Ricardo Gonzalez’s art isn’t restricted to paper. Rather, it can be seen sprawled across walls, floors, entire building even. Born in Mexico and based in Brooklyn, Gonzalez is a graphic designer by trade, leaning heavily towards typography art (“a word is an image”, stresses Gonzalez).
His tagline, “it’s a living”, reflects his down-to-earth approach to both work and art. “I didn’t plan this career, it has been taking shape as I go,” Gonzalez observed once in an interview with ADC. “But I do remember looking at a few designers around the world who were making a living out of it, which made me believe it is possible to make a living of what you love.”
His graffiti-inspired art has a fresh, street-style edge to it, but Gonzalez admits that his initial inspiration actually comes from more vintage forms of type. Having grown up in Mexico, Gonzalez recalls being mesmerized by his grandfather’s old letters written in Spencerian in the 1950s. But it took him some time (and a lot of moving around) to return to his original passion.
From Mexico, Gonzalez moved to Canada in where he studied graphic design and later worked as a screen-printer. It also in Canada where he began to experiment with letterforms. After working as a freelance graphic designer in Toronto, he returned to Mexico in 2012 to work full-time as an independent designer. Then, in the summer of 2014, he moved once again, this time to New York City, where he earned a typeface design diploma from Cooper Union.
“It’s an interesting and unique career,” says Gonzalez. “Letterforms are everywhere and it’s something that is in our everyday lives. Exploring letterforms, styles, their history, their construction is a neverending path and that’s what I love about it, it is a lifetime learning journey.”
A lifetime learning journey that seems to have paid off. These days, his selected clients include giants like Apple, Armani Exchange, Nike, Toyota, Google, Microsoft, Coca Cola, and Facebook. But he also explores his more artistic side and showcases his work in solo shows around the world.
Scroll down to see some recent projects:
