By Annabelle Caraway
Are you more of an algebra person or a geometry person? Austin Ventola is a geometry person, as well as a graphic designer, creating Geometrica. By using four shapes—triangles, squares, hexagons and circles, his 10”x10”, 280-page book, Geometrica, is filled with color. The shapes are used help to depict images and experiences of the world like a visual puzzle.
Ventola started out creating clay figures and drawing characters as a child. As a senior at Newsome High School, he had taken all the art classes offered and decided to pursue a degree in art. Four years later, he graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design with a bachelor’s degree in illustration and a minor in business of art and design.
With his senior thesis approaching, Ventola struggled to find his artistic voice until one day he opened Photoshop to play around with the program. His thesis, “1/1000,” was an exploration anthology piece using minimalistic designs and poetry that catapulted him onto the path of Geometrica.
“Geometrica was, frankly, my own way of keeping myself sane during the lockdown. A lot about my life changed very quickly, and the crescendo of my graduation after four rigorous years at Ringling College of Art and Design was abruptly and anticlimactically brought to a screeching halt. I decided I needed a project, so I set out to rediscover my passion for math and science through graphic design and illustration,” said Ventola.
In the beginning phase of Geometrica, Ventola became obsessed with the idea of reduction and how much he could reduce an image. As a lover of both math and science, he quickly turned to geometry as a source of inspiration.
“Through my observations and reobservations of common objects, events, symbols or concepts, I found a unique and cohesive way to interpret the world around me through geometry and subtle humor. But the thing about Geometrica is the beauty in its simplicity. In this way, it leaves the door wide open for the viewer to interpret each spread’s relationship or message any way they wish. Some might think it’s simply a few shapes, some might say it’s a metaphor for death and still others may simply find it funny,” said Ventola.
Currently, Ventola works in the marketing department as a designer and visual creative for Presence, a Modern Campus company. In his free time, he loves to bowl, sketch and continue his own design work.
Sixty-dollar preorders for Geometrica can be made by emailing at austinventola@gmail.com. His portfolio and other contact information can be found on his website, austinventoladesign.com.
