A few years after meeting each other at global advertising agency BBDO, Sebastián & Laura founded Folk Estudio — and boy are we glad they did — we love this little power duo team! We chat about; learning to be assertive, and not letting your love for design be taken advantage of; their growing team, aka. their new intern Paula (Hi Paula!), and their passion for food — specifically Ramen.
Give us the elevator pitch on what you do.
What we mainly seek in Folk Estudio is to create; team up with our clients to develop projects that undoubtedly help their brands to continue growing with the support of a clean, useful and honest aesthetic. The projects we work on are focused on brand identity, editorial design, art direction and photography, and although it is a broad spectrum, this forces us to be learning every day from different creative areas. We believe that a good message transmitted with a good aesthetic is too powerful to achieve everything.
Where did you study and what were some of your first jobs?
Sebastián: I studied at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, in Bogotá Colombia, where we currently have our studio. After graduating, my first job was as a photography assistant and set designer. Then I started working for an advertising agency, where I met Laura and a few years later we founded Folk Estudio.
Laura: I studied at Los Andes University, in Bogotá Colombia. After graduating I started working as a graphic designer in a local design studio owned by the BBDO agency in Bogotá. I wanted to gain experience and work with major clients so I could be able to put that knowledge in my own business. There, I met Sebastián and after a few years, we decided to create our own design studio.
Who’s on the team, what are their roles and why do you love them?
Although for several years we have worked just the two of us, in each Project we used to call many friends who are the best at what they do (photographers, illustrators, makeup artists, among others) and team up to always give the best results to our clients. However, in the last year, we have been growing so we currently have an intern and we are looking for a junior designer.
Sebastián González - @juansebg. He is the creative director and co-founder of Folk. He’s in charge of giving the creative focus and the scope of the projects that come in. He’s usually the one who has contact with our clients.
Laura Flórez - @laurafz90. She is the graphic director and co-founder of Folk. She’s responsible for turning all the ideas into reality and also, she’s in charge of directing the interns and designers that work with us. She’s always seeking to maintain the aesthetic we have created in every project.
Paula Amézquita. She is our current intern and she is in charge of supporting the design of pieces for current clients; she brings fresh air to our studio. She’s currently studying graphic design and photography.
What have been some of your biggest disasters and how have you learnt from it?
Without a doubt, in these years we have made many mistakes, but all disasters lead to a learning scenario. One of those specific mistakes was letting ourselves be carried away by the emotion of design and letting behind the money issue. We trusted that clients would pay us on time and that we didn’t need to send invoices; many clients didn’t pay at all and the love for design does not pay the bills.
Another mistake was to believe that we should send many proposals so the client would have many options to choose from, but over time we learned to trust in our work, to focus and be very assertive with what we send.
The love for design does not pay the bills.
Any passion projects/collabs you would like to share?
We have a passion for food and we are always trying new stuff, so we got really interested in a friend’s business model which is a Ramen School. Ana, our friend, is a chef and she decided to create this school so people could learn to cook Ramen and have an amazing experience while learning. We actually took the course and it was really cool. Ana reached us with the need to give an identity to her business and we definitely loved the whole process. The result was a powerful mixture of illustrations, typography, vibrant colors and make you want to eat ramen all the time. We invite you to follow her on Instagram (@ramenschoolbogota) and if you come by, make sure to book your class and learn her ramen recipe.
In Folk, we like to get away from Pinterest and Behance and go out to look for inspiration. We believe that areas such as gastronomy, architecture, fashion or art, are sources of reference to apply in design, so this specific Project was very special for us. We like to work with clients who love their brands, and if we love them too, even better.
What do you look for in a great client?
The fact that a client chooses Folk to do his design work, already makes him a great client for us and no matter how big, small, famous or unknown the brand is, we will work the same way to create a project that complies with what the client is looking for. Although, there are certainly some important parameters that a client must have and if it comes with all of them, it will become one of our favorites:
1. We believe it is important that the client needs to have respect for design and values the creative work.
2. The client must feel identified with the graphic style that we have in Folk.
3. And we believe without a doubt that the client must pay what is fair and at the indicated time.
Where to find Folk Estudio de diseño online.
Website: folk-estudio.com
Instagram: @folk_estudio
