Meet Cyla Costa | Graphic Designer and Lettering Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cyla Costa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cyla, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When I graduated, I worked at a local design studio and didn’t see many possibilities for myself there. I needed to grow artistically, so I went to Barcelona and deepened my studies in the fields that I loved the most since college: illustration and typography. Upon returning to Brazil, I realized that there weren’t many professional spaces I could fit in, so I thought it was time to start my own studio. I was very young and inexperienced, dealing with the challenges as they came along. My studio grew little by little and today I see that it was the best professional decision I made.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a graphic designer who focus on all kinds of projects in which letters are protagonist. Since college I had always been interested in typography but it seemed a world away from me. Having managed to go in this direction and work exclusively designing letterforms makes me very proud, it is a specific niche and requires constant practice and updating, I am happy to be part of this gang. Nothing comes easily, it took many years of hard work to position myself as a lettering artist with relevance, first in the national market, and over the years, internationally as well. An ally in my story was having had the opportunity and dedication to always try new techniques and languages in personal projects and murals, which led me to win awards and caught the attention of the typographic community and clients.
Bringing my womanhood and Latinity to my work is also something that matters a lot to me and distinguishes my work in the field from so many lettering artists that exist in the world today.
I’m a restless creative so trying new things, stretching my creative capabilities to the fullest and taking on challenging projects turn me on.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Curitiba, a city that was formed by several immigrant groups from different countries, in addition to the classic cultural mix that already exists in Brazil. I would pick up my friend at the airport (nothing better than having this treat), and take them directly to eat a Brazilian pastel (google it) with sugarcane juice at the street market. Then we would go for a walk in some of the beautiful parks the city offers, Curitiba is the state capital with the most green area in Brazil. Then we’d have lunch downtown, I’d take them to Maneko’s, a restaurant with simple and delicious Brazilian food, to eat feijoada. This restaurant is located in a square of which I’m very fond of, where I lived for many years of my life. In the afternoon we would walk along Rua XV de Novembro and have coffee and the end of the afternoon could be crowned with a tour of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum, a beautiful piece of architecture a few blocks from my house. Then I’d take the poor friend to rest and take a shower before the night out which would consist of: making a round of emblematic bars in the city. First, a drink at Oide, a Japanese izakaya with the best drinks in town, then eating varenek and meatballs at Barbaran, a very traditional and democratic Ukrainian club, and finally we would end the night at Soy Latino, our dear local bar that has just reopened.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
So many people to thank, nothing is done alone. But some special people to shoutout to are my dear friends Cristina Pagnoncelli, Jackson Alves and Eduilson Coan – we founded our collective Criatipos back in 2013, in which we got together to make handmade stuff and paint murals. With them I learned to have the courage to go big and go bold! They gave me the courage to speak in public too, a huge achievement in my career. I’m also very grateful to my studio assistant Aline Kaori who, in addition to being a super professional who covers the areas of typography, illustration, lettering and calligraphy, helps me a lot in the day to day of the studio, which allows me to keep challenging myself and growing the studio. Above all, I thank my wonderful family: my partner Daniel Duda who walks beside me every day and gives me space to fly and my beautiful baby Martim, who just turned one year old and inspires me every morning to be a better person and professional.

Website: cylacosta.com

Instagram: @cylacosta

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/cylacosta

Twitter: @cylacosta