Without risk there’s no change and without change there’s no growth. “I think it’s important to have the courage to embrace challenge. “Having said this, it wasn’t an easy decision to make,” she admits. “I see it as a place where I can grow and learn as a designer, a place to be challenged and inspired,” she says, going on to note how she looks forward to working with a range of partners, hoping to be “able to work collaboratively across teams,” and the approach of leading her own team but under a larger umbrella. The change won’t be drastic, as she states “One of the reasons for joining Pentagram is to keep on doing the work that I do,” but what those visual communicated ideas may look like, or who they will be speaking to, has the opportunity to reach a much larger remit. The designer sees it almost like a third chance in her career, a rare opportunity to start again, again. Joining the world’s most famous design firm is undoubtedly a huge honour but it’s one Astrid doesn’t greet with nervousness. “What are you talking about! It just never, ever, crossed my mind.” “What!” she shouts reenacting the moment.
It was while having dinner with London-based partner Marina Willer, she thinks they were having chicken and quinoa, that the question was posed - and Astrid choked. Last not least there’s a small coincidence that I personally like: I’m as old (or young) as Pentagram.”Īstrid’s naturally close relationship with Pentagram partners already meant the proposition of becoming a partner was quite relaxed. The two business partners he’s had have become Pentagram partners.
“There are other funny connections, such as the fact that former Pentagram partner Fernando Gutierrez co-founded Grafica with my husband Pablo Martin, long before we co-founded Atlas. Once she’d graduated, and began climbing the graphic design ranks herself, the designer met several more partners while on projects, or through the Alliance Graphique Internationale, and “in time we became friends” she says. Pentagram had always been a reference for Astrid, although, as she points out, “it’s impossible not to bump into Pentagram at some point.” But, “beyond the quality and longevity of the work,” she says, “the operating principles and unique way in which the business is run has always attracted me.” “The first time I walked into Needham Road was to interview John McConnell for my dissertation at the Royal College of Art,” Astrid tells It’s Nice That. She then started her design education here in London at Central Saint Martins, before heading to the Royal College of Art where her relationship with Pentagram began. Upon returning to her family’s then home of Madrid, a friend showed her Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine “and that was the end of philosophy for me”.
The daughter of a longstanding line of book publishers, Astrid grew up with graphic design not as a career option but more as a toy, explaining how letterpress blocks were her legos.Ī love of books embedded in her life, she moved to America to study English and Philosophy at Boston University. She was elected a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale in 2010.Trieste-born Astrid Stavro is a multifaceted designer and co-founder of design studio Atlas, working across wayfinding to identity designs, although she’s always had a consistent eye on print. Stavro has taught at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design and is currently a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art. Her work has been widely published and Stavro is often invited to speak at conferences across the globe and judge international design competitions. Stavro’s work has received over 150 international awards. Her work encompasses brand identities, editorial and exhibition design, wayfinding systems and packaging for clients such as Camper, McKinsey, Phaidon, PORT, The National Portrait Gallery, Jijibaba (Jasper Morrison and Jaime Hayon’s menswear fashion brand), Barcelona Design Museum, Laurence King, Reina Sofía Museum, Fedrigoni, Elephant magazine, Wallpaper* and Cahiers du Cinéma. Astrid Stavro is a graphic designer with an international reputation for concept driven design, distilling complex ideas into uniquely simple and emotionally engaging solutions.Īfter running her own studio in Barcelona for ten years and co-founding the internationally renown design consultancy Atlas, Stavro joined Pentagram in 2018.
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