The colorful and multi disciplinary design studio Brosmind was established in 2006 by the Mingarro-brothers, and has become well known internationally for their vibrant and interesting aesthetics. In June the brothers are coming to Visueltfestivalen to talk about their creative process and share some secrets with the audience.

By Dorthe Smeby

Juan and Alejandro Mingarro grew up together in a small town in Spain in the 80´s and have been a creative duo since their childhood, which they spent drawing comics and building trucks for their action figures. After finishing school the brothers moved to study design and pursue a creative career in Barcelona, a city they have been living in ever since. In 2006, after some brief adventures separately, they created a multi disciplinary design studio in the Spanish capitol, and Brosmind was born. In 2007, one of their first illustration projects was awarded with a prize in an advertising festival, which made them specialize in the field. Today the brothers work within many many different disciplines, including illustration, sculpture, music, video, packaging, graphic design and programming.

Brosmind´s work is best described as a bold splash of color, patterns, shapes and comicality and is a universe full of friendliness and impressing details. Almost always with a humorous twist, their playful and maximalistic approach to design is packed with imagination and surrealistic elements. Meaning that in Brosmind`s universe a doughnut riding a bicycle is completely normal, and so is watermelons operating complicated joysticks.

– What kind of work do you do the most of, and how would you best describe your own style and design aesthetics?

– We combine advertising illustration with personal projects in which we experiment with different disciplines. We use to say that our style is fresh and optimistic, a combination of fantasy and humour. We are specialized in creating characters and quite detailed illustrations.

– What does your design design process look like? Is it chaotic and messy or effective and harmonic?

– We absolutely share all the main creative tasks. Because of our brotherhood and background we think in a very similar way, so communication is really easy between us. During the years, we developed exactly the same drawing style, so we can work in the same sheet of paper simultaneously. We only divide our tasks in the last more technical stages, where Juan specialized in the inking and Alejandro in the coloring. We don’t have an exact formula for the creative process, but things happen in a quite natural way. We have creative arguments very often, but that’s good for reaching new quality levels, and in any case, we become friends again after five minutes.

– What do you do when you are not in the studio, and where do you get new ideas and inspiration?

– We spent so many hours at the studio that during our spare time we have separated lives, each one with his wives and kids, really far from illustration and advertising. Regarding our inspiration it can be hard to identify contemporary external influences. I think we still look inside our self, remembering the feelings that the productions from the popular culture produced in us when we were kids and that sense of wonder everything had during those years.

– Have you ever been to Norway before? And what are you planning to talk about at Visueltfestivalen?

– It’s our very first time in Norway, but last year we had the pleasure of working with the Norwegian company Hypergames, during the development of their fabulous game for mobile devices called "EGGGGG, The Platform Puker". Regarding the talk, we are going to share many details and secrets about our origins with the audience, talk about our creative process - and present some of the most interesting projects we've made during the last ten years!