Brosmind for NN Wallery: “Urban art is art just the same, with the advantage that it is available to everyone”

The Mingarro brothers, Juan and Alejandro, better known as Brosmind, are two designers from Huesca who stand out for both their commercial illustration work and their innovative personal projects. In 2006, they decided to merge their talents and founded the Brosmind studio, establishing themselves in Barcelona and becoming a solid creative duo. Since then, they have continuously worked for various renowned brands, and their colorful illustrations, full of details, have been awarded at prestigious international festivals such as Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, or Eurobest.

They themselves claim to be “brothers, friends, enemies, illustrators, artists, electronics apprentices, amateur videographers, lovers of fuet sandwiches, fathers, sons, husband/boyfriend, teachers, and occasional musicians”. We discover with them the mural on Av. Riera de Cassoles, 6 which they participated in for the NN Wallery urban art project initiated by the Núñez i Navarro Group and which you can continue to see on our website.

Juan, how would you describe your brother? And you, Alejandro, how do you define Juan?
Haha... we can both answer together. That definition changes constantly, even several times in the same day, and can range from the most complimentary to the most critical.

What is the quality you value most in each other, especially when it comes to teamwork?
It's hard to pinpoint, but perhaps what we value the most is the assurance that we can always rely on each other.

At the beginning, each of you had your own style, but you managed to merge both into one, what is the Brosmind style like and how did you experience that fusion?
It was a progressive and quite natural fusion, the result of the need to work together to be able to tackle our first illustration projects. Each of us learned from what the other did best and gradually we built that colorful and optimistic style, full of fantasy characters.

What is your creative process like? What does each of you take care of?
The conceptual part is always done together. This includes the development of ideas and their translation into a very detailed pencil sketch. Only from there do we divide the tasks, so that Juan takes care of the inking and Alejandro of the coloring.

For you, Barcelona was initially a tourist destination, before it became your home. What is your overall impression of the city now? What does Barcelona mean to you?

It's our favorite city, we love the atmosphere, its size, its people, the smell of its streets, and the taste of its food.
Although we are originally from Binéfar, a small town in Huesca, we have now lived in Barcelona for half of our lives, and our children were born here. It was in Barcelona where we completed our university studies and discovered the creative, artistic, and cultural scene that would end up being our way of life.

How did you get the commission from NN Wallery and what was your first reaction?The commission came to us through Norma Publishing, good friends with whom we had collaborated on previous occasions. We loved the idea and happily accepted, as we usually do not have the opportunity to work on mural format.

Your illustrations are known for the multitude of details you capture in them, and the mural on Avda. Riera de les Cassoles, 6 is no exception. What can we find in it?
We try to represent what for us is the essence of Barcelona, bringing it into our domain, which is that of characters. In the piece, the classic icons of the city naturally appear, but we have also introduced references to more recent things, like electric scooters, or more personal nods, such as the fuet.

How was the creation process of the work? Did you have a clear idea from the beginning of what you wanted to capture?

It was a very smooth process, as we were very familiar with the subject. Of course, we thought about including nods to the most iconic elements of Barcelona, but we also wanted to play with other less typical concepts and those stemming from our personal relationship with the city.

What feedback did you receive from viewers of your mural?
It has all been positive opinions. The curious thing about this project is that you never know when someone is going to come across the piece. When this happens, some people are kind enough to take a picture and share it on their social media, or to send us a message, and this is perhaps the most beautiful part of the project.

What did you think about seeing your sketch come to life on the wall? And how did you feel about signing a work of such large dimensions?

The artist Berok and his team did a fantastic job transferring the mural with great fidelity. We have no experience as muralists, and seeing the work reproduced on such a large scale impresses us. When it came time to sign the piece, we had a moment of nerves, as we did not want to spoil it.

What was and what is now urban art for you? Do you think it's important for cities?

It is indeed important, which is why it's becoming more normalized. Urban art is just as much art, with the advantage that by using the city itself as a canvas, it is available to everyone, which is not the case with other artistic expressions.

With the NN Wallery project, Núñez i Navarro aims to improve people's surroundings through urban art, do you think the mission is being fulfilled?

Undoubtedly, and we were able to witness it firsthand through the comments that the neighbors made to us while the mural was being painted.