We were lucky to catch up with Carolina De Bartolo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carolina, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Some of my earliest memories are filled with the time I spent drawing. I was that kid constantly making pictures, hoarding crayons, pencils, and paper like precious treasures, and putting my imagination on the page. I had no idea that a person could study the arts, let alone make a living as a creative professional.

It wasn’t until I went to college (School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University) that a whole new realm of possibilities opened up. I made friends with several fellow students who were very assured about their majors in art and architecture—it was a revelation. I was inspired by their confidence in pursuing paths that merged their deep feelings of creativity with their future livelihoods as well as a quote from Andrew Carnegie that was often repeated on campus: “My heart is in the work.”

But I was faced with a dilemma: I was drawn to every major in the visual arts. Architecture, painting, photography, printmaking, industrial design—they all beckoned. Eventually, I found myself falling in love with communication design. The intersection of visuals with language in the practice of typography resonated with me.

Typography was the perfect marriage of my childhood love for language (English was always my best subject) and my newfound fascination with design. I’ve now spent over three decades with “my heart in the work,” earning a living doing something I love. I feel really lucky!

Carolina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I like to call myself a “visual explorer”—someone with a passion for all creative pursuits (with a special emphasis on typography, and more recently on visual art) as well as endless curiosity for new technologies.


My design journey started with BFA from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design. The early years of my professional career were spent working in New York City, first on the design of statements and forms (laser printing was a then new technology used to generate customer statements en masse) and later on the user interface for Citibank’s banking machine—this was way back in the early 1990s when Citibank had the first and only touchscreen banking machine in the world and before the field “UI/UX” even had a name!

While freelancing as a branding designer and book designer, I moved to California and spent over two decades teaching typography and design history at Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Inspired and encouraged by my typography students, I wrote and published a textbook on the subject based on my particular way of teaching it. My book, Explorations in Typography, won a multiple design awards, including AIGA’s 50 books/50 covers and a TDC certificate of excellence, and it is now in its second edition in paperback.

My career path took an unexpected turn a few years back when I was recruited into the tech industry. I have now been the Creative Director at two different tech startups, and I led the rebranding efforts at both. These “lucky breaks” in the tech industry (along with some unlucky ones) were catalysts for my own creative growth. Even as a seasoned professional, I enjoy seeing where new technologies and new perspectives might take me.

Most recently, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of AI image generation, creating over 30,000 images in the past two years. I even had a solo show of my personal artwork this year. Now, I’m sharing my knowledge by teaching AI tools to designers.

I’ve described my AI artwork as “old media styles meet new technologies” because I’m on a mission to create pieces that are as aesthetic and poetic as ones made with traditional media. It’s gratifying to come full circle to return to my fine arts training and apply it in this crazy new technological landscape that I never saw coming.

Because I’m passionate about sharing my knowledge and experiences, I’m starting to hold weekly virtual AI art meetups for people who want to join with others to learn the basics of AI image generation, share their work-in-progress, find inspiration, and get feedback and support.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I’ve found that whatever I learn, whether it’s typography, design history, or AI image generation, I inevitably end up teaching it. Gaining proficiency in any of the arts is a matter of “learning by doing” (a.k.a. project-based learning) and there’s an old saying that the best way to learn is to teach. So that’s the design of my life and my lifelong practice—make, teach, make, teach, make, teach. Design is not just what we make; it’s what we make possible.

Interestingly, I never set out to be a design teacher. Not when I started my design career, not when I transitioned into the tech industry, and not when I left it. But my path unfolded organically, guided by my interests, experiences, excitement, and love of exploring. It’s an honor to share my enthusiasm for the arts with others. I believe attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity and I want to send my sincerest gratitude to all my students—thank you for your kind attention!

So, if there’s a mission driving my creative journey, it’s to foster curiosity and “visual exploration” in others, so that they too can discover their own unique paths towards self-expression. As I approach the later chapters in my career, I keep reminding myself of what my parents taught me: The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain. Be useful!

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I’m in! As both an NFT artist and a collector, I see them as opening up a lot of new possibilities for us—new ways to monetize our creativity, and the ability to build direct relationships with collectors. I believe the potential benefits will outweigh the risks. So I’m eager to continue releasing new collections of my artwork as NFTs and hopefully contribute to the evolution of this technology as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://carolinadebartolo.com
• Explorations in Typography book: https://explorationsintypography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carodebartolo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinadebartolo/
• X/Twitter: https://x.com/carodebartolo
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@carodebartolo
• Others: Luma workshops: https://lu.ma/user/carodebartolo
  • NFTs on Foundation: https://foundation.app/@carodebartolo?tab=collections
  • NFTs on Objkt.com: 
https://objkt.com/@carodebartolo/collections
  • NFTs on OpenSea: 
https://opensea.io/carolina0017