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 Marie Carrasco.
Biography When Marie began working in advertising in 2014, her first passion was coming up with creative ideas. She then learned how to bring them to life through art direction. She collaborates with both French and international advertising agencies on 360° creative and art direction projects. Typography plays a central role in her professional work.
Interview
What’s your favorite way to start your day?
Marie Carrasco Nothing original at all — very ordinary mornings. But I always wake up two or three hours before I start working. It’s the only moment in the day when I’m completely alone. It allows me to recharge my mental and social batteries.
I’d love to say I spend time doing research with my coffee, but honestly, I rarely do. I try — but I usually dive straight into work because there’s a lot of it. I build a fairly intense focus tunnel in the morning to avoid finishing late. I’m a morning person — after 5pm, my brain is gone.
What do you do to evade from work?
Marie Carrasco I find the idea of “escaping” from work a bit strong — especially in our privileged industries where we’re lucky to have comfortable, enjoyable jobs. Of course, it can be hard sometimes. But if I constantly feel the need to escape my work, then I probably need to change it. Otherwise, very cliché: I run, I see friends, I draw type, I travel. Girl next door.
“I think I moved toward type precisely to leave my comfort zone — entering a field where I initially knew nothing.”
– Marie Carrasco
Where do you prefer to work?
Marie Carrasco I’m quite flexible. I have a strong ability to block out surrounding noise and focus anywhere. Freelancing taught me how to work squeezed into the middle back seat of a car, on a chair in a crowded train station at rush hour, or in a packed restaurant. But like everyone else, I do prefer calm.
How do you keep up with the news?
Marie Carrasco I try to stay connected to the world I live in, so yes, I follow current events regularly. My sources are quite broad — from TikTok videos to geopolitics podcasts. Sometimes I disconnect and tell myself that if something is truly important, it will reach me anyway. And it always does.
What are your thoughts on social media these days?
Marie Carrasco I’m ambivalent. I try to distance myself from it while also staying connected so I don’t feel outpaced by reality. The truth is, I use social media less and less. I barely post. I mostly watch — mainly TikTok, a bit of Instagram — but never more than an hour a day.
“For an art director, typography is one of the cornerstones of the job. We always work with words — headlines, signatures, copy — so we must be sensitive to type.”
– Marie Carrasco
What drives you to create new letter pieces?
Marie Carrasco In advertising, there’s always text. So if you have the desire — and the time — to integrate typographic work, you can. I don’t follow many type designers, and I don’t come from that background. Strangely, I don’t draw direct inspiration from the type world itself, but rather from the people and references around me in advertising. Each project is inspired by an era, a style, a movement, a wave — and by immersing myself in that context, I naturally want to develop its typographic dimension.
Most of my type work is self-initiated. But very often it comes from early ideas for clients that didn’t make it. They feed each other.
Do you work best in a team or alone?
Marie Carrasco I like both. But in my job I work in a creative duo. And it’s incredibly valuable. It teaches you to let go, to negotiate, to compromise — things you don’t learn alone. And it pushes you towards paths you probably wouldn’t have found by yourself.
Do you ever feel “too comfortable”?
Marie Carrasco I’d say typography actually came from that feeling. As an art director, you need typographic sensitivity, but very few art directors are type designers. I think I moved toward type precisely to leave my comfort zone — entering a field where I initially knew nothing.
Does AI change the way you work?
Marie Carrasco Completely. It’s becoming the major challenge for art directors. We need to find balance: knowing how to work with AI, how to use it to elevate a project — but also knowing when to step away from it. If it can replace us entirely, then what is our added value?
Do font subscription platforms add value to type design, or dilute it?
Marie Carrasco Both positive and problematic. In advertising, Creative Cloud gives us access to an incredibly rich library — it allows us to have real fun. But at the same time, it makes clients increasingly reluctant to pay for true typographic work. If there’s an entire library available, why pay for a font — especially when many clients barely see the difference between Helvetica and Arial?
What are some things that grab your eye the most when you are searching?
Marie Carrasco Definitely type in context. Art Deco posters, old storefront signs, tags, foreign signage, even a homemade notice taped to a traffic light. I’m more sensitive to typography treated as design in itself than to extremely technical type design.
How important is type design in your advertising communications work?
Marie Carrasco For an art director, typography is one of the cornerstones of the job. We always work with words — headlines, signatures, copy — so we must be sensitive to type. Yet very few art directors are actual type designers. Advertising pushed me to develop my typographic skills. Commissioning a proper type designer is expensive — and in 2026, few agencies are willing to pay for it. I see that as an opportunity: when I know we won’t collaborate with a type designer, I position myself as one and propose my own work.
“You can make type without credentials, without formal training, and without knowing anyone in the field.”
– Marie Carrasco
Do you remember who had an impact on you when you started?
Marie Carrasco I remember it very clearly. I was studying global communication — not design. During a class, we were introduced to the role of art director. I immediately knew that’s what I wanted to do. Maybe the teacher who told me I would never become an art director. Or maybe the first creative director who hired me in an agency and taught me everything.
During your creative process, do you sketch–draw on paper?
Marie Carrasco Always. They’re always terrible — but essential. I struggle to start on a computer before putting the thought down on paper.
As a self-taught letterer, what motivated you to pursue this path?
Marie Carrasco It’s terrible, but I think I wanted to become good at it because I was bad at it. It happened when I got my first art director position and started searching for my voice — strengthening my craft. I remember creating a concept board with a mock-up, text, and a logo. The logo idea was a wool-thread typeface. I did it as best I could — honestly, it was awful. I was embarrassed. And then I stubbornly spent days redoing it properly. That’s where everything started.
After that, every logo, every headline, every signature became an opportunity to improve my typography. On almost every project, I worked on custom letterforms and tried to integrate them visually. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Even when ideas weren’t bought, I kept developing the letterforms for myself.
I didn’t study typography. I didn’t study design. I didn’t even formally study art direction or advertising. So if I had one piece of advice for those who want to start without formal credentials: if you wait to feel legitimate, you’ll never begin. Look at what others are doing — but not too much. And don’t judge yourself too harshly.
Have you considered releasing one of your lettering projects as a font through your own or another foundry?
Marie Carrasco Yes — but I’ve never taken the leap. I have many typefaces I started but never finished, and time is increasingly scarce. I’ve sold some informally, but that’s it. Starting a foundry requires enormous work, and for now, I don’t feel the need.
What will be the message you would like to convey during your Now26 talk?
Marie Carrasco That you can make type without credentials, without formal training, and without knowing anyone in the field.
Thank you very much Marie!
– Interview by Benjamin Rouzaud
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