My Journey

Hi! My name is Natalia Laura Brizuela, but you can call me Nati. I’m from a small town in southern Argentina located in the Chubut province, an area internationally known as Patagonia. I grew up next to the sea, swimming in the cold Atlantic waters beside whales, penguins and seals.

Even as a child, I had a laser-focus on the visual world around me. When reading books in elementary school, I noticed details related to color, font size, style, hue, photographs and depth...and imagining all the possible combinations! When my dad bought a new computer equipped with a color monitor and the newest software, my nine-year-old creativity took over. After teaching myself Microsoft Word in less than a week, I created and designed my first magazine: eight pages of graphics and content focused on saving the planet.  

Believing that my attention to detail would be a great fit for biochemistry, I studied it for five years, however, a visit to my sister in Buenos Aires changed my path. She was studying architecture, and one night during my visit, I helped her build a model and create poster boards for her final project. That same night I called my dad and asked, “Dad, would you kill me if I switched careers?” He replied, “Do what makes you happy so that in the future you don’t have to work.” I now understand what he meant.

My Education and Experience

In 2008, I started taking graphic design classes, and in less than four years, I graduated with honors and a graphic design degree from the University of Palermo, Argentina. After relocating to the U.S. with my husband, I joined an architecture and product design firm to manage their graphics, develop their visual identity and contribute to major projects. Soon, I was the Director of Graphic Design, overseeing a staff of three designers, conceptualizing and designing a variety of highly visible projects (including environmental graphics for a local memorial, temporary installations and the interior walls of an elementary school), managing relationships with clients, and winning international awards for our work. After four years, I transitioned to a graphics and branding agency as their Art Director. There, I oversaw the entire lifecycle of numerous graphics projects for a variety of clients and directed a staff of 10 designers.

My Boutique Design Studio: surcreative

In 2017, I started my own design studio so that I can build a team and align our work with clients that have great missions and contributions to society. We love supporting our clients’ work through custom, impactful designs to help them grow, fulfill their mission and achieve their full potential.

We work with a variety of awesome clients: an international non-profit organization working to protect the oceans; a start-up that creates meaningful relationships via technology; a boutique dog resort where both pups and people play; a product design company reviving a lost music artifact; a start-up using community engagement and technology to clean up litter; and more. Each client we collaborate with has an amazing mission and is special to us; together, we are helping the world in some way...and that’s the greatest reward.

At surcreative, we also unite our talents with other creative partners and studios to build dynamic installations and engaging experiences. Whatever we are doing, we are bringing that “wow” factor because to us, life is better with color.

@surcreativedc