This month, we speak to Joan Teixidó, Creative Director of La Casa de Carlota, the first design studio in the world to include creatives with intellectual disabilities believing that diversity is the new creativity.

Tell us about yourself

I am Joan Teixidó, although everyone calls me Teixi. I was born in Barcelona, and I am a creative director at La Casa de Carlota. I have been in creativity, communication, and design for more than 40 years. And I have had the privilege to direct brilliant creative teams in important agencies such as MMLB, Publicis, Contrapunto, and TBWA.

Joan Teixidó, creative director with Quim Jané, creative from his team, with Down syndrome

After a few years in Madrid, where I created Micropolix, the first educational leisure park in Europe, of which I was a founding partner and general director, I returned to Barcelona and discovered La Casa de Carlota. A different approach to creativity with a new perspective on seeing and understanding life.

What is the story behind La Casa de Carlota? What inspires you and what is the driving force behind the design studio?

‘Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.’ This phrase is from Verna Myers, but José María Batalla, founder and creative soul of La Casa de Carlota, made it his own and decided to make it more than words.

Cuentos

José María also comes from directing creative teams of important advertising agencies. And an essential part of his job, like any creative director, was to find talent, new ideas, new people, and other ways of understanding and expressing different cultures.

But no one had thought to search among people with autism, down syndrome, or schizophrenia. He tried it out and found talent. A talent that, mixed with the freshness of design students and the experience of established professionals, became LCDC's core business.

Which projects are you most proud of and why?

I have a hard time choosing. Each project has its own importance. Not only because of the final result, sometimes it is the moment in which it arrives; other times it is who the order comes from or what brand or company it comes from. And, sometimes it’s because of something that happened in the process.

Veritas Solidarity Chocolate Pack

Veritas Packs

We are very proud that Veritas, the leading organic supermarket chain in Spain, entrusted us with its identity, its communication, and the redesign of all its packaging. But we are also happy that big brands like Nestlé, Nike, Naturgy, Coca-Cola, Acciona, Cruz Roja, Caixabank, and Bayer have thought of us as generators of ideas and designs for top-level projects.

Nestle Caja Roja

It was a fantastic experience to work on the Christmas campaigns for Barcelona City Council. We have just delivered a project for the Red Cross, delivering seven short films to communicate its seven principles, which has been an incredible experience, much closer to art than to advertising. It has been ten years and dozens of projects; it is impossible to choose, at least for me.

Ajuntament Barcelona City Council

Tell us more about the work that takes place in the studio. Give us a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes.

We are a design and creative studio. We create identities, campaigns, logos, and advertisements like any studio. Although it is true that our work process has its peculiarities, as almost everywhere, the LCDC creative team brings together the talent and experience of professionals who have been around for decades with young final-year design students and neurodiverse people.

Bayer

And that triangle works because we believe in it and because the methodology has been adjusted and refined until each one is able to do what they really know how to do. Take advantage of the capabilities of each person, regardless of whether he wears glasses, has high cholesterol, or has an extra chromosome. I have no doubt that diversity is essential in creativity as well as in life.

I don't want to forget a fundamental character in our process, Inge Nouws, the artistic director of the inclusive team. She is Dutch, an excellent illustrator, and with an innate ability to relate to neurodiverse people, she discovers her talents and makes the most of them. And all this in an awesome environment.

Can you take us through the journey of working with people with Down Syndrome/autism and how it has made an impact either in their lives or in the world of design?

In a time of fast-paced changes in terms of technology, tools, media, and support, I sincerely believe that LCDC is one of the few really interesting things that have happened in the sector, from the essential point of view of addressing creativity in other ways.

A part of LCDC's team

Creatives have always sought alternative ways of thinking and expression. We gather in rooms or any new space and we brainstorm; we hang post-its on the walls; we go into lateral thinking mode; and we ask our brain to open up to the disruptive.

At LCDC, we discover that there are people who do not need to make an effort to think differently because they always think differently, live differently, and express themselves differently. They have autism, Down syndrome, or schizophrenia. And their contribution has become the study's greatest competitive difference.

LCDC's team at work

And then there is the vital and social impact. In general, the image of the study is that we are good people because we give opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities. I've always said that I don't feel particularly good; I'm more of a taker, a smart guy who takes advantage of a talent that most haven't discovered yet. And it is true. But it is also true that working with them changes many things.

The atmosphere is tinged with smiles and good vibes. Internal competitive tension disappears. Some kiss and hug the CEO upon arrival and say goodbye. And some, or quite a few, of your principles and beliefs, are seriously questioned. Not only about work but also about life. And that, at my age, is priceless.

If you could share one message with the young artists who are differently able in the packaging design community, what would it be?

I would tell them and their closest environment, parents, caregivers, and friends, to trust and bet on their talent, that fear is a lousy travel companion. Those capabilities are not discovered if you don't try. And that the world still has a lot to learn and change, but as Apple said in its legendary ‘Think Different’ spot, ‘ Only those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do’ . And there are already many who are changing it.

Find out more about La Casa de Carlota here and follow them on Instagram.