Mark your calendars for Saturday 30 May 2026! The Now26 conference is happening in the beautiful city of Paris. It’s going to be an epic event, with a mix of inspiring speakers covering a wide range of topics like graphic design, web design, motion design, publishing, visual identity, communication, and type design. If you haven’t already, don’t miss out on the best rates by registering now!
We would like to invite you to explore the profiles of our esteemed guests. Discover the captivating interview of Astrid Stavro.
Biography Astrid Stavro, is a globally recognized creative director. Her work is distinguished by a rigorous commitment to ideas that are both emotionally resonant and meticulously crafted. Based in London, she leads a multidisciplinary team and collaborates with brands and cultural institutions around the world. Formerly a partner at Pentagram and co-founder of the studio Atlas, she has earned more than 175 international awards.
Interview
What’s your favourite way to kickstart your day?
Astrid Stavro My favourite part of the day is hitting the snooze button. I’m a night owl, which means mornings are not my natural habitat. I start early when I have to travel or when I’m working with clients in different time zones, but given the choice, I work best in the evenings and at night. That’s when everything is quiet, distractions disappear, and I can think properly.
My day starts with a cup of tea. I can easily get through ten cups without noticing. I usually begin with emails and my agenda, then move quickly into whatever is most urgent. There isn’t really a “typical” day. Some are full of online meetings; others are a mix of in-person conversations and long stretches at my desk. What stays constant is the feeling that the day is never quite long enough for everything I want to do.
What do you do to evade yourself from work?
Astrid Stavro I can make a very good risotto. That’s where my cooking begins and ends. I like food that largely cooks itself, things that go in the oven or quietly boil while I do something else. My son has mild chicken-and-white-rice trauma from eating the same meals for over a decade.
After 18 years of zero exercise, I started running last spring and completely surprised myself by loving it. It’s become a way of thinking as much as moving. I enjoy discovering new corners of my neighborhood while running and listening to music. Now that my son is in college, I feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland. Suddenly there’s space, and new worlds to explore.
“Teaching matters because knowledge that isn’t shared disappears. Transmission is a form of care.”
– Astrid Stavro
Where do you feel the most confortable working?
Astrid Stavro Whether at home or in an office, I prefer working from the same space. Consistency matters to me. Work and life aren’t separate. They inform each other, and I don’t experience them as having a hard boundary.
I’m lucky to have a dedicated studio inside my home, which is where I work most of the time. My designers aren’t based in London, so our studio culture is largely online. I work best without interruption, when time stretches and concentration deepens.
I’m quite sensitive to sound, and background music quickly turns into noise. I like to actively listen to music, properly and attentively. Hearing and listening are two very different things.
Do you keep up with the news?
Astrid Stavro Daily: The New York Times, The Guardian. Weekly: everything else.
What are your thoughts on social media these days?
Astrid Stavro I used to enjoy Twitter before it became unrecognizable, and I was active on Instagram for many years. A few years ago, I chose to step away from social platforms altogether. They can be useful tools for marketing and observation, but I’m increasingly conscious of where I place my attention and who benefits from it. Opting out felt less like withdrawal and more like alignment.
“Learn to look. Learn to listen. Don’t rush to have a style. Read books, not feeds. Study history. Design is not self-expression. If you’re lucky, it’s also a lifelong education.”
– Astrid Stavro
Do you work best in team or alone?
Astrid Stavro Both, but at different moments. I need solitude to think, edit, and make decisions, and collaboration to challenge my assumptions and sharpen ideas.
I’ve always loved games, from chess to PS5, and good design collaboration works in a similar way: strategy, patience, tension, and trust. Creativity doesn’t come from consensus, but from a shared willingness to stay in the game long enough for something better to emerge.
I think of design as a form of translation between ideas and audiences, intent and experience. The best collaborations I’ve had were built on trust and straight talk, an open dialogue where you can constructively agree to disagree.
Do you ever feel “too comfortable”?
Astrid Stavro Yes, and I’ve learned to pay attention to it. Comfort is often a signal that I’m relying on muscle memory. When that happens, I deliberately change something: the scale, the medium, or the rhythm of how I work. Discomfort sharpens attention. It demands better questions. Some of the work I’m most proud of began with a brief I didn’t like. That initial resistance can be useful, because it forces you to find a real point of view.
Does AI change the way you work?
Astrid Stavro AI can be a useful tool, but it’s not a substitute for thinking. It may speed up certain processes, but it doesn’t replace judgment, taste, or responsibility.
Clients don’t come to me for speed. They come for clarity, perspective, and care. At its core, design still requires the same things it always did: curiosity, discernment, and the ability to make considered decisions.
What do you think of the trend of grotesque typefaces everywhere in graphic design?
Astrid Stavro They’re not the problem. Laziness is. Any typeface can be interesting or dull depending on how it’s used. What worries me is homogeneity, the idea that neutrality equals safety. Typography should be a decision, not a default. When everything looks the same, nothing communicates.
As a user of type, are you always on the lookout for new typefaces?
Astrid Stavro They play an important role in access and education. At the same time, type design is skilled, time-intensive work. If we don’t support it financially, we limit the future of the discipline.
“Design is an act of care, and that standards matter. Rigor isn’t cold; it’s generous.”
– Astrid Stavro
You have a minimalist and colorful design approach. What are your inspirations and intentions?
Astrid Stavro Minimalism, for me, isn’t about reduction for its own sake. It’s about clarity, removing noise so meaning can surface. In that sense, minimalism isn’t an aesthetic position but an editorial one.
Color carries emotion: tone, warmth, specificity. Used carefully, it can anchor meaning rather than decorate it. Being rigorous is a way of showing care, for the content and for the people encountering it. Whether I’m working with cultural institutions or commercial clients, the responsibility is the same: to be precise in intent, and respectful of the audience’s intelligence.
What made you choose to pursue a career in design?
Astrid Stavro One summer, a friend showed me a spread from Interview magazine, designed by Tibor Kalman, where type and photography worked together to transform the content. Language was amplified through form, and ideas were brought vividly to life. It felt like magic. I didn’t know what graphic design was, but I knew instantly that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It echoed a feeling I’d had years earlier, watching Etienne Delessert draw Yok Yok in front of me. Seeing a story take shape visually, in real time, stayed with me. Design became a way to build worlds through words and images, to make ideas felt as well as understood. In that sense, my path into design wasn’t a departure from writing, but an extension of it.
Teaching matters because knowledge that isn’t shared disappears. Transmission is a form of care. Teaching forces you to articulate what you do instinctively, to question habits, and to stay curious. It’s also a reminder that creativity isn’t a rare gift, but a muscle. Curiosity, attention, and a childlike sense of wonder keep it alive. The responsibility is to pass that on.
When you started, who had the most impact on you?
Astrid Stavro I studied literature and philosophy before graphic design, and in many ways my most important teachers were the books I read.
I learned to think through language before I learned to think through form. Writers, philosophers, and poets shaped my understanding of structure, rhythm, meaning, and ambiguity long before I encountered design theory. Those books taught me how to pay attention, how to question, and how to sit with complexity. Reading has been, and still is, my most consistent form of education.
Do you have words of wisdom for someone who wants to become a designer?
Astrid Stavro Learn to look. Learn to listen. Don’t rush to have a style. Read books, not feeds. Study history. Design is not self-expression. If you’re lucky, it’s also a lifelong education.
What will be the message you would like to convey during your talk?
Astrid Stavro That design is an act of care, and that standards matter. Rigor isn’t cold; it’s generous.
Craft isn’t decoration. It’s how thinking becomes real. It’s how ideas are tested, clarified, and ultimately shared with others. Taking responsibility for what we put into the world matters more than ever.
What other speaker wouldn’t you want to miss at Now26?
Astrid Stavro The one who makes me slightly uncomfortable. That’s usually where the interesting conversations begin. Ask me again after the talks!
Thank you very much Astrid!
– Interview by Malo Haffreingue
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