HOLA!
I’m Maria Garcés and I’m the face behind Mandarina Designs. I’m a Surface Pattern Designer and freelance Graphic Designer.
I was born in Colombia. After graduating from business school, I moved to Costa Rica and lived there for 3 years before moving to the US over 17 years ago. I live in Cincinnati with my husband Marc, my kids Lucia and Martin, and my cat, Lolo.
After working for over a decade with Brand Marketers in the corporate world I realized I needed to make a change and listen to my heart and my creative calling. I had long begun drawing and calligraphy and had fallen in love with the concepts of brand print ads and benefit visualization, so I went back to school to study graphic design. Soon after, I found a passion for surface pattern design (which is creating artwork, most commonly in the form of repeating patterns or illustrations for different products like fabric, gift wrap, wallpaper, dish ware, notebooks and any other product that has a surface), so I took a chance and left my day job (and a company full of people I love) to pursue my dream of becoming a surface pattern designer.
I enjoy every step of the process, from getting the inspiration to sketching and designing. When I’m not designing, I’m creating charcuterie boards for fun, playing Pokemon or 3-marker challenge with my kids, or honing my artistic skills by watching cookie decorating videos.
My designs are whimsical, cute, and folky and I absolutely love to see my work come to life on products. My work shared here includes illustrations and surface patterns that have been produced on a number of office and paper products. If you’d like access to my entire portfolio let me know.
If you want to collaborate or license, contact me. I would love to bring some cute, whimsy magic to your life or products!
If you want to collaborate or license, contact me. I would love to bring some cute, whimsy magic to your life or products!