Before being the award-winning illustrator he is today, Bogotá, Leo Espinosa worked full time as a designer and art director. “Curiosity has led my career and it has proven to be a good business strategy,” he shared in an interview with AI-AP.
As an illustrator, Espinosa began with editorial work, but quickly moved into character and product design, as well as animation, logo design, comics, gallery work, and even children’s books – all the while combining illustration with his background in design. Base in Bogotá, Colombia, his work has been featured in a variety of publications, products, animated series and gallery shows worldwide. His short list includes brands and publications as big as The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Nickelodeon, Penguin Random House, Swatch, and Facebook.
“Even though my illustration career didn’t kick off until the mid-90s, I like to think that I started working while I was still attending design school,” he observes. “I got a small job doing storyboards for an ad agency, which lead to a designer position, and later on I became an art director; by the time I left Colombia at the age of 22, I had worked in three large multinational agencies.”
Known for his bright and playful aesthetic, his work has a sense of vitality to it, with his compositions based around the characters’ movement. With so much going on for him, you’d want to join in the hype.
