Left chevron
Left chevron

Pablo Lara H's Design Toolkit

Megan Hill
&
Published:
07
Sep
2022
Updated:
06
Oct
2022
A snippet of an album cover design by Pablo Lara H.
A colourful, whimsical illustration of a bearded man—Pablo Lara
Pablo Lara H.—illustrator, photographer, designer

Name: Pablo Lara H.

Profession: Illustrator, photographer, and web designer

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Pablo Lara H. is a freelance creative specialising in illustration, photography and web design. We asked Pablo to share the tricks and tools that comprise his daily design toolkit...

Notebook:

A collection of artwork by Pablo Lara H.

I use different paper for different mediums. For sketches in graphite pencil, standard blank paper. For watercolours, gouache, and markers, blank Fabriano paper (or any thicker paper variety).

I use Brazilian notebooks from Tilibra for sketching and note-taking, they are an old trademark in the field.

Colour:

I call this colour palette, "70's Nordic Sweater."

Source of inspiration:

I love the '70s and the Baroque (+ Rococo) era.

I’ve been making an archive of vintage magazines (from the '50s-80s) for colour palettes and layout ideas.

Designer on speed dial:

Massimo Vignelli, Eiko Ishioka or Saul Bass. I can't decide.

Fonts:

"firm favourite" written in sporting grotesque

Right now, I love anything Grotesque. My favourites include Space Grotesk by Florian Karsten at Google Fonts, Basement Grotesque by Basement Studio, and Sporting Grotesque by Lucas Le Bihan at Velvetyne Foundry.

"a distant love written in magilio

I love the new serifs experimenting with old and new trends. There are new foundries and freelance type designers doing amazing typefaces. Featured here: Magilio.

"never again" written in papyrus

A cliché: Comic Sans or Papyrus.

Pablo also curates a bank of free typefaces.

Organisational method:

I use several apps/websites to help me get things done like presentations, sketching projects, trees of ideas, etc.

Trusted advisor:

For the project itself, the client. You have to satisfy the expectations of the client. But you can always provide guidance and negotiate some of your ideas.

For general knowledge, growth as an artist, critical appreciation, and learning I look to other designers or colleagues.

Learn more about Pablo's services on his website. Find an archive of Pablo's photography work on his Tumblr, or his Instagram.