make the idea clear and simple, but the design surprising and beautiful

Exactly two years ago, I interviewed with Rafael at alfalfa studio. I was clearly excited…or crazy…or both.

A week later I started my six month internship at the studio, which turned out to be a greatly memorable and enriching experience. Read more

Today we present the Seven Latin Divas Look Book. In the introduction, I wrote about the reasons why dedicating a collection to remarkable Latin women. Below is the text included in the Look Book along with few spreads. Feel free to download it and share it with anyone who, like me, appreciates the legacy of these seven immortal women.

WHY LATIN DIVAS? WHY NOW? WHY SEVEN?
by Rafael Esquer

Think of one Latin graphic icon…

No doubt the one that comes to mind is that stencilled image of Che Guevara.

But I often wonder why Latin culture is not represented by a female icon. After all, Latin America has given birth to some of the most charismatic women of our time.

Spread showcasing Carmen, the lady in the tutti frutti hat

My admiration for strong, resilient Latin women began, of course, with the women in my own family in Mexico: my mother, a hard-working ranchera; and my grandmother, a wise matriarch with 14 children.

To honor and celebrate the spirit of Latin women, I have created Seven Latin Divas, the second T-shirt collection from alfalfa seeds. Seven immortal women from the worlds of film, art, music, and politics are the stars. I believe any of them deserves to become the Latin icon for our century.

Spread showing Frida in male and female cuts

I have created these original graphic images in a striking posterized style. Hand-drawn, they are reminiscent of the statuesque image of Che Guevara that instantly deified him as a symbol of defiance—and later as an icon of radical chic. Read more

We are very excited to learn that our Role Models Campaign celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month (in collaboration with Nickelodeon Preschool Television) has won the Imagen Award for Best On-Air Advertising.

Tito Puente spot, animation stills

The animated shorts introduced preschoolers to 4 Hispanic men and women who reached the top of their fields: musician Tito Puente, astronaut Ellen Ochoa, inventor Narcís Monturiol and Olympic swimmer Dara Torres. Their dynamic professions and achievements make them highly engaging role models in the eyes of children.

Alfalfa studio conducted the research, designed the characters, created original collage illustrations, produced dozens of hand-painted backgrounds, directed the stories and animation, and supervised all production and post-production aspects, including sound effects, music, and voiceover.

Tito Puente was the winner spot. You can see the entire campaign in our website:

Go to WORK > TV > FILM > ROLE MODELS CAMPAIGN

Tito Puente spot, animation stills

Or you can read from The Imagen Foundation’s official announcement below: Read more

Concept animation projection on building from NuFormer Projection.

Have we had enough of the 3D experience yet? Going by what NuFormer is up to, probably not.

The digital media company based in The Netherlands has taken the experience of 3D and applied it to building facades, creating yet another medium of outdoor advertising and experiences. Their projection for SONY featured on buildings in Spain in May with the theme of ‘Imagine Football in 3D’. The football being kicked around from one window to another makes for an engaging virtual experience.

NuFormer – Sony, Madrid, Colegio San Augustin, May 2010 from NuFormer Projection.

In a similar realm, the projection for Samsung in Amsterdam is pretty captivating too.

Check out their play with 3D on different buildings on their vimeo link here.

Now, for us New Yorkers, let’s hope NuFormer’s work makes an appearance in our city some time soon. The Schwarzman building would make a good contender for facades to project on, don’t you think?

There’s no doubt that alfalfa studio has been known for it’s design. But do you know that we’re also passionate about cooking? Most alfalfa intern graduates are either passionate chef wannabe or absolute food lovers. For instance, Wendy Hu has kept a visual food diary for couple of years. Myself, I love trying my cooking skills specially combining Asian flavors. Even our very own Rafael Esquer can cook (ask him when his next cooking party is).

This post features an array of our favorite cooking utensils that we found out there. Joseph Joseph are famous for good cooking wares. Their latest edition “Index,” a set of chopping block that are color coded, is designed so you can prepare vegetables, fish, raw meat and cooked food separately. Read more