maria montes
DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION
EINA Barcelona
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Illustration / Storytelling / Packaging Design
My location: Barcelona, Spain
maria montes
First Name: maria
Last Name: montes
University / College: EINA Barcelona
Course / Program: DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Illustration / Storytelling / Packaging Design
My Location: Barcelona, Spain
Website: Click To See Website
About
I am Maria Montes Polonio, a Barcelona based designer and illustrator with a focus on branding, packaging, editorial design, and visual storytelling.My work lives at the intersection of digital precision and hands on, traditional techniques like watercolor and colored pencils. I am deeply drawn to stories, especially those hidden in family memories, everyday rituals, and traditional gastronomy. For me, design is a way of listening and preserving, taking oral histories, local heritage, and quiet details, and translating them into tangible books, visual identities, illustrations, and packaging experiences.
Cuchará y paso atrás is an editorial research project based on a family memory with Andalusian roots and its transmission across generations. The project blends research, personal interviews with direct family members, editorial design, illustration, and storytelling, aiming to preserve this memory through gastronomy and highlight the potential of food as an intergenerational meeting place. Through layout, typography, visual design, and narrative structure, "Cuchará y paso atrás" immortalizes these shared memories, framing the illustrated book as a space for memory and cross-generational reading.