Jordi Rubio was parking his car in front of some graffiti on Torrent de l'Olla street in Barcelona while he went to buy mountaineering equipment from a shop in the neighbourhood. At that time, Rubio could not have imagined that that wall painting would change his life.
Rubio was working as a sales director in a paint company called Felton Spray. He discovered that urban artists were using Felton products for their paintings, although they were not ideal for their purposes. When Rubio suggested to his bosses that they adapt their products for graffiti, the answer was: "Get on with your work."
So that's what he did. Together with Miquel Galea he founded Montana Colors. Begun in 1994 in Sant Vicenç de Castellet, the company is the first in the world devoted to manufacturing spray paints for graffiti, has a turnover of 20 million euros a year –80% of which is from exports- and provides jobs for 180 people.
Adapting to the world
At that time, the artists who wanted to paint graffiti adapted existing products by using spray paints for cars with modified caps. "They were expensive paints, and toxic and bad," says Rubio, who realised that the aerosol paint market was moving more towards the world of creativity than the automotive sector.
Montana Colors was born to cover this need: "We wanted to make a mid-priced tailored product, a paint for someone to cover a scratch on their car every seven years is very different from one used every day." Montana Colors found the balance between quality and price for a very determined public growing in numbers on Barcelona's alternative scene. "It is not about earning a lot from selling just a few cans, but rather adapting oneself to that reality," says Rubio.
The Montana Colors products "are practical, with a perfect finish and they are environmentally friendly," says Rubio, who, aware of the bad reputation of aerosols, points out that they try "to use recyclable components."
The company has conquered the world through the graffiti. "Graffiti has taken us a long way, because people began to speak well of a product made in Barcelona," says Rubio. Today, Montana Colors products are to be found in more than 60 countries. In fact, in June, they opened their first branch abroad, in California.
Colours, coverage and precision
Montana Colors has had a colourful history. In its 20 years, it has suffered three fires at the plant and a serious boycott on behalf of a large German company that tried to take them over.
Nothing put off Rubio and his partner. Over time the company has created new products and opened up new lines of business, such as decoration, the fine arts, aircraft modelling and the industrial sector, with different products for each of them. Every year, the company produces some two million kilos of paint which is used to fill some eight million aerosols. To reach these objectives and continue innovating, Rubio points to the percentage of turnover devoted to research: "Around 7% of the profits are invested in the R&D I department." .
Criminal art
The founder of the company thinks that current legislation has affected them: "Graffiti is considered vandalism, it is put on the same level as prostitution or drugs in Civic regulations." The complexity of the issue makes the regulation of graffiti more complicated because "when an organisation makes a peace mural, that is not vandalism" and he laments that the "line is fuzzy".
In its strategy of corporate social responsibility, the company devotes certain resources to organisations dedicated to the promotion of graffiti culture, urban art and mural painting.
As for the growth and the future of the company, Rubio believes that it is important to be wherever graffiti is done: "I don't like making plans, you have to live in the here and now, to bear in mind the real economy of people, the environment and that work well done has no boundaries."
Rubio was working as a sales director in a paint company called Felton Spray. He discovered that urban artists were using Felton products for their paintings, although they were not ideal for their purposes. When Rubio suggested to his bosses that they adapt their products for graffiti, the answer was: "Get on with your work."
So that's what he did. Together with Miquel Galea he founded Montana Colors. Begun in 1994 in Sant Vicenç de Castellet, the company is the first in the world devoted to manufacturing spray paints for graffiti, has a turnover of 20 million euros a year –80% of which is from exports- and provides jobs for 180 people.
Adapting to the world
At that time, the artists who wanted to paint graffiti adapted existing products by using spray paints for cars with modified caps. "They were expensive paints, and toxic and bad," says Rubio, who realised that the aerosol paint market was moving more towards the world of creativity than the automotive sector.
Montana Colors was born to cover this need: "We wanted to make a mid-priced tailored product, a paint for someone to cover a scratch on their car every seven years is very different from one used every day." Montana Colors found the balance between quality and price for a very determined public growing in numbers on Barcelona's alternative scene. "It is not about earning a lot from selling just a few cans, but rather adapting oneself to that reality," says Rubio.
The Montana Colors products "are practical, with a perfect finish and they are environmentally friendly," says Rubio, who, aware of the bad reputation of aerosols, points out that they try "to use recyclable components."
The company has conquered the world through the graffiti. "Graffiti has taken us a long way, because people began to speak well of a product made in Barcelona," says Rubio. Today, Montana Colors products are to be found in more than 60 countries. In fact, in June, they opened their first branch abroad, in California.
Colours, coverage and precision
Montana Colors has had a colourful history. In its 20 years, it has suffered three fires at the plant and a serious boycott on behalf of a large German company that tried to take them over.
Nothing put off Rubio and his partner. Over time the company has created new products and opened up new lines of business, such as decoration, the fine arts, aircraft modelling and the industrial sector, with different products for each of them. Every year, the company produces some two million kilos of paint which is used to fill some eight million aerosols. To reach these objectives and continue innovating, Rubio points to the percentage of turnover devoted to research: "Around 7% of the profits are invested in the R&D I department." .
Criminal art
The founder of the company thinks that current legislation has affected them: "Graffiti is considered vandalism, it is put on the same level as prostitution or drugs in Civic regulations." The complexity of the issue makes the regulation of graffiti more complicated because "when an organisation makes a peace mural, that is not vandalism" and he laments that the "line is fuzzy".
In its strategy of corporate social responsibility, the company devotes certain resources to organisations dedicated to the promotion of graffiti culture, urban art and mural painting.
As for the growth and the future of the company, Rubio believes that it is important to be wherever graffiti is done: "I don't like making plans, you have to live in the here and now, to bear in mind the real economy of people, the environment and that work well done has no boundaries."
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