Falcaograve – or Falcao for short – is a 20-year-old graphic designer with an impressive resume in the Minecraft event sphere. I chatted with him about his graphic design work, his advice for others looking to make their own designs, as well as his experiences making his own content.
Falcao on graphic design
Chances are, if you’re active in the Minecraft small streamer / event community on social media, you’ll already have seen some of Falcao’s work. His current longer-term roles include at Unprod. (formerly Unity Productions), minigame tournaments Creator Carnage, Minecraft Mania, and Fruit Wars, and dodgebolt tournament DBT, though his previous work includes for Forsaken Isle SMP, WraithStation, Captain AJX, BenThere Studios, Island Battlebox League, and many more.
One piece of work he’s particularly proud of is a graphic he made for an Unprod. event called Beyond The Loop. “That was, in my opinion, one of the cleanest designs I have ever made in my style,” Falcao tells us. “For inspiration for the style and theme of that graphic, I actually listened to G-Dragon’s song “Power” on loop – listening to some of the elements they had in the music just gave me ideas.”
“I love working at Unprod. – they have been so amazing and welcoming, and so good with advice – both on graphic design and personal stuff,” Falcao continues. “They’ve given me some of the most amazing experience working for them.”
More of his favourite pieces include a thumbnail he made for his own video of Chally’s Egg Race, a thumbnail and poster for a video by content creator Monoddy, and team announcements for Chaos Clash – an event that has since been discontinued, but the graphic design work for which sparked a whole load of new ideas for Falcao. “My brain was so full of ideas that some of them got used later in other events or for people I did graphic designs for,” Falcao explains. “The time I put into that one just opened a whole new level of myself that I unlocked in a sense!”
Falcao’s graphic design tools of choice are Photoshop, Blockbench, Blender, and the game itself – though Falcao doesn’t consider his software decisions important to his success. “Graphic design is all about creativity and your imagination,” Falcao explains. “As long as a software is able to support all your creativity and imagination and ideas, it’s going to be the perfect software for you.”
“I have seen people creating graphic designs in After Effects, Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve which are all editing software – yet they can make graphic designs within it, as it supports your visual ideas and your vision. If people prefer Photoshop, but don’t have the funds necessary to buy a plan, you can use photopea.com or other free software like GIMP, Krita, Canva and even Microsoft Paint. As long as it supports your vision of a graphic design, anything is possible to make – just try it, make mistakes and learn from it. You will not learn everything quickly, but the more you do, the more efficient you will be, and the better graphic designs you will be able to make.”
Falcao’s skillset is entirely self-taught, with him having having started out making Roblox graphics in 2016. His years spent learning and refining his craft, including the variety of clients and projects he’s worked with, has shaped his workflows and style of today.
“Graphic designs for events can look extremely similar, with just boxes of names and logos,” Falcao says. “What events should do is try to make it unique – make it appealing, clean, and straight to the point, so that people can get an easier grasp of what the event is all about. I always try to switch up the layout for different events based on their theme and their builds in the server.”
Falcao highlights the value of a graphic designer being an integral part of the team, as that extra knowledge and inspiration can elevate graphics to new heights. “Always let your graphic designers have a look in the server to get an idea of what they could add to the designs to compliment the event more,” Falcao says. “Allow them to have input with anything design-related, even builds. Graphic designers can complement the builders with ideas, and builders can perhaps give even better ideas, which might help the graphic designers come up with amazing designs you wouldn’t normally see. Even if they do designs for social media, allow them to talk with other people who use creativity and imagination, as it will level up their knowledge about design – whether it be a builder or artist, every creative staff can influence someone, turning that influence into something amazing.”
Falcao also has some advice for YouTubers making thumbnails. “Try to take full advantage of A/B testing on YouTube, and test out what style of thumbnails work for your channel. Building a style which complements your videos is what will make you consistent, and part of what you’re known for. Of course, keep an eye out for what gets you the most attention – which elements in the design work well within the audience, and grabs their attention quickly.”
“For Twitter announcements or designs, try to make it so that everyone will be interested in this event or tournament or message. Be BOLD, and keep it minimal and readable so everyone quickly understands what the Tweet is about, or else they will just scroll away.”
“Other than that, just have fun with it!” Falcao says. “Try to listen to sounds and music, or watch videos – honestly, you never know where ideas could come from. Overall, just enjoy the process, make mistakes and learn from them, and try to make your inner self happy first. Keep a positive mindset, and make something that you yourself can be proud of!”
Falcao on Minecraft events and his own content
Graphic design isn’t the only place that Falcao is involved in the Minecraft and content creation world, because Falcao also makes his own video content. “I create gaming and reaction content on my main YouTube channels,” Falcao tells us. “I’m also a streamer on Twitch streaming a variety of games, as well as a video editor for InsideMC.”
“I also have two experimental channels where I test out YouTube features and ideas,” Falcao continues. Whilst he hasn’t revealed what those experimental channels are called or the specifics of what their content is about, due to wanting to keep them separate from his main channels, he has made it clear there is no AI involved. “If those experiment channels ever start earning revenue, all proceeds will go to charity.”
In addition to making graphics for Minecraft events, Falcao also occasionally plays in them. “A few of my favourites are One Shot Royale, by WeChokeOnMilk, and Knights Of The Square Table, produced by CapolloMedia,” Falcao tells us.
“I have met some amazing people by playing in One Shot Royale – it’s a simple yet unique event where you can meet other creators, make amazing content and just overall have a great time – especially because it’s basically just a big big creator hangout until just the last person is alive,” Falcao says. “I have made and shared some amazing memories being in this event – like being in a house with a bunch of other creators, having a karaoke party – or sneaking up on people to either kill them or just scare them for fun.”
“As for Knights Of The Square Table, it’s one of the cleanest events I have ever played in,” Falcao continues. “They’ve done amazing work on theming and even the story – it also has one of my favourite event games ever, called Siege. As of right now, we have no idea when KST will be back, but I’m hoping it will return some day.”
Falcao’s story is an inspiring example of how dedication, hard work, and a willingness to learn and adapt can take someone far in both graphic design and the Minecraft space – and I’m excited to see what projects Falcao gets up to into the future.
To stay up to date with Falcao’s content, you can find him on his YouTube channel Falcaograve, his secondary channel FalcaograveClips, or on Twitch. For collaborations, sponsorships, or commissions, you can contact him through his business email here.
About The Author
