Digital Illustration: award-winning LSD talent

Nicolle Sartor won 2nd prize in the Young Creators Competition - Megatrends 2050 for a project developed as part of an activity in the Digital Illustration course (2024-25).

Student Nicolle Sartor, artistically known as Nicolle Velcro, won 2nd prize in the Young Creators Competition - Megatrends 2050 with a project developed in LSD's Digital Illustration course. The distinction recognizes the originality of her work and reinforces the importance of design in building visual narratives for the future.

Born in Brazil and with a degree in Advertising from the Federal University of Santa Maria, Nicolle moved to Portugal to expand her career as an illustrator, 2D animator and DJ. Despite her professional experience, she sought out LSD to improve her practice and explore the European market. According to the artist, the course was essential for refining her style without shaping it and expanding her knowledge of analog and digital processes. Read her account of her experience on the course here.

"This award has shown that I have overcome a barrier with regard to my own style, I have received such important institutional recognition and validation of my uniqueness."
Nicolle Sartor

The winning project addresses the growth of the Portuguese language as a global language, represented through a vibrant and changing flora that symbolizes the expansion and diversity of the Lusophone community. The proposal stood out for its creative visual interpretation and innovative approach to the competition theme.

With the prize money of €2,000, Nicolle intends to reinvest in her art, producing posters and exploring new forms of graphic expression. For the illustrator, the greatest recognition was the validation of her artistic identity and the certainty that she can continue to work with authenticity and impact.

What the Megatrends competition jury said about Nicolle Velcro's proposal
"The author addresses the issue of the growing importance of the Portuguese language through the expected increase in the PALOP population. In addition, she suggests the communal and mutating nature of the Portuguese language through an exuberant flora, which flourishes and intertwines from different origins, allowing for diverse voices represented in the speech balloons. Since language, like flora, develops and adapts according to its environment, this illustration offers a promising vision of the future of the Portuguese-speaking community. The mouths and hands in symmetrical positions also suggest equality and encounter, the connection, perhaps even the union, of those who speak the same language."

Find out more about Nicolle Velcro at www.vlkrr.com and on her Behance page.

More about the Young Designers Megatrends 2025 competition.