OUR STORY
CHAPTER I : “A FLOWER, OR A COCKTAIL”
Othila’s journey began off the Caribbean coast of Venezuela in a tiny island called Margarita, a place known for its paradisiacal beaches but whose allure extends beyond its natural beauty, bewitching hearts with a vibrant but decadent nightlife and an air of melancholy and nostalgia that lingers around the soul of its people.
It was within this beguiling setting where Othila's story unfolded, intertwining with the island's mystique.
Print ad promoting tourism in Margarita, 2003
Othila sprang into existence in late 2015, emerging from an Instagram account nurtured by Ana and Natalia—two design students from Margarita— as a means to attract freelance clients.
The project gradually gained momentum, but after a few years, the tumultuous circumstances in Venezuela compelled Ana to emigrate and thus the duo had to break apart, leaving their project under an uncertain future.
They decided that the best path forward would be to sell the studio's Instagram and the portfolio of clients it had managed to build up so far. Ana, seeking a suitable buyer, turned to Moshe—a trusted friend with an entrepreneurial background—and presented him with the idea of continuing Othila’s legacy.
Postcard of Hotel Hesperia in Isla de Margarita, not far from the zone in which Othila was conceived.
Born in Florida but raised in Margarita, Moshe Araujo was a then 20-year old high-school dropout and creative entrepreneur with a profound interest in branding and design. Moshe became interested in his friend’s approach, eyeing the opportunity of transforming this small endeavor into an ambitious creative company, and thus quickly found an agreement to acquire Othila.
Although Margarita witnessed Othila’s initial strides, Moshe soon recognized that in order to realize his vision for the project, a relocation was imperative.
And so, in 2019, Othila would immigrate for the first time, moving with Moshe to the design-centric city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Moshe’s Venezuelan allowed him entry into Argentina, as Othila found fertile ground for its evolution.
It was in Buenos Aires where Othila gained clarity in its direction as a studio and began enhancing the caliber of its team. Amidst the ebb and flow of talented designers who graced the studio, one person stood out, leaving an indelible mark on the studio's trajectory.
Delfina O’Reilly was a student (and later, a professor) of graphic design at Universidad de Buenos Aires’s FADU. She would help bring the best out of Othila, throughout the pandemic and later from their studio in Palermo.
A souvenir from the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires. Inside are some branding ideas, and a few unfinished poems.
Originally leased as the home for him and his then-girlfriend, Moshe’s lease in Palermo was repurposed as the studio’s space post-pandemic.
During this promising period, the studio’s work began gaining recognition in well-regarded publications such as BrandNew and MindSparkle Magazine. However, another unexpected turn soon unfolded in Othila's story.
Sometime in mid-2022, both Moshe and Delfina unexpectedly received exciting job offers from large agencies in New York and Mexico, respectively. They understood that the decision to move would cast a veil of uncertainty over Othila's future, but in a sacrifice for personal development, the two decided to take on the opportunities anyway.
Moshe’s single luggage label
CHAPTER II: “LAS MUCHACHAS”
Moshe was welcomed into New York by a childhood friend Carlos Nuñez—another ‘98 creative from Margarita— who’d now become his roommate. Delfina, meanwhile, was in Baja California sharing a home with Brenda Diaz, another Argentinean graphic designer from FADU who she had befriended at her new agency.
Though Moshe and Delfina still kept in touch, their new demanding roles as designers in their respective agencies left them with no time to look over the studio, effectively placing Othila in an uncertain state of comatose.
The inherent heartache and nostalgia that comes with immigration had been hard enough on each of them, but pretty quickly it became clear that the hardest part of it all was the lack of belonging they felt in their workplaces, feeling haunted by the sense that they had made the wrong decision leaving everything behind.
Moshe’s only employment period in his life, as a Senior Designer at L&F. He quit before the 2 month mark.
When things were at their lowest point, Delfina asked for a 10-day leave from her workplace to visit Moshe in New York. Maybe a short vacation would ease things up; maybe they could reconcile their somber reality with the memories from the past.
And so, excited by the opportunity to catch up with Moshe and regain some sense of normality, Delfina boarded a flight from La Paz to JFK. Her roommate and colleague Brenda, decided that she would tag along, as well.
The two girls —or Las Muchachas, as they would later go by—stayed in New York for a total of 10 days. They did all the touristy in the afternoon, and by the evening they would be joined by Moshe and Carlos for nights of debauchery, reggaeton and excess.
Brenda and Delfina’s planes tickets
During one of the first few nights, Moshe and Delfina finally had the chance to sit down in private and catch each other up on their adventurous past several months, resurfacing good memories and drowning sorrows in martinis and margaritas somewhere in the Lower East Side.
Perhaps it was the eternal melancholy that permeates the latin souls, or the superfluos yearning for hand-rolled cigarettes and stolen kisses on the terraces of Buenos Aires or the troubling longing to relive the forgotten childhood memories from Margarita. Or perhaps it was plain old romanticism that convinced them into believing that all these events were interconnected—that this reconnection between Moshe and Delfina, in New York of all places, had to carry some profound meaning and purpose behind it.
Maybe, just maybe, they could reconcile their present with their past.
Men playing dominoes in New York City, 1977
“Dale, Delfi, revivamos Othila”
The world seemed to realign itself as Moshe verbalized the idea of abandoning everything and resuming their journey with Othila.
The plan would be for Delfina to fly back to Mexico, pack her things up and make her way back home to Buenos Aires to get back working on Othila. Moshe, on the other hand, just had to submit his two-weeks notice at L&F. They would pick Othila up right where they’d left off, except now with the studio officially based in New York.
As all of this went on, Delfina and Brenda continued to enjoy their remaining days in New York, immersed in the melodies of Tego Calderon, Celia Cruz and Oscar D’Leon at the group’s beloved bar, Santa Salsa.
Memorabilia from Santa Salsa
Brenda and Moshe, who were complete strangers prior to this trip, had formed a strong bond almost immediately. It was during one of those drunken nights in Santa Salsa that Moshe proposed to her the idea of joining Othila in this new chapter.
Brenda agreed. Her path would be the same as Delfina’s—finish the gig in Mexico, return to Buenos Aires, and from there begin working on Othila’s revival as Delfina’s creative partner.
And thus, Las Muchachas, were officially incorporated into Othila’s story.
Two women who could easily be mistaken for Las Mucachas. Buenos Aires, 1988
CHAPTER III: “LATIN LOUNGE”
Moshe began laying the groundwork for the road ahead, while he waited for Delfina and Brenda to fly back to Argentina.
As 2022 came to an end, New York’s cruel winter started setting into Carlos and Moshe’s apartment. How poetic, was it, that after sharing a childhood together in Margarita they were now sharing an apartment in New York.
True to the “we’ll only work with friends” philosophy that had informed Othila’s intimate structure since its beginnings, it didn’t take long before Moshe also extended an invitation to Carlos to take part in Othila.
Carlos’s mother swears by the existence of a photograph portraying her son together with Moshe as teens in Margarita. They are still searching for that photo, and will update this if they ever find it.
Othila began the new year with a core team of Moshe, Delfina, Brenda and Carlos —two Margariteños in New York and two Porteñas back in Buenos Aires— with additional freelance help coming from Magalí Bazzi (Argentinean expat in Madrid) and Hernan Arocha (Venezuelan expat in Buenos Aires)
In the first few months of working together, the team focused on developing the new brand identity for the studio. The concept for the new identity—it became obvious—needed to refer back to the group’s hispanic heritage and to the nights they shared during Las Muchachas’s 10-day trip.
A lot of inspiration was taken from the 70s salsa movement in New York, from the iconic label designs of loose tobacco packs and the whiskey bottles their old men drank in Margarita, and from the atmosphere of antique bodegones in Buenos Aires and Madrid.
And that’s how “Latin Lounge”—the name assigned to Othila’s new brand identity—came to be. View the work on Behance.
Listen to the Latin Lounge playlist on Spotify.
Othila unveiled its revamped identity on Instagram account on February 23, 2023; marking its comeback and the beginning of a new chapter. Not long after, clients in the industries of fashion, entertainment and technology started coming in.
As word about the studio started spreading and the winter in New York gave way to the arrival of spring, Othila secured a collaboration with Tumbao to host its first official party in New York, bringing to life it’s ‘Business and Pleasure’ ethos now more than ever before.
Latin Lounge-themed, and filled with branding memorabilia, Othila positioned itself in its new home as more than a hundred guests showed up to support.
Las Muchachas, who had now been living in Buenos Aires for the past several months, but with the news about the event, they decided to fly back in to New York again, just to take part of the event.
To be continued…
OUR TEAM
