A young woman, found with sketchbooks filled with words, typography, and drawings … strolling through the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador, where she was born. Whereas some might fall in love with words, this young woman has found love in type, and she is Nathania Guerra. Guerra has a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and visual communication. She moved to the U.S. in 2015 with her family and discovered Lake Nona, thanks to her family who lives here as well. A “really welcoming neighborhood” helped the Guerra family adjust in no time. Here’s her story.

Nonahood News: What drove you to become an artist? When did you realize creating art was your passion?

Nathania Guerra: I think when you’re an artist, the passion for creating stuff is always there. But ever since I was a kid, my mom says I was always doing stuff with my hands. Always painting, dancing, using my body as a form of expression. So, when I graduated high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do, but it was definitely in the creative field. When I was in college, I always had major interest in type; anything editorial, branding, or illustration-related that involved type were always my favorite classes. But it was not until I moved to the U.S. that I became aware that being a “lettering artist” was really a thing, and there were like-minded artists making a living out of it. At some point in your life, you develop this interest more intensely, hoping it will turn out into something greater. And that is how I currently feel about lettering.

NHN: How long have you been an artist?

NG: I would say around four years approximately, which is when I started to practice lettering more constantly and getting involved in the lettering and design community in Orlando.

NHN: How often do you find yourself creating art?

NG: Let me put it to you this way: I carry my sketchbook everywhere. As a matter of fact, I have different sizes of sketchbooks (one for every purse I own). It might sound a little exaggerated, but lettering is not like pottery or making an oil painting. It’s drawing words and making compositions with it that will be appealing to the human eye and can communicate a message clearly and in a fun, illustrative way. So, I try to take notes all the time about things that call my attention, or that mean something to me, so I don’t forget later when I’m working on a piece more detailed. Every person has [their] own creating process, and when I’m in the early stages of a project, I always recur to pencil and paper. That’s why I like to keep them handy.

NHN: How long did it take you to discover yourself as an artist?

NG: Although art and design are two separate disciplines, I think there has always been a thin line between the two, and, at some point, they overlap. I say this because, in my case, it is my keen eye for design that awakens my spirit to pursue art through letterforms and shapes. I admire the beauty of type and enjoy making these pieces for pure pleasure and just letting my mind flow more creatively. Whereas in design, there’s a specific problem that needs to be solved and communicated visually.

NHN: Which of your projects would you consider to be your favorites? (Pick a top three.)

NG: 

1. My “Not So Lovely V-Day Cards” because it shows a little [of] my personality and what I really think about Valentine’s Day. To me, it’s just a waste of money, when showing love and care to your loved ones should be through daily signs of affection that don’t necessarily involve expensive gifts.
2. A rebranding I recently made for TEAVANA in the hopes they decide to change their packaging of their loose leaf tea. They used to have some beautiful colored tea tins (that helped the tea last longer, by the way), and now they cut down the number of flavors and sell their tea in plastic containers. I bet they reduced some costs of production, but c’mon! It’s Starbucks, they can do better.
3. A very amateur stop-motion video I created last year in homage of my Latin background. It’s a little inside joke about a song called “Es Merengue, No Merengue” where I used actual meringues dancing around and, later on, the actual phrases appear. I had so much fun doing this video – even though it was a lot of work – it was something totally new and out of my comfort zone. But I would definitely revisit this piece and try to master and polish it.

NHN: Which of your projects were the most time-consuming/challenging and why?

NG: As I mentioned before, even though we live in a digital era, I like to use my hands a lot. With that said, I challenge myself to paint on different surfaces all the time. I once hand-lettered a kid’s baseball bat (so it was way smaller than a regular adult-sized bat). … Because of its cylinder shape, it was so hard for me to paint on it and calculate dimensions, and it took more time than I expected it to be.

Another ultimate favorite is the #36daysoftype Instagram challenge created for ALL designers and artists out there in the IG community to create their very own version of the alphabet, including numbers. I am currently working on mine using flowers. I knew from the beginning it wasn’t going to be easy, but I love florals and wanted to recreate my version using real petals. The size of the petals and color variations is what has been challenging because it’s not easy to find small ones or lots of different colors (although I can alter it using Photoshop, I’d rather keep it natural and leave it as original as possible).

NHN: What are some of your dream projects?

NG: I would LOVE to paint a mural in the city of Orlando! I am currently on the hunt for any businesses that would like to have a mural painted on their locations, so if you can think of any, please let me know! I would also love to partner and collaborate with Florida’s own Rifle Paper Co. Their products are so dreamy, and it would be an honor to create something together.

NHN: What serves as your inspiration on a day-to-day basis?

NG: Literally anything. A lot of it has come during conversations with friends or listening to music. Most of the time, [they] are inside jokes or things that are relatable to my peers. For instance, ever since I joined the gym with my coworkers, I started writing down all the little sayings our sensei (as we call him), or instructor, would tell us during our training because they really spoke to me. Later on, I narrowed them down to my top 12, and I painted a huge mat with all these phrases. I just felt the urge to transmit his legacy into something artistic and useful at the same time. What I’m trying to say is, I don’t really wait for “inspiration to strike,” I just take random things from my daily basis and try to make something valuable from it.

NHN: Future goals/plans?

NG: I am excited to see where this whole lettering world takes me — trying to create more work that I would like to be hired for so that I can build up my portfolio and become better at what I do each and every time.

To check out Nathania Guerra’s work, you can visit her website at natguerra.com.

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