Interviews — 5 Min Read

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Interviews — 5 Min Read

An interesting activity of enhancement of perceive quality of a website by Artistic Illustrations

SMALL TALK WITH LAURA DE ALEXANDRIS: Graphics, creative ecstasy, diving, crown at 4

Transforming a passion into a profession is putting creativity at the service of professional competence. Laura De Alexandris has an innate love for graphics and she has transformed it into her job. It is necessary to have courage, to realize a dream and not compromise. She lives and works in the heart of the industrious Brianza as an graphic illustrator and when she is not looking for creative ecstasy on the electronic “palette”, she cultivates the passion for diving. Her watch? With crown at 4.

What happens during your creative process?
My “creative trance” doesn’t start immediately, it doesn’t explode “on command” but goes through a phase of “acceleration”. Finding the right inspiration to achieve a goal is the most time-consuming part of my job. I have to collect as much material as possible to be able to blend the elements into the right combination. You need to be able to listen to yourself, your customers and understand the identity of the work they do. I usually ask a lot of questions but they are essential to allow creativity to have a “good pantry” to draw from. Creativity is a force that you don’t control: it envelops you in an extraordinary embrace that takes you where it wishes.

Going further in the interview…

Wow, I understand that the objectives were many …

Yes, however it’s a job that I have always felt mine. You can almost never get bored, there is always something new to learn and ideas to develop. You also risk a lot of frustration because you work with “what does not yet exist”, it means working with the possibility and not having a manual that explains how to achieve that precise result, in fact it is not taken for granted that a project will materialize effectively. Knowing how to integrate knowledge, semiotics, history, culture, imagination, emotions, economic-environmental and technical resources is the recipe for being effective, seductive and authentic in communication.

Based on the last considerations, How did you structure the communication?

I initially considered the history of the company, the service they offer and how their competitors communicate. Mancini Enterprise is a company mainly supplied with Japanese technology. In Japan, a strategy that is used extensively is to have a corporate mascot that conveys trust and trustworthiness. It is a strategy that tends to gamble here in Italy, where professionalism tends to be at the fore when thinking about a logo or image associated with the business. I have nothing to take away from professionalism but when everyone wants to pursue the same workhorse, including you, there is not much room to differentiate and stand out from the others. I later realized that a mascot was the best choice to make. I thought that associating a pleasant and accessible image with a useful but still industrial and cold technology was the key to effective and fun communication. The intention was to give the buyer a playful presence, able to remain in the memory and lighten the technical information that he/she assimilates every day.

Can you identify “the beginning of everything?
Everything comes from intuition, thoughts and emotions that precede it. I don’t usually get it immediately. I give myself time to observe and listen to what I live, looking for stimulating pictures and experiences. Then, when I melt the elements that inspired me and the emotional rapture is inevitable I let it take possession of me. The illustration borns where rationality ends.1

And when does the ecstasy begin?
Time and the outside world lose their meaning. Space-time is reduced in the relationship between me and the artwork. I remember how a pencil self-portrait made me feel estranged from the world, as if I had slipped into another dimension of being. I believe that this type of involvement is due to the intensity of the emotions you feel while you act. It was the first time I drew by “baring” the emotions on my face. I lived this experience as a liberation.

 So the work does not follow a predetermined pattern from the start …
The artwork is created by creating”, meant Picasso. Planning is important but action is the fundamental key. The action affirms the work and the artist. During the work, concentration and emotional involvement increase, allowing you to see what you didn’t see before. There are cases in which I reach a different result from the initial sketch but it is better that way cause I always reach a better result than the starting point.

What do you try to avoid in your creative process?
The best artworks were born when I decided to abandon precision and I let myself go. Unfortunately or fortunately, accuracy was taught me. It is functional for life but it can stifle creativity, so I always try not to rage on the artworks. I remember an illustration from 5 years ago … I represented a Mother Nature 2.0. perfectly balancing “creative trance” and precision. The latter was used only to accompany and was not there to hold the reins of the experience. In a short time I created an illustration that is still very popular for its style, softness of shapes and color contrast.

In those moments where did your gaze go?
I am an observer. I love scuba diving and under water the gaze is unleashed. The underwater universe is extraordinary for the range of colors, the hues of the fish that become chrome. It is then that the desire to reproduce that world arises, to make it mine, a product of my creativity that the eye of an observer can grasp and process. It’s like sunset: you can’t have it but you can represent it. My creative ecstasy becomes combining shapes and colors to create something that brings you closer to those sensations.

The underwater world is the place on earth Where you can admire perfection..
No, actually. So is a subway. People, colors and details, filtered through a certain sensitivity, take you into a heterogeneous universe never to take for granted.

What is the color of pure beauty?
From my early age, black has had a very strong influence. Technically it is equivalent to the absence of color but for me it is a color in all respects, magical, beauty inspiring, deep and unconventional.

What did it teach you?
Its “depth”, the abysmal and spatial one, taught me to go further and push myself beyond conventions. Black usually scares but It creates a lot of curiosity in me.

Let’s talk about watches: which famous model would you redesign with the crown NOT at 3?
I love the Panerai Submersible. The most extreme version for an enthusiast is the PAM0569, precisely in terms of the architecture of the watch, it is the “Left-handed” with a crown at 9. But if I could redesign it, I would move the crown to 4.

Is there, then, a Corona at 4 that you particularly like?
I am a Seiko 5 Sports fan. I love Seiko sportiness and the 5 Sports is the quintessential sports watch with a crown at 4. My favorite version is the Seiko 5 Sports 140° Anniversario Limited Edition. Aesthetically perfect! I am fascinated by how the white of the dial harmonizes with the blue color of the bezel. It is these “nautical” colors that bring my imagination back to the places I love the most. Another attraction is the luminescence, which is essential for those who dive. You can’t risk staying without light even for those who love the abyss like me..

 The crown at 4 changes the nature of a watch …
The crown at 4 has a special charm. As a woman, I appreciate the elegance of a watch, but as a diving lover, a watch wins me over as a “tool”. A “crown at 4” is part of my equipment. With the wrist computer I manage all the phases but the watch is essential to keep the “time” variable under control. A “crown at 4” is the best tool for my wrist.

With the pink dial?
It’s not relevant. Male forms are charming and powerful. After all, under water there is no distinction between men and women. I manage my tank, I am riderless with my Corona at 4. Indeed: not at 3!