We had the good fortune of connecting with Yani & Guille and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yani & Guille, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
In 2007, when we first met, we were both working at design companies. So gradually we started to share freelance work together, and began to nurture an inner desire to develop work of our own, that represented our own voice or our own way of doing things. With time, that utopian desire became a reality, and we consequently faced the need to understand the business more, and see what we could offer that made us unique.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We’ve always put the work of our hands above all else. We come from two very manual crafts –calligraphy and illustration– and that made us develop over time a love for every graphic piece that was handmade, and to master our techniques in our own way. YaniGuille&Co. started very humbly, with Yani and Guille living together and doing freelance work at home. Over time we started building a family, so workspace got a bit compromised, but client work always got to us very naturally. Our studio began to grow slowly with each project, being recognized by companies, then international awards, but also by colleagues we admire. And this, we still believe plays an important role, because it means that somehow the work you do is raising the bar, and that is our main goal for each project we do. To raise the standards of how things are done locally, but also being recognized internationally.
After the pandemic, our friend Agus Pizarro Maire joined the studio, enhancing our day to day work, and bringing a very own look and at the same time with the same philosophy for the profession.

Nowadays, we can proudly say that we have our own beautiful workplace to give an extra boost to our day to day production, and were all the team can meet and join forces.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
First of all, the most important thing for us to start our day is coffee. So each morning we’d go to a different coffee shop to taste the best specialty coffee in town. We’d go to Atelier Fuerza, which have incredible pastries as well, and also to ADA Café, close to our studio. For lunch we would definitely go to El Preferido, for the best Milanesa con Papas Fritas ever, and Pistachio ice cream for dessert. Another day we’d go to Calle Corrientes, go to a play in some beautiful theatre there, and have dinner at Pizzeria Güerrin –one of the best pizzas in Buenos Aires–. There is also another favorite for us, Callaci Pizza Napoletana, our best ever napolitana pizzeria. We’d go there for sure too. If we have some spare time, La Boca neighborhood is a must. We can take our “mates” with us, and eat some churros while we walk through its streets, see the huge murals and sit down by the river.
Of course at the studio we have a coffee machine as well, and we’re kind of baristas aficionados, so a good “studio made” coffee with a dark chocolate alfajor and a good talk, is perfect to end the visit.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
When we were just starting to dive into this creative industry, finishing our studies in college and teaching at the University of Buenos Aires, we were both exploring the capabilities of our hands. Yani was completely into calligraphy, experimenting with expression and readability, which lead her to take classes with calligraphy master Silvia Cordero Vega –a very well known calligrapher in Argentina and the Latin American region–. She ended up being Yani’s mentor, teaching her the trade, while practicing and teaching together too. At that time Guille was more into art and illustration, searching for some style of his own in character design. His illustration and art teacher in his hometown –Adriana Tosco–, changed entirely the way he saw the world, finding in illustration a lens that allowed him to capture the details he saw everyday.
Later, by teaching Typography together in college, Yani and Guille met Diego Perez Lozano. He was their Typography mentor, passing on to them his passionate love for Typography and Type Design.
Finally, Ale Paul was a huge influence for both of them, having been their tutor in the master’s degree in typography design in Buenos Aires, and with whom they later had the fortune of developing projects together and becoming close friends.

Website: yaniguille.com

Instagram: yaniguille

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/yaniguille/

Twitter: yaniguille

Facebook: yaniandguille

Image Credits
Yanina Arabena and Guillermo Vizzari (YaniGuille&Co.) Santi Tenenbaum

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