ic music) - [Tatiana] We really believe in the craft of printmaking.

- We need another one?

- One more here.

It's also a very important way of connecting with people.

806.

Yes.

- Sometimes we had the posters or any kind of campaign that we were doing in Spanish and people would come to us and say, "You know what?

What's really interesting about this is that I am seen, right?

I've been heard."

(machinery purring) My name is Jose Menendez.

- And my name is Tatiana Gomez.

- And we are- - [Tatiana And Jose] Buena Grafica.

(machinery racketing) - Yeah!

Damn!

Look at that type!

- [Tatiana] That works, huh?

(energetic music continues) - [Tatiana] Buena Grafica is a graphic design studio founded in 2021.

It has evolved through these four years as a community-oriented graphic design studio.

- We saw an opportunity to really think about how can we, as graphic designers, how can we have a role in the society that we play today.

- [Tatiana] So Buena Grafica's work can be seen today at Farm Fresh.

You can also see our work at PVD prep, also at the 195 District Park in the river.

- Some new things coming up.

- Some new things are coming up, but yeah, we'll keep it there.

(laughs) (upbeat music) - So I grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I loved cartoons since a kid.

I just drew like Bart Simpson a lot.

(laughs) - I grew up in Bogota, in Colombia.

I'm very Colombian, but I'm also very Chilean, 'cause my mother is Chilean and we spent a lot of summers there.

I remember having this conversation with my mom who was hoping that I would be an industrial designer and I was like, "I'm just in love with books.

I just love books so much and I just, like, I just want to be able to design books.

How do I do this?"

Jose and I met in 2016, when I moved to Providence.

- In the grad studio, yeah?

At RISD, at the school of graphic design.

- Jose was teaching this class called Hot Printing and he was teaching hot- - Hot printing.

- Like, (laughs) which was really hot.

- Love that name.

It was hot.

I know there was something going on, because she would stay, like, after class.

Everyone would helped me, like clean up things, and you know, I was like, "Hey, maybe there's something here.

Maybe it's more than, you know, it is more than letter press and there's some love in the making here."

I told her that I love printing with her (Tatiana and Jose laugh) and she said she wasn't ready to print with me, (Tatiana laughs) so.

- It wasn't manifest to come back there.

(Tatiana and Jose laugh) (serene tender music) - [Jose] We got married in 2020.

- [Tatiana] We just celebrated our fifth anniversary.

- We love each other, we love what we do, and we love making it together.

- Mm-hmm.

- And I just don't see it otherwise.

It's just the way it worked.

- I feel like we're also living this dream that we've been dreaming for so long and it feels really hard to say no to so many wonderful opportunities.

So yeah, I mean, we're ready for it.

(energetic music) - The exhibit we curated at the WaterFire was Graphic Voices of Latin America.

(people chattering) The exhibit showcased posters from 16 countries in Latin America.

This is born out of a research project called Grafica Latina, GraficaLatina.com.

For us, it's also a love letter to Latin America.

(energetic music continues) We love this continent.

We are from this continent and we're just interested in learning more about it.

- We've been collecting them for about 10 years.

- 10 years.

Got this prints from Felix Beltran, which is a Cuban graphic designer and one of the posters that we were really happy to get, it was an official reprint of the regional posters that he did announcing or denouncing the freedom for Angela Davis.

So, beautiful screen print color, three colors.

We were able to get a piece of history.

We're very excited.

Latin American graphic design speaking to issues that are happening here in the States.

So this is one of those moments where you have this sort of relationships come together.

(paper crinkling) (people chattering) - [Tatiana] So, La Linterna is a typographic print shop based in Cali, Colombia.

They've been doing work since the 1950s.

(people chattering) - We approached them and said, "Hey, if you're going to New York and Boston, why don't you not stop in Providence?"

- We've been planning this for a real long time and we're just really excited.

We're just gonna play the movie first, and then we're gonna have a Q&A so we can ask all your questions.

(narrator speaking in Spanish) - For us, it's very important to bring them so people get a sense of what art and design is looking like, and poster making is looking like in Latin America today.

(designer speaking in Spanish) (energetic music) - It's important to create these spaces and to find new kind of ways of interacting and perceiving the Latin American culture and say, "Damn!

Those Latin Americans are good printers.

Those Latin Americans are great designers.

Those Latin Americans can manipulate color incredibly.

They're great artists!

They have a lot to say!"

(serene music) (designer speaking in Spanish) - This huge project, it couldn't happen if we didn't love each other this much.

- I think it was that whole idea of making the print, of creating the work.

And it's just, there's just love is manifesting through different ways.

It's not just because, I don't know, she's beautiful, or smart, or all of that, it's just because we do things together and we create, and I always wanted that.

Glad that I have it.

My major project, best project.

(laughs) (energetic music) (static crackles)