Cards By Crew
For our Christmas gifting at the end of 2021, we worked with Spanish artist Pol Montserrat to produce the artwork for our bespoke playing cards.
Our team were drawn to the simplicity of Pol’s work, the striking seemingly abstract lines bringing a form of togetherness, we were thrilled with the final artworks portraying a sense of joyous interaction, to be shared with loved ones.
We chat to Pol about his inspirations, collaborating with clients and life in Barcelona.
Where are you from and how did you get into illustration?
I’m from Barcelona. I always liked drawing and painting. I guess it all began with the art lessons I took as a kid. But I used to work as a UX designer for many years before I decided to make the jump into being an illustrator so I guess the path has not been so linear.
How would you describe your personal illustration style?
I think my style is a consequence of my working process. I really like working with Chinese ink because of how it forces me to simplify what I’m representing. It naturally leads to a certain level of abstraction which I find really interesting.
What are your main influences when working on personal projects?
I get a lot of ideas from playing the piano. Even though classical music and illustration are both fundamentally different they have many things in common. One example is improving through repetition: in the piano you may repeat a passage or a scale many times until it becomes second nature, and I try to do the same when I want to draw something: I just keep repeating it until it becomes a gesture.
Who are your favourite artists?
My two favourites are Aurore de la Morinerie and Jean-Philippe Delhomme.
We approached you, as we loved your simplistic / elegant line drawing style. Do you like the collaborative process with clients? As we understand it must be challenging at times!
Yes, I love it. And I also think it’s always necessary. My clients know their respective clients, products and needs better than I do. Therefore a collaboration is always positive and often leads to directions or results that I would have not been able to reach on my own. That doesn’t make it easier but I still think it’s worth it!
Who would be your dream brand to collaborate with and why?
No, I try not to have preconceptions about clients. You never know how a project will turn out and often the projects that initially seem less interesting or that are from clients that don’t resonate with me so much are the ones that end up being the most interesting ones.
There is a big yachting community in Barcelona. Where would you suggest for people to visit if they were knew to the city?
I live next to the Park Guell and I love going there just for walks. I’ve been there hundreds of times but it’s really amazing.
Best tips for visiting Barcelona?
The city is pretty small so you can just walk everywhere. Just go where your intuition takes you, you can’t go wrong.
Do you like to travel and if so, where are you favourite places to go?
My all-time favourite destination is the “Costa Brava”, that’s the cost of the northern part of Catalonia. I go there every chance I get and I always manage to find new quiet, beautiful and simple coves.