NIEVES GAMONAL

Transcreator and copywriter

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NIEVES
GAMONAL

TRANSCREATOR
AND COPYWRITER

“It’s still magic even if
you know how it’s done.”

I’d like to say I came up with that,
but being Terry Pratchett is not an easy feat.
That doesn’t make his remarks any less truth.
I believe there are few spells as powerful
as those you can cast with words.

I’m Nieves, I’m a freelance translator and writer
and I’ve been passionately typing for some
of the most amazing platforms on the internet
for the past thirteen years. You can trust me on that
or I can show you —it all depends on how much time
you’ve got on your hands!

This is me thinking
about eighties slang!

(And Spanish omelette,
can’t deny it)

WHO’S THIS CREATURE?

You already know my name. I was born in the fall of 1988
in Madrid, Spain. I grew up surrounded by floppy disks,
a very noisy router, loads of art and tons of creativity,
and I survived my teens diving into fantasy and sci-fi books.
Then, I left my hometown for a shared dorm near Arc de Triomf
to study Translation and Interpreting at the Autonomous University
of Barcelona, where I specialized in English and Japanese.
The views to the forest were so beautiful I also decided
to take a Master’s Degree in Audiovisual Translation there.

Just a few days before graduating, I stumbled upon an email
from Tumblr in my spam folder and… the rest is history.
I have spent the last decade meeting artists from all over the world,
lending my words to the most amazing marketing campaigns
on this corner of the galaxy, localizing websites and apps to make users’
lives a bit easier, translating thrilling novels and children’s books,
managing communities of talented creators, writing non-stop
and showing the way forward to future generations. I like to stay on top
of change and I love getting to play with words. My colleagues called me
Eagle Eye Nieves because my brain can never stop looking for things
to improve and I promise that, if you ever work with me, you might get
to try my legendary guacamole.

How did she
get here?

That’s an easy mystery to solve! I’ve been closely collaborating
with some of the most talented creative professionals in the world
for the past few years. I enjoy walking that fine line between
becoming a wordsmith who takes her time to craft the perfect
message and keeping up with the fast pace of the tech industry,
and I love working with clients who understand that great results
stem from devoting the right amount of time, care, and resources
to any project. My goal is to help you engage with your audience
from the very first word they read so that they understand
what makes your product so unique. These are some of the brands, organizations and publishers that have entrusted me with that mission. Want to get a sneak-peak of the work we’ve done together? Tap the three first logos and see what happens!

That mostly depends on where you need me. All my professional experience
can be summed up in one simple goal: to plant the seeds of something new
so that any project can grow, regardless of who takes care of it in the end. Although versatility is a really important aspect for me, all the services I provide have two basic concepts in common: language and communication. I try to leave my mark in every project by either creating the methodology that will later
be applied by each team member or improving things that are already in motion.
If I don’t master the craft you were looking for, it will be a pleasure to help you find someone who does —just drop me a line.

What's next?

COPYWRITING / TRANSCREATION / LOCALIZATION / LITERARY TRANSLATION / AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION / COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT / PROJECT MANAGEMENT / PROOFREADING & QA / EDITORIAL, CONTENT CURATION & CONSULTANCY / TEACHING & EVENTS

Beam me up!

Not entirely tired of me yet? Impressive.
Shoot me an email at [email protected]
or fill this heaven-sent form below.

Or find me on the vast fields
of social media

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Designed with ♥ by Kima Collective

Illustrations from Blush & Pablo Stanley

Two years later, in 2014, they kickstarted a huge rebranding
process. I took part on a wide variety of projects related
to this change, which included coming up with the Spanish version of their famous tagline, “Belong Anywhere”,
which became “Tu casa es el mundo” in our market,
and the translations for the creative landing page they launched to spread the news (Create Airbnb). The concept was essentially to invite guests to feel like home away
from home, and to remind hosts that they could open
their door to a world of opportunity and cultural exchange, both literally and metaphorically.

In 2012, Airbnb was a small startup that quickly started to evolve until it became
one of the most renowned accommodation providers in the travel industry.
As part of their early efforts to start growing globally, their newly founded
localization department hired me to update their translations and original copy
in Spanish, and act as a language lead for what later became their local team.
We worked side by side for more than six years to guarantee every last piece
of text was on-brand, from marketing campaigns to the most sensitive
institutional documents, reflecting Airbnb’s tone and style.

Pastel colors are a thing
for them as well

Enthusiastic host
embracing change

Create Airbnb
(R.I.P.)

Marketing campaigns are important, but nothing conveys
the real spirit of a platform like this as those small details
we love to include on the interface. Turning it into a place
that shows users we want them to feel understood
and at home so they can turn their minds off for a very well
deserved rest has been and still is one of the best things
we get to do. We even replaced the legendary final dot
of our logo with special icons representing some bizarre
and fun festivities, like World UFO Day or Donut Day!

Tumblr is a rare species among the social media and microblogging realm.
With a quirky, often surreal tone, it showcases the type of copy that needs to be both informative and clear but also as fun and unique as its community, which is highly focused on art, creativity and self-expression. I joined their international development team more than twelve years ago with the mission to launch the Spanish version, offering transcreation, copywriting, internationalization and editorial services, which included curating and featuring content as well as interviewing creators for the official staff blog. All these tasks also involved establishing the terminology, tone and style for the copy of our local version.

One of the aspects that best describes Redbubble is its relatable, fun, playful spirit as a brand, which has become the most successful tool to set themselves apart from their competitors. That’s why quirkiness, humor, authenticity and the use of puns and pop-culture references were always a central part of our creative copywriting efforts, from email marketing campaigns to more unusual instances, like product labels. To announce the launch of our Spanish website, we decided to go for an analog strategy that encompassed all of those concepts with two different actions: on one hand, we sent one special postcard to our top local artists and also included a fun little insert with a discount in every order made by customers in our country in the previous weeks; on the other, we customized our product’s care labels for every garment sent to Spain to given them a local flavor.

Redbubble is an Australian company founded in 2006 with a clear goal in mind: to give creative minds and their passionate fans a brave new world of self-expression. Redbubble’s platform allows for independent artists from all over the planet to seamlessly sell their work through a wide selection of original products. I was the first member to join their newly created localization team in 2014, and I was in charge of leading and kickstarting a great range of different projects related to our launch in the Spanish market. That involved many tasks, from creating a style guide and glossary to set the tone for the brand, to managing our local social media profiles or building close relationships with Spanish-speaking artists and influencers. During the next five years, my role evolved and I was trusted with new responsibilities, but the aim never changed: my mission was to ensure we had the best, most consistent communication and marketing strategy.