Creating the Gallardo Labs Manifesto
When Nicole reached out to me to design our manifesto, I understood what my challenge was: to take a piece of everyone and everything that makes up Gallardo Labs and turn it into art. I was very excited and, let’s be honest, a bit lost on where to begin. I knew I was assigned this momentous task because of how much the company means to me. Over the years, I have helped build and mold it, making sure we don’t fall into old status quo agency patterns. Our manifesto was already existing in the way we worked and lived every day. It was my job to bring it to light.
As all good artists do, I began by gathering visual inspiration from the best. This pushed me to think outside the norm and confidently inject new twists and personal meaning into the project at hand.
The heart of this manifesto comes from every single member of our team. We asked each person to share quotes and phrases that they felt represented Gallardo Labs. This process is reflective of us in itself because here, everyone’s voice is important. We each feel valued and motivated to be part of the building of who we are.
After sifting through all the ideas submitted by the team, I began to break apart and organize the thoughts into groups, which slowly started to paint a picture of what we stand for. Then I pulled the strongest and most unique phrase from each group, creating a succinct and powerful list that would ultimately become Our Manifesto.
For the design, I was inspired by the brand that has pushed people to “JUST DO IT” since 1964. I started with the single Just Start block in the top left corner. After that, everything began to flow. I divided the artwork into a broken grid that allowed me to focus on each message individually. Each section uses typography to creatively represent the words written inside of it.
My favorite block is the Broken 9 to 5 title because that quote to me encompasses why Gallardo labs was started in the first place.
Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary. ~ Cecil Beaton
Here I get to be a part of this crazy dream where I am making cool shit, hanging with my best friends, and changing an entire industry in the process. I’m proud of successfully turning all of our big motives, beliefs, and intentions into an art piece and I hope that everyone who sees it feels as inspired as we are.
Written by Sonia Acosta, Director of Visual Design at Gallardo Labs. Learn more about us and our mission at gallardolabs.com/mission.
