"May entered, a garden in each meadow" 🌼

We are not much of proverbs, but we must admit that they usually contain traces of truth. We are in the middle of May, spring is here, and nature lets us know by filling all its corners with color. From Minimalism we could not turn our backs on this torrent of shades, so here is our new capsule collection .

This collection is very special, as it is made up of Rocío Egío , a Spanish illustrator who fills the world with color and joy, and Asana , a company committed to the food and organic life sector.

Continuing with our premise of making all possible information available to you, we have interviewed Rocío Egío, the creator of the cool illustrations in this collection entitled " LA VIDA BIO ".

Hello! Tell us a little about yourself, who is Rocío Egío?
Starting at the beginning... Hello friends! My name is Rocío, I have always been a very obedient girl, a girl of 10 who did not question or complain, always smile . I have loved painting and drawing all my life and when I was little I dreamed of studying fine arts and being an artist. In my context, it's not that the idea that I was an artist and starved and, as I've already said, was a 10-year-old girl and my abilities were for much more than painting.
In my line of disciplined girl, it seemed like a good idea to leave my dream of fine arts aside and continue with what everyone was betting was what would improve me, studying architecture. During the degree I always knew that I was not going to work as an architect, but I learned a lot and had a great time. I did Erasmus in Switzerland and then I lived in China for 6 months where I “tried” to learn Mandarin. On my return from the Asian country, I finished my final degree project with honors (of course, I was a 10-year-old girl) and decided to leave Spain.

Leaving Alicante and moving to Switzerland was starting a new chapter, I did a master's degree in graphic design and started looking for a job as a designer. I worked for a couple of years, just enough to save a little money and make some contacts and I resigned, I was very clear that I wanted to work for myself. So, a little crazy and without any strategy behind it, I started working as a freelancer .
2018 was the year in which I reconciled with the girl who dreamed of being an artist, now less obedient, more mature, with clearer and more badass ideas. These years I have been working on various projects in graphic design, set design, a bit of retail architecture and above all illustration. These years have been a gift, I have been able to develop (and continue to do so) my artistic voice, I have given myself time to play and experiment and I have worked with incredible people and projects all over the world.
Now I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

When and why did you start illustrating?
I have always drawn and I think that the fact of being dyslexic has played a very important role because my head works visually.
For me, translating a text into a graphic language, be it infographics, illustration or icons, is the natural and necessary process to process and understand information. I remember that when I was studying, until I drew (in infographic mode) the content of the exam, the information did not sink in. A long paragraph is very difficult for me to process and I have always used visual language to learn, understand and assimilate ideas.

We can say that my mother tongue is visual and everything seems less complex to me with color and geometric shapes, if I am not drawing something, I am thinking about it in a visual language.

Tell us a little about your references, those people who inspire you.
My grandmother Carmen, who is a woman dedicated to her family, children and grandchildren. In your house you live in abundance, abundance of love, generosity, joy and abundance at the table.
Anyone who knocks on the door is invited to eat and everything is shared. She is an exceptional cook and has always wanted to start a bakery.
Grandma Carmen was very modern for her time and she always told me and my cousins ​​"Baby, when you grow up don't depend on anyone, follow your dreams and your career, study, have your job and make your life" At 7 years old I didn't I understood all this very well, but now I tell myself how right Grandma Carmen is always!

Do you consider that the Spanish illustration sector has reached a state of maturity or not yet?
I speak without fully knowing the context. I have been out of Spain for quite a few years, the contact I have with the illustration sector in Spain is more digital than having experienced it firsthand.
I think that in Spain we have a very cool value, which is our attitude. We are very forward and we are not afraid to do crazy things, to experiment and innovate, we always go beyond what is established and this is a point of maturity and daring. In my context in Switzerland
Spain often appears as a benchmark in the sector and examples of projects and festivals that are held there and I love it and make me very proud.
On the other hand, where I do believe that growth is lacking is in society. I find it very strong that the career of the illustrator or any creative or artistic career is not yet considered a "serious" career. Here we illustrators and creatives have the responsibility to educate a little bit for the future.

If you had not been an illustrator, what would you have liked to dedicate yourself to?
There are a lot of things that I would like to dedicate myself to and I think that being an illustrator is a stage, I don't think I'm going to spend my life doing the same thing, right? I like changes and starting new projects so dancing and cooking are still on my wishlist haha!
Lately I've been very involved in the world of cooking and I'm sure it will gain more strength in my projects soon. I also want to try education, my mother is a teacher and she has always inspired me a lot.

The truth is that I would love any artistic expression career and when you have a personal brand it is very easy to be able to apply your universe and experience in another sector and dedicate yourself to something new for a few years. I think it's a good life plan.

Where does this strong connection with the gastronomic world come from?
My grandmother Carmen and my mother, who are the ones I have learned and continue to learn a lot from.
We are a very common family, food and sharing the table is a sacred ritual. Grandma doesn't always cook, my uncles and cousins ​​are also passionate and there is always an excuse to get together and try each other's delicacies.
Growing up in this context influences you a lot and when I lived alone at the university I was able to develop it and I began to unleash that potential and that love of cooking.
One of my most precious treasures are some cards that I found at home a few years ago.
Cards with my grandmother's recipes handwritten in the 80s that she gave to my mother when she left home. Those are the recipes I use every day and I can't wait to spend the time to put out an illustrated book with all of them.

What have you sought to represent, communicate in this capsule collection?
My works always seek to convey a positive, optimistic and enthusiastic message. I am a person who has a lot of energy and these values ​​are very aligned with my personality. If an illustration of mine makes someone smile and transmits a little JOY , for me it is the best.
The theme of the collection is "THE BIO LIFE" and for me the climax of this lifestyle comes with the celebration of the arrival of spring. I think I idealize it much more because of the fact of living in Switzerland, and that is when April arrives and you begin to live your day to day more outside than inside the house, you connect with nature, you enjoy the colors, the blue sky and the fields full of
daisies and their aroma. And of course eating rich and sweet with the fruits that overflow in the markets.
I wanted to transmit that shot of energy and positivism that the arrival of spring transmits to you, which is the same state of joy and peace that you feel when you follow a bio life.

A simple recipe that you love
Grandma Carmen was a big fan of fruit salads (now she's not so much) but she loved preparing Tutti Frutti salad for dessert. I propose a recipe with the seasonal fruits of our t-shirt:

Orange, melon, plums, medlars and cherries all cut into cubes. Juice of half a lemon, a little orange juice, minced mint, honey to taste and a little grated dark chocolate on top.

Voila! Salad full of light and color, very tasty for a snack. 🥗

What role does color play in your life?
wow! Color for me is energy that can be seen and touched. It is an essential ingredient in my work, clothes, house, decoration and food dishes.
The color connects me with my childhood and the Mediterranean. There is a lot of difference between the color palette of Alicante (where I am from) bright, pure and highly contrasted colors and the colors of Lausanne (where I live) where everything has a glaze and the colors are more pastel.
Surely my color palette would have developed differently if I had never moved from Alicante, I would not have the need to reconnect with those colors through my work because I would already be in such a colored environment.
Also, the color helps me to emphasize the optimistic and positive messages that I want to convey.
The use of color is very powerful and can change people's moods, it's magic.

Do you follow a bio life? In terms of food, sports...
I have doubts, it depends on what you mean by bio life when you ask me the question haha! I don't feel very comfortable putting labels on myself.
For me, leading a bio life is leading a life in balance. A balance between work and leisure, a balanced diet, although I don't follow any specific diet, but I love to eat delicious food and take great care of what I cook and put on my table.
The balance between myself and my social life is also very important to me, I take good care of myself, I like to have time for myself, I love to walk in nature (living in Switzerland is a joy), do sports, dance and meditate, that I really appreciate it too.
I have a quiet lifestyle, aligned with myself and in close connection with nature, yes let's say it's Bio :)

What is minimalism for you?
There is a phrase by Constantin Brancusi that defines very well my way of working and my attitude:

“Simplicity Is Complexity Resolved”

This phrase also specifies very well what I understand as minimalism, staying with the essence of things, eliminating noise and distractions that do not let you see the solution to the problem and embracing the simple and the pure. eye! It is very difficult to reach that simplicity in the world we live in, but if we can apply it even to only some facets of our lives, it is already an achievement.
My work is perceived as clean, easy, simple or minimalist and I think that it comes again thanks to that dyslexia. The exercise of greatly simplifying things and filtering them to assimilate them before being able to project them again makes me go to the essence. For example, the fact of using perfect geometries or a reduced flat color palette comes from that obsession with keeping things simple and communicating in an “easy” way.

You live in Switzerland, which place would you recommend us to visit?
For city lovers, the cultural offer in Switzerland is amazing. That was one of the first things that struck me. The cities in Switzerland are quite small, Zurich is the largest and has only 400,000 inhabitants (for comparison, it is more or less like Murcia) but although the cities are minis, the cultural offer is incredible, museums, exhibitions, music festivals, events, concerts. The best of the best always stop by. In addition, the whole country is very well connected by train and you can go from one end of the country to the other visiting cities and museums.
And then for nature lovers Switzerland is a paradise, you have to know the Alps. Last summer we made a trip that we loved, the Route of the Great Alps that goes from Evian to Nice. We left Lausanne and went through Italy too and we did it by motorcycle, but it was full of caravans and people who do it by bike too, a super weekend! A super plan!
If someone dares to come to Switzerland, say Hello! let me tell you more.

Do you miss Spain?
It goes a bit in stages, but not much. I have lived here for 5 years and I am very happy with my routine, dynamics, home and friends. I also feel quite lucky because because of my work and the flexibility that being a freelancer gives you, I can go to Spain and spend several weeks working from there and recharge my batteries.

GO TO THE COLLECTION 🍊