You have likely seen Jonathan Castro’s work, even if you don’t know his name. His influence on the contemporary design landscape is magnificent. The Amsterdam-based, Peruvian born former Metahaven and Studio Dumbar designer has a style all his own; one that has shapeshifted and continues to evolve daily. The through line is that his work constantly embraces the unknown spaces between art and design practice. Look no further than his latest massive endeavor, the design of Dekmantel’s 10th anniversary branding and promotional materials. If you haven’t seen his work, you’ve seen his sources of inspiration: rocks, cracks in pavement, dirt, garbage, the sky on a windy day, etc. He mines the tangential—the marginal—to create visual communication, and also to evoke and capture emotional resonance.

Castro is at the forefront of a plea for design to be a form of visceral creative expression and emotional healing. And he seems to have settled in as organically as the work he’s created. It feels natural, alive, incidental, and vital. Talking to him felt no different. To Castro there’s no line between assemblage, recycling, readymades, and originality: it’s all fair play.

We spoke with Castro about growing up in Peru, his various influences and ideologies, his ongoing conversations with himself surrounding how and why he continues to make work, the concept of “Ambient Design” (did we coin this?!), and what it means to take the time to explore the margins of life, the margins of creativity, and to embrace those things that others may have ignored or glazed over. His interest in the totality of the human experience—the darkness with the lightness—is explicitly laid out in our conversation.

We can’t thank Jonathan enough for his time. It was truly a phenomenal conversation and we hope you enjoy it.

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