Daring Creativity Podcast: Dare to Bring Creative Poetry to Every Problem with Pablo Juncadella

Host: Radim Malinic
Guest: Pablo Juncadella, Co-founder & Partner, Mucho
Date: April 13, 2026
Duration: ~53 minutes

Overview

In this rich, candid episode, host Radim Malinic sits down with Pablo Juncadella, co-founder of the celebrated Barcelona-based branding studio Mucho. The conversation explores the journey from perceived creative limitations—like dyslexia—to powerful sources of perspective, how collective intelligence fuels the growth of design studios, and the conviction that every creative project is both service and poetry. It’s a masterclass in humility, courage, and the honest pursuit of moving the "wheel of design" forward—however imperfectly.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Creativity, Collective Growth & The Wheel of Design

• Setting High Standards & Moving Design Forward

  • Pablo describes design as a constantly turning “big wheel,” where each project is an attempt to push the entire discipline forward, even with failure rates near 100% (00:09, 41:36).
  • “You have to have the courage to, the next day with a new client, with a new project, think, okay, maybe on this one I can create something that not only is effective to my client, but moves the wheel of design.” — Pablo, (00:09, 41:36)
  • Perfection is an illusion; instead, the aim is ongoing improvement and courage to try again.

• The Value of Collective Intelligence

  • The culture at Mucho is built around helping others in finding their way, whether young designers or clients (04:24, 06:03).
  • “I couldn’t say how I did it, because I didn’t do it, we did it. It’s a collective intelligence. It’s not me, it’s not my capabilities, it’s the capabilities of the sum of all of us.” — Pablo, (32:55)

• Learning from Others

  • Pablo credits much of his journey to advice and nurturing from bosses and colleagues, and feels an obligation to pay this forward (06:03).
  • Openness about strengths and weaknesses is key: “I was very aware very soon of what the things that I was strong in, but I had always a very clear idea of those areas where I wasn’t that strong.” — Pablo, (06:03)

2. Limitations as Superpowers: The Gift of Dyslexia

• A Different Perspective

  • Pablo frames his dyslexia as a formative asset, giving him a natural tendency to see things differently—essential for creativity (09:14, 13:10).
  • “When you are very bad at most of the things, but you find out that you are fast finding shortcuts because that’s the way for survival... That selection to somebody like me was already done. It was DNA.” — Pablo, (09:14)
  • Dyslexia made him more visual and more adept at storytelling through design.

• Editorial Design: Turning Handicaps into Strengths

  • Despite being dyslexic, Pablo excelled in editorial design by focusing on shapes, tension, and the interplay of image and text, rather than content first (13:51, 14:42).
  • “I have a tendency not to look at the words, but look at the shapes... You’re less limited to being loyal to exactly what the words are saying, but more inclined to understand or see tension compositions.” — Pablo, (14:42)

• Failure as a Driver

  • The recurring theme: every limitation can be transformed, and failure is not only expected but vital (43:46).
  • “That frustration is in fact the engine of creativity, more or less. It’s the fuel of creativity. The fact that you might have on the next project, you will have another chance to try and move the wheel of design.” — Pablo, (43:46)

3. Evolution of a Career: From Editorial Beginnings to Mucho

• Storytelling Across Mediums

  • Early work in newspapers (El País, The Observer) taught Pablo that design and storytelling are deeply connected.
  • “There isn’t a big difference between designing a bread of a magazine than it is to do a narrative for a brand.” — Pablo, (16:57, 17:58)
  • Rapid production cycles in newsrooms cultivated flexibility, unattachment to ideas, and “creative gymnastics.”

• Setting Up Mucho

  • Started a studio at age 25 with partner Mark, leveraging the high-paced experience to quickly gain expertise and credibility, later expanding globally (21:05).

• Learning in "Dog Years"

  • Early career years are intensely formative, offering opportunities to face challenges bigger than one’s knowledge (25:39).

4. Culture, Community, and Mentorship

• Being Part of a Creative Community

  • The importance of asking questions, nurturing, and pride at every level. Success is found not only in ideas, but in small details and contributions (28:31).

• Internationalism and Adapting to Culture

  • Building an international business meant understanding design as a universal language, but delivered with cultural specificity. Success depends on respecting the client’s expertise and local context (32:17, 32:55, 34:49).
  • “I’m not going to give you advice on what you are... I’m here as an expert in visual language, and I will try to get from you the elements that I think are needed to develop something that makes sense for you.” — Pablo, (34:49)

• Servant-Leadership and Helping Others Grow

  • Pablo sees his main needs as: community, being heard, and helping others grow and develop agility (38:30).

5. The Relationship with Failure & Poetry in Design

• Failure as Process, Not Destination

  • “You always fail at something, you could do it better the next time and you could learn from it. And to me it’s a simple matter of fact.” — Pablo, (45:08)
  • Celebrating wins is important, but recognizing the hidden corners—the things that could be better—keeps humility and energy in the work.

• Poetry as an Essential Ingredient

  • Design is not just problem solving, but about "bringing poetry to the table":
  • “You need to deliver problem solving, you need to bring poetry to the table. And because it’s not only about solutions, it’s about virtue, too.” — Pablo, (49:18, 51:08)
  • Poetry in design can mean solving a problem with style or virtue, not simply producing something conventionally beautiful.

• The Fuel for Longevity

  • The source of hope, positivity, and resilience, even in a profession that regularly asks designers to absorb others’ anxieties and ambitions (49:18).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the “big wheel” of design:

  • “Design is this big wheel that we have to try and move on every project that we do every time... Yet you have to have the courage to the next day with a new client, with a new project, think, okay, maybe on this one I can create something that not only is effective to my client, but moves the wheel of design.” — Pablo, (00:09, 41:36)

• On limitations as creative gifts:

  • “The great advantage is that you’re naturally placed in a different perspective to the majority. So going back to this idea that creativity is the capability of seeing things from a slightly different perspective. People who have certain conditions are naturally in a place that is different to the majority. And that is the key.” — Pablo, (13:10)

• On pride and shared ownership:

  • “I always encourage people in our team to feel proud through the biggest of scales... The idea of feeling proud of being part of a community is one of the things that are very important. But there are also opportunities to feel proud about the little details and everything in the middle.” — Pablo, (28:31)

• On failure and creative ambition:

  • “That frustration... is in fact the engine of creativity, more or less. It’s the fuel of creativity. The fact that you might have on the next project, you will have another chance to try and move the wheel of design.” — Pablo, (43:46)

• On bringing poetry to every project:

  • “You need to deliver problem solving, you need to bring poetry to the table. And because it’s not only about solutions, it’s about virtue, too. How do you do this? ... I’m a firm believer of not only solving a problem, but solving it with a hint of visual poetry.” — Pablo, (49:18, 51:08)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:09 — "Big wheel" design philosophy
• 04:24 — Creativity & parenting young designers
• 06:03 — Advice, mentorship, and community
• 09:14 — Dyslexia as an early creative filter
• 13:10 — Limitations as a different perspective
• 16:57 — From editorial design to branding
• 21:05 — Founding Mucho & early milestones
• 25:39 — Early career growth & learning curve
• 28:31 — Instilling pride and collective ownership
• 32:55 — Collective intelligence and global business
• 34:49 — Respecting client expertise & partnership
• 41:36 — High standards and constant creative striving
• 43:46 — Frustration as creative engine
• 45:08 — Redefining failure and success in design
• 49:18 — Empathy, poetry, and sustaining creative hope
• 51:08 — Visual poetry vs. beauty in design

Tone & Language

The conversation is earnest, optimistic, and deeply reflective. Pablo’s humility and openness about his “failures” balance a tone of high creative ambition with grounded, practical realities. Radim’s questions often connect on a personal level, gently teasing out life lessons and universal themes of creativity, resilience, and the value of community.

Summary Table

| Topic | Guest Insights | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------| | "Wheel of design" philosophy | Each project aims to move design forward, even if only slightly | 00:09, 41:36 | | Dyslexia and creativity | Limitation → different perspective → unique problem-solving | 09:14, 13:10 | | Learning from the collective | Emphasizes importance of teams and nurturing young designers | 04:24, 28:31 | | Early career & adaptability | Multiplying learning in early years via major project exposure | 16:57, 21:05, 25:39 | | Failure as creative fuel | Frustration/imperfection as driver for ongoing growth | 43:46, 45:08 | | Poetry in design | Every solution should strive for both efficacy and "poetry" | 49:18, 51:08 | | International growth and brand building | Collective intelligence, adapting to culture, serving clients | 32:55, 34:49 | | Community and servant-leadership | Helping others grow, building a generative creative ecosystem | 04:24, 38:30 |

Final Reflection

This episode stands as an invitation to reframe imperfections and frustrations as the very fuel of creativity, to seek poetry—not just solutions—in every challenge, and to remember that the most enduring creative legacies come from communities of curious, generous practitioners who help each other move the “wheel of design” just a little further every day.