Javier Garduño - Design Studio

La Era Street, sounds rural, right? La Hiniesta, Zamora, too. Well, know that the fact of having the operations center eight kilometers from one of the most unpopulated capitals in Spain has never prevented the Javier Garduño Design Studio team from paying attention to the nominations, selections, mentions, and awards granted by some of the design and packaging platforms in the international environment each year.

Sometimes gold, sometimes silver, sometimes bronze... but always with impeccable idiosyncrasy. With a reason in each design, tailor-made work for each client, and a soul, a style that breathes on its own and that cannot be executed by computer programs, only by people. This is what glù is interested in, which is why we are talking today to our protagonist, Javier Garduño, responsible for the project.

Javier Garduño - Design Studio

Hello Javier, what pushed you to start a project like this?

I was always clear that I wanted to work from my city, I didn't want to go live abroad. I love the small-town lifestyle. In 2010 I decided that I had to “fly” with my style and my decisions. Fourteen years later I see that it was a more than correct decision, but at that moment the truth is that I was a little afraid.

Do you have a favorite design?

We have developed so many works, so different and of such quality, that I could not stop at just one. I even have several of them tattooed because of what they mean to me, both the work and the person who commissioned it.

Can we apply the word “sustainable” to any process in your work?

We work in a town of 230 inhabitants, both the studio and my house (which is just below) are energy self-sufficient since there are solar panels and all the energy is electric. Furthermore, I travel in a 100% electric vehicle so our carbon footprint is not very large, which makes us very happy.

What is your favorite place in the province of Zamora?

I have many. We have a province that is very rich in landscapes, heritage, gastronomy, and culture. I am from Toro and for me, it has a special charm. I also love going for a walk along the paths and forests that I have near my house, in La Hiniesta, swimming in the Ricobayo reservoir, Sanabria Lake, taking routes through the Arribes del Duero... All the people who come here are surprised by the variety, and they wonder (so we do) why there is so much institutional abandonment...

And, what’s your favorite corner of the design world?

Where I feel most comfortable and what I like to design the most is packaging, because of all the things that the creation process involves: materials, technique, etc. I also have to say that there is something I don't like about packaging, which is the commercial part, although of course, what we design has to serve to sell the product... It's part of the job.

Even so, any process of creating or searching for an idea is my favorite part, and I don't care if we are designing branding, packaging, a poster, or a stand. branding, packaging, un cartel o un stand.

Awards recognize work. To what extent do they excite you or motivate you to keep going?

Awards and the fact that a jury made up of prestigious designers recognizes your work is always great. It is proven that the year we win an important award we receive more inquiries, especially from abroad.

Getting an award is like a guarantee for people who don't know us that we are going to do a good job. The real prize for us is to be able to do what we like most in a small town in Zamora and make a living from it.

Is there any specific detail that makes it worth it to be part of the Javier Garduño EdD team?  

The truth is that life is very good here, there is an exceptional quality of life. I take my daughter to school, I pick her up, I have lunch with her, I have time to play, for my hobbies, friends...

Since Isra García joined the studio in 2012, we have been two people and we develop all our work here, although from time to time we subcontract illustrators, photographers, programmers... We have a fairly defined style and we travel a lot together.

In addition to designs of the highest level, what other actions does the studio or you carry out?   

It has been more than twelve years since I was asked to give a conference on our creative method. As a result of the first awards, more schools and/or universities began to call me to give talks or master classes, and they are two things that I love: talking about our work, about what the process has been like from the meeting with the client to production, seeing student work and chatting with teachers, I think it is very productive feedback, and even more so for me since I love talking about design.

Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

I have been a skater for over 30 years and I still skate every weekend. Furthermore, I have gotten the skateboarding and snowboarding bug into my daughter, and doing them with her is one of the best experiences that life has given me. Visual poetry photography is another of my hobbies, as well as traveling since I take advantage of any situation to be able to go to new places.

Where is your furthest client or design?

We are currently working on the packaging for a Peruvian liquor. In these years we have worked for Russia, France, Italy, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the United States. When they call us from so far away I always think that it is a huge professional pride. We love closeness with clients and doing meetings via video call at first seemed very cold, but now I see it as necessary both for time and convenience. In the end, closeness is provided by our way of being, and our personality and not by the distance from which the client is.

What is your vision of Javier Garduño EdD in the coming years?

I don't like to think about the future, I prefer the day-to-day... Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that he would have the life and the tasks that I have now.

Our previous protagonists, The Exvotos, left a question for the next protagonist. Let’s see your answer: “What is your biggest fear?”

My biggest fear has to do with health and is not comparable to anything. I suffer from a rare disease called Horton's Headache and, when I suffer from it, about two to five months a year, it greatly affects my life. Living with a disease like this is almost constantly living in fear of it coming.

Can you leave us a question to be answered by the next protagonist?

How do you think AI (Artificial Intelligence) will affect your work? Will it be a positive change, or on the contrary an enemy to face?