Leandro [dro] Castelao,
is a very curious Graphic Designer & Illustrator.


︎Born in Buenos Aires
︎Living in New York





[ CURRENT ︎ BRAND DESIGNER ] In late January 2022 Leandro joined the Brand team at Figma.

[ EXPERIENCE ] His work spans across vast disciplines, including branding, datavis, illustration, physical products, murals and motion for a recognized international variety of clients, such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Mirror, Delta Airlines, IBM, Penguin Books, Google, Citibank, United Nations & Mercedes Benz, amongst others.

[ EXPERIENCE ︎ CO-FOUNDER ] In 2019–together with Liz Meyer and Gavin Potenza he co-founded Datalands.

[ EXPERIENCE ︎ CO-FOUNDER ] In 2018, Leandro co-founded Flecha Books, an independent publishing company that seeks to recover, curate and print graphic material that has been either overlooked or neglected, and make it visible again.

[ EXPERIENCE ︎ TEACHING ] For over 10 years, Leandro taught Typography and Illustration at his alma mater, the University of Buenos Aires, and gave many lectures and workshops around the world in cities including The Hague, São Paulo, Bombay, New Delhi, Durban, New York City and Madrid.

[ ACCOLADES ]  Selected for the Wallpaper Handmade Collection (Vanity Peacock mirror, 2010), awarded with the Communication Arts Award of Excellence in Illustration (8 Marco Sanguinetti, 2015), selected for American Illustrations (Edition 34), nominated for the Latin Grammy awards (8 Marco Sanguinetti, 2015 • Art Direction Laura Varsky) and received the Communication Arts Award of Excellence in Design (Cotta & Los Libros del Mirasol, 2019).

[ CAREER KICKOFF ︎ ILLUSTRATION ]  From 2009 until 2012, Leandro illustrated the weekly technology column “Sexy Science” for The Times (UK). The column was written by the renowned author Marcus Du Satoy, former President of the Mathematical Association.

[ CAREER KICKOFF ︎ GRAPHIC DESIGN ] Right out of college Leandro enjoyed one of his biggest accomplishments: being part of the winning team for the Argentina logo contest (Marca País Argentina). Together with Guillermo Brea, Carolina Mikalef and Coni Luna, the team designed the first Argentinean logo and branding manual.

[ NOTE 1 ]  To download a pdf compillation of all the rotating background images shown on this site, click here.

[ NOTE 2 ]  Comprehensive porfolio available upon request.