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Javier Alarcón Celaya is CIRCA's creative director. With an undergraduate degree in the Humanities and two specialised degrees in Digital Content and Digital Humanities, he previously worked as a designer for Formula 21, UNO Ediciones and at the UGSC. His experience in the world of cultural management at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid led to his position as director of the Tempo Festival for Music, Design and Contemporary Art. CIRCA works on corporate image and web design projects for several different commercial brands as well as in cultural management.

What is your approach to creative work?
I think that my approach to a project has a lot to do with craftsmanship, on one hand, and with the subconscious on the other. When I start a new project, I'm very meticulous in dealing with its needs. I usually don't stray from the script the client or project has laid out; I'm pretty obedient and methodical. On the other hand, I think that what I design the first time round, without dwelling on it too much, turns out better than what doesn't work out the first or second time, no matter how often I go over it. When you hit the right note, it always needs to be improved on.

What approach do you use for your designs?
Each project needs a specific approach and aesthetic. If it were up to me, all of the projects I work on would be defined by Mies' maxim "less is more." I believe in making an impact and in simple forms.

What relationship do you see between design and cultural management?
Both things have a lot in common. We live surrounded by images, advertising, styles, aesthetics that we can choose to identify with. When planning a cultural project, you're creating a brand that others will be drawn to and associate with or, alternately, ignore completely. Through the design, the creation of an image, you can obviously define your audience. Thus, the image is an essential factor in cultural management; through it we manage to address the target audience of the events we're organising.

What are you working on at the moment?
We're working on a new festival for the senses (www.laroda.es/sentidos) with a multidisciplinary approach, which is being coordinated by the aforementioned artists' platform larodacrea (www.larodacrea.es). We're also working on the sixth edition of Tempo (www.festivaltempo.com), which will take place on October 23rd and 24th. The central theme will be the image. We're also doing corporate image projects for several brands, events and art exhibitions.

www.circaweb.es