Emanuela Carnevale’s flamboyant illustrations between irony and truth
Emanuela Carnevale aka “Brodino Digitale” is a young illustrator who first studied Industrial Design in Florence and then Communication Design in Rome. She has been living in Milan for a few years now, where she had the pleasure of attending the 2021 edition of the MiMaster. In recent years she has worked in Art Direction, Social campaigns and Motion Graphic for communication agencies, which have allowed her to experiment and “feed” her artistic style. Special characteristics? She loves travelling, photography and the sea.
Her stage name “Brodino Digitale” was born in the middle of a lockdown: Emanuela started drawing every day almost as if it was a therapy, and has not stopped since. Her illustrations are based on real stories, good intentions, heart-warming memories, photographs of past times or thoughts of the future.
Who was the first person to believe in you and your talent? Definitely my boyfriend. He probably knew before I did that I had to take this path. He always supported me and encouraged me not to give up.
Do you have any teachers or artists by whom you feel most influenced by? What or who inspires you? I have so many artists who have influenced me and I will continue to be influenced by them. I believe it is fundamental to improve and evolve my visual language. My research doesn’t stop in the field of illustration, I also find a lot of inspiration in photography: Martin Parr, Luigi Ghirri, Giacometti, Vivien Maier are just some of the names I let myself be carried away by. Given my background, I am also inspired by old advertising campaigns, posters and everything related to the big names in graphic design – for example the Push Pin Studios of Seymour Chwast, Milton Glaser and Edward Sorel. As far as illustration is concerned, I follow Emiliano Ponzi, Malika Favre and Beppe Giacobbe with admiration. Last but not least, I let myself be inspired by real life, situations and memories.
Tell us more about your collaboration with Samsung Italia for their Podcast “Women Connected”. What is it about? What did you create? I was contacted by the advertising agency who found my style in line with the one of the project. They needed someone who could combine the idea of women and technology. I tried to find a visual synthesis that would bring these two aspects together while still maintaining my own style. Women Connected is the project in which women from Gen Y (Millennials) and Gen Z come together to tell their stories and share their experiences on the priorities of women’s lives across generations. 14 protagonists, including digital entrepreneurs, creators and influencers, reveal how technology supports them every day in reconciling their passions, work, affections, social and private life, revealing the secrets of their ‘always on’ approach, accompanied of course by a good dose of irony.
How does your creative process work? When I receive a brief, I usually read it all carefully and underline the key words or parts of it that triggered a visual image. I start jotting down ideas, doing visual research and trying to synthesize the idea as much as possible. I then start with the first hand sketches in what is then my sketchbook. Finally, I move on to the final drawing, which I work on in great detail.
How much power do colours have in your illustrations? Do you have your own selection?Colours are very important to me, I have my own palette that I always use. Sometimes I have slightly changed colours, but I can assure you that people who follow me notice it, they write to me to know why I decided to use that colour and not one of my usual palette. This always makes me smile.
Contacts: @brodino_digitale
