Catalina Estrada: How She Broke Into the Illustration World

Learn how she discovered her illustration side after collaborating on social projects and ended up working with big international clients

Illustrator and designer Catalina Estrada (@catalinaestrada) has been living in Spain for more than two decades. When she moved to Europe from her native Colombia, to help her feel close to her Amazonian roots, she rekindled her love for the nature and colors of her childhood.
She started to define her style and create illustrations that blended native Colombian flora and fauna with her unmistakable color palette: the liveliest and brightest tones in the chromatic spectrum. They created intricate patterns that have become a typical trademark of Catalina Estrada’s work.

This is how she got her work known:

Social projects

Catalina Estrada’s beginnings in the world of illustration are connected to the time when she came across charitable projects working as a graphic designer. She decided to lend her services and create colorful illustrations that reflected her optimism towards the work done by these organizations and the people they were helping.
Working on a voluntary basis allowed her to operate more freely. She found her style by creating her own language and expressing her illustration skills to the max. This period undoubtedly marked a before and after in her professional career.

Editorial and advertising illustration

The privilege of working with organizations dedicated to social projects gave Catalina the necessary confidence to show her work to the world. She decided to send her illustrations to various publishing companies in Europe and America, still uncertain whether they would use them.

A short time later, many of these publishers did use her work. Showcasing her illustrations to the world opened the doors to collaborating with large international clients—Coca-Cola, Paul Smith, Paulo Coelho… All had fallen in love with Catalina Estrada’s graphic universe.

Creative license

As far as patterns and illustrations are concerned, Catalina usually licenses her work. She creates the original design, and her clients take charge of production, distribution, etc. The brands use the graphic universe of Catalina Estrada and her name and apply it to all types of products, upon her approval, and she receives copyrights.

She describes her patterns as a melody that must follow the rhythm of the color blocks and the shapes to work in perfect harmony. A rhythm, we are sure, with a Caribbean flavor.

Learn more about Catalina in her course Illustration for Patterns with Soul, and develop your own graphic language through patterns for meaningful projects.

English version by @acesarato.

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- Domestika Talks: Catalina Estrada
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