think about the future? What do you imagine doing?
– Cata: I would like to be able to do quality design and enjoy the projects. Before I was very focused on brand design only, but for a while now I think there are more things that I like. For example, working with you I am contributing to the design of the brand but in a different way and it’s amazing because what I do is part of something bigger that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve on my own. I also think that this way of working is a reflection of what is happening globally. Building teams by bringing together people from many places and with different skills is super enriching and opens up more possibilities.
“Building teams by bringing together people from many places and with different skills is super enriching and opens up more possibilities.”
– Ceci: It’s true! I love that, and Auth0 always had that spirit, putting together great teams and finding talent wherever. Thanks Cata!
It has been amazing to work with artists like Cata to extend our brand identity and talent on our team. Working on something like brand design, there is always an opportunity to continue experimenting and adding to the foundations that have been established, and that talent can come from anywhere. I hope this interview helped shed some light on the process we went through during this collaboration to reach our Auth0 illustration style, and stay tuned for more interviews with other artists that have helped contribute to our Auth0 brand and design system.
