A Q&A With Talented Graphic Designer Manuel Almeida
As stated by graphic designer Manuel Almeida: “The love for what I do, is way bigger than the fear” — I recently had a chance to catch up with this amazing artist and all round wonderful person about how he got his start in the creative world and who some of his inspirations were growing up. Here is what he had to share:
Hi Manuel! Congratulations on all the success with your amazing work!. When did you first get into art and graphic design? Has it always been your passion?
Thank you so much for the invitation Amber! My passion for graphics started when I was little, I used to (and still do) buy magazines with my idols on the cover and I would do collages of them in my notebooks. Since then I fell in love with the idea of creating unique pieces of art with my own hands. During my teenage years, I started learning about design software like Photoshop, which became my number one passion! When I started college I decided to go for Business Administration of Graphic Design in my home country of Venezuela. To this day, I am still learning about this wonderful and magical world of design. I feel very blessed!
What were some of your influences growing up in the art world?
Definitely music was and still is, my main inspiration. From music videos on MTV to teen magazines, I loved to buy graphic books with Japanese characters too. I didn’t know why I felt so fascinated by how color works together and the history behind every photo or video, but it intrigued me! Also I felt nearer to my idols from my collections of memorabilia and I’ve been a collector ever since!
You have had some incredible exposure and responses to your work so far, including from Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys and Kacey Musgraves. Tell us about that:
Getting noticed by these incredible artists has been a very surreal experience for me, not only as a fan but it’s also a dream and I feel incredibly happy to work closer to all of the muses and idols I have admired for years. As a graphic designer it is an even greater feeling because they are giving attention to my art pieces, so I truly feel blessed when stuff like this happens. I love finding an artistic way to create and support the projects of people that I admire. It is a magical feeling and I’m forever grateful for every one of them for taking the time to show their love for my work and believing in me to create the art for them.
What has been one of your favorite projects to work on so far?
I think this will constantly change every day because like everything, graphic design elements and styles travel in an incredibly fast way and what is fresh now could be vintage tomorrow. However, I truly enjoy creating posters, albums and single artwork as well. I started working with Warner Music Mexico In 2020 and one of the art pieces that I made for the Latin group Maná was shown in Times Square. So that was definitely one of my biggest dreams come true as a designer and will always be a truly special moment for me.
I notice that you like to pay tribute to the vintage years including incorporating classic with modern. Have you always had an interest in that?
Using vintage elements and also textures has always been important to every piece of art that I do. I really love how textures can change anything in a composition and I also believe that what we see today is a collection of incredible things that once worked great together. I’m obsessed with the 80s and 90s (like everybody else haha) but I think that we have so much to look back on as creators — and how can we refresh and update a style. The golden era of magazines during the 90s was everything, so that inspires me too. There is so much to learn and apply to our own work and update in our portfolios.
What have you learned about yourself over the last few years and how do you stay inspired and motivated?
For me the importance of patience, to trust in the process of chapters and also believing in myself and what I am able to to do as an introvert, as I am a very shy person. Working in this graphic art world can be challenging, showing others the pieces that you create, expecting the most euphoric reaction from people in a good way, so many things that cross our minds when we share something with the world. It doesn’t matter if you only have 10 followers on social media, it will always be hard work mentally for you, if you are an introvert but I realize that the love for what I do, is way bigger than the fear. You also learn to love your critics because you can learn so much from them — the good and the bad!
What other projects do you have coming up?
Currently I’m still working on graphics for my clients in the music industry and I have some single artwork on the way for some new artists. I am also starting to work in other creative areas not related to music, so I am very excited about that as well!
Thanks so much for your time Manuel, where can we check out your work?
Thank you so much Amber, for this incredible interview, I feel so honored and I also admire what you do! ♥️
You can check out my work via my Instagram page: @ManuelDesigner
