It all started in a narrow alley behind my elementary school. A suspicious look to check no one was coming, a deep breath and three minutes of pure anxiety. That was the first time I painted graffiti on a wall, and while the outcome wasn’t remotely satisfactory, it felt like no other thing.
Years went by and my passion for graffiti got serious, but it wasn’t until I enrolled in an arts and design high school in Lisbon that I realized my love for graffiti wasn’t just a rebellious phase, and it wasn’t a love for adrenaline and running from cops either...
... it was all about the letterforms.
Since then, my world has revolved around letters of all shapes and sizes, in all mediums and colors. Attracted to everything related to typography, from typefaces and logos to murals and calligraphy, I constantly challenge myself to work with different materials, scales and styles.
In 2020, I graduated with honors from the Master Type Design at École Cantonal d’Art de Lausanne. There I learned to merge the technical and detailed Type Design process with an expressive and creative approach to lettering pieces. My creative process always involves analogue and digital techniques, usually combining both for the finished artwork.
Handmade or digital, creative or technical, artistic or functional, are the dualities that mark me as a creative.
I’m always thrilled to join projects in which I have the opportunity to draw, paint, build and work with letters!
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to collaborate, share an idea, or just to chat.
Website developed using Laytheme. Set in Space Grotesk by Florian Karsten.
© João Varela, All Rights Reserved
It all started in a narrow alley behind my elementary school. A suspicious look to check no one was coming, a deep breath and three minutes of pure anxiety. That was the first time I painted graffiti on a wall, and while the outcome wasn’t remotely satisfactory, it felt like no other thing.
Years went by and my passion for graffiti got serious, but it wasn’t until I enrolled in an arts and design high school in Lisbon that I realized my love for graffiti wasn’t just a rebellious phase, and it wasn’t a love for adrenaline and running from cops either...
... it was all about the letterforms.
Since then, my world has revolved around letters of all shapes and sizes, in all mediums and colors. Attracted to everything related to typography, from typefaces and logos to murals and calligraphy, I constantly challenge myself to work with different materials, scales and styles.
In 2020, I graduated with honors from the Master Type Design at École Cantonal d’Art de Lausanne. There I learned to merge the technical and detailed Type Design process with an expressive and creative approach to lettering pieces. My creative process always involves analogue and digital techniques, usually combining both for the finished artwork.
Handmade or digital, creative or technical, artistic or functional, are the dualities that mark me as a creative.
I’m always thrilled to join projects in which I have the opportunity to draw, paint, build and work with letters!
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to collaborate, share an idea, or just to chat.
Website developed using Laytheme. Set in Space Grotesk by Florian Karsten.
© João Varela, All Rights Reserved