Pere Rius
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
Adrià Galicia (1987) was trained as a graphic designer at Bau Design School in Barcelona. When he finishes his studies he discovers a great interest for the traditional graphic arts. After that he travels to Rio de Janeiro for 8 months, where he receives training in manual printing systems, traditional engraving techniques and illustration at PUC-Rio. Meanwhile he works in Estudio Berinjela as a graphic designer during his stay at Brasil.
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
In Barcelona he also works, at various periods, as a designer in Enric Ruiz Geli’s architecture studio Cloud9.
All that until, in the middle of 2013, he establishes himself as a freelance graphic designer with a graphic design and printing project called “La Polimera”.
How did you discover the manual printing world and why did you choose it as your artistic expression discipline?
Basically, two people were the trigger for a sequence of events that have led me to what I do today, professionally speaking. The first one was Victor. I came back of a hard working day for a Cloud9 project, Villanurbs, with the artist Vicky Colombet and Victor Llanos, the studio’s architect. There we worked from the heart, day and night, hand in hand with all the team.Out of that, I developed a great friendship with Victor, who to my eyes was the genius of all that plot, he was inspiration and creativity to unimaginable levels and he involved me in his world of ink pads, fragrances and stickers, among others, all scaled to dimensions that reached the limits of madness and brilliance.
With all this the last year of university started and I found Jaume Pujagut, to whom I showed my notebooks of “summer ink pads”, and then he tells me that Alexis Rom was going to open a print store that same week in Barcelona. This was the other trigger. I was already at the door of Vostok Shop before they opened it and once in there was no way out.
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
What are you currently working on at your studio?
I work on slik-screen printing projects on textile for a couple of stable clients with a registered brand. I also edit artist's work. I collaborate with Vostok Shop and Vermut Vostok workshop.I also work with the brand Buff in graphic projects, such as a system for personalizing clothing items through stencil that we’ve developed this summer in order to print live at various events.
I also work in other projects of “pure” graphic design and on demand printing services.
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
Can you describe your working routine, how’s your studio space and how does it affect your work?
I wake up and go to sleep early from Monday to Sunday. I dedicate most of my day to my work, the rest is spent with the people and animals that make up my family. I spend half of the week in Barcelona, where I do my “office work” and the other half in Torelló, where I do my “studio work”. These schedule changes depending on the week and the kind of work.The space conditions me 100%. Even inside my little studio, I rearrange the furniture and machinery according to the tasks I have to do.
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
Tell me about your process, how do your pieces start, how do they evolve and with what materials do you work with?
I start the same way every time: documentation, planification of the process and action. I try to take the client to my field in order to develop projects from 0 to 100, from sketch to final print. The process is where most of the significance lays, and because of that the materials and techniques used are transcendental in all of my pieces. I experiment and learn with each project by working with all kinds of resources, trying to keep a balance between digital and manual tools. |
| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
What’s giving you the most trouble in your process?
The budgets and the overall financial management. Do you experiment with different materials or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?Constant and continual experimentation with screen printing, letterpress, engraving, photopolymer, all that I can mix and all that is within my reach.
I try to stay informed on the new resources and printing systems in order to test them in my daily routine. In numerous occasions I design a printing system by myself in order to finish a particular project. I like to develop printing tools or mechanisms for a unique project.
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
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| Adrià Galicia - La Polimera |
Tell me about your influences in the realm of manual printing or in other fields (music, cinema, etc).
In the realm of manual printing I’ve been influenced by my friend Joan Pujagut, typographical printer and “Tipoferit” (hurt by type). Alexis Rom Studio’s design and print work is also a total referent. I’m an unconditional fan of House Industries and Alex Trochut. I follow a lot of illustrators like Sam Larson, Joan Cornellà, Sketchy Tank, Olga Capdevila, Paul Jackson…I’m fascinated by graphic advertising from the 50’s and 60’s and by the graphical resources of those decades.
ADRIÀ GALICIA - LA POLIMERA
Instagram: @la_polimera
Translation: Juan Luis Casañas
