Telos, the magazine by Fundación Telefónica, analyzes the impact of scientific and technological advances. Since 2022, I've had the privilege of contributing to various articles, and this time, I'm beyond honored to have illustrated the cover and centerpiece.
This issue addresses the various complexities of digital inclusion such as territory, disability, age, and gender. A challenge in social terms and undoubtedly a beautiful illustrating experience.
This issue addresses the various complexities of digital inclusion such as territory, disability, age, and gender. A challenge in social terms and undoubtedly a beautiful illustrating experience.
For the new edition of TELOS dedicated to digital inclusion, reflecting on all aspects of life affected by this necessity posed a very interesting challenge. Especially when considering current issues and needs.
Digital language, with its intrinsic complexity and constant evolution, became a focal point. I wanted to represent this phenomenon as an organism where programming elements coexist and human influence plays a crucial role in its transformation.
My creative process typically starts with a rough idea and sketch. Then, through a composition process resembling collage more than drawing, I develop a concrete illustration. I speculate a lot with trial and error surprises, and representing an organism gave me a lot of creative freedom.
As a starting point, the idea of community served as a trigger and inspiration for the entire project. Digital languages, while operating on mathematical logic, are ultimately extensions of human life and, as such, have an organic, changing, and evolving element. Therefore, despite the increasing digital programming in various aspects of our lives, it's the human element that dictates the need. From my perspective, in the different challenges of digital inclusion addressed in the central section, collective work is necessary.
This is how I structured the illustration system with subjects always working in groups, constructing and benefiting from these collaborative processes. Additionally, I found it interesting to omit the face in the human figure because I wanted to speak of the subject as a generic entity that could include anyone and capture the emotional and cultural complexities of those facing the transition to a digital environment. Choosing somewhat androgynous subjects was about considering people as part of a large organism.
In a way, digital language is so complex that it suggests the existence of many simultaneous actors and layers. As different personal and social aspects interfere, I found it interesting to think of these layers as scenarios of change, blending programming elements with human presence in the transformation of this tool.
From this same idea of an abstract and collaborative organism, addressing the complexity of digital inclusion from multiple perspectives led me to conceive the illustrations as impossible dimensions, where subjects interact in different perspectives. The duality of digital connection, which individually ties us to our devices while connecting us with others physically distant, became a recurring theme. It's within this duality that inspired the creation of scenarios that are shared but, at the same time, personal.
