As part of our series shining a spotlight on some of our favourite Creativepool Annual winners of the last few years, today we’re looking at Italian illustrator and graphic designer Oscar Cauda.
Born in 1990 in Pinerolo, near Turin, where he still lives and works as a freelancer, Oscar signs his artistic creations as "heygraphic", decorating surfaces and objects of different kinds - shoes, walls, t-shirts - with a combination of digital art and freehand drawing.
The piece of work that won Oscar a Bronze award last year is his colourful project for Absolut Vodka. A set of hands appears in the background, interacting, creating shapes and drawing the iconic Absolut silhouette. Hands become a symbol of expression, bearers of a universal language that goes beyond the distinctions of sex and ethnicity, showing themselves as the herald of a place where all genres are equal. It is truly a remarkable piece of work that perfectly sums up Oscar’s striking aesthetic.
Oscar Cauda
For our second Annual Spotlight of 2021, we caught up with Oscar for a quick chat about the Creativepool awards, what he feels it is about his work that caught the attention of the community and what the future has in store.
What feels unique about The Annual?
The high level of the works proposed and the curiosity in discovering other professionals!
How does it feel to have won?
Knowing that your effort is appreciated not only by the client, but by a jury of professionals is a super feeling!
Can you tell us more about your winning submissions and what you think impressed the judges?
I think they liked the use of lines and colour, using simple elements that together create further shapes! The idea for these projects is to always have different levels in the images that can be read in different ways - from the most immediate to the more subtle hidden one. This way, different feelings and sensations can coexist in the best possible way!
What advice would you share with other agencies and individuals looking to grab a prize?
To always propose their work, in order to have external eyes on jobs that would otherwise remain confined within the agency / client relationship.
How do you feel Covid has impacted the creative landscape in 2020?
I think it has influenced the fruition of many creative aspects, giving a push on certain aspects and putting a brake on others. Pushing creativity to become a further means of avant-garde progress and creative research.
What are your hopes for 2021 and beyond?
My hopes are to grow professionally, experimenting with new languages and starting collaborations, especially foreign ones, to develop my creative skills.
What is your most exciting project in the next year? How will your victory in the Annual give it a boost?
There is a great project that I am working on now that I cannot say anything about just yet. But I hope it will be a great springboard to get my work around. As for my Annual victory, I hope it will give me a boost by creating potential future collaborations!
