Academic training at Cristobal Rojas School of Art, 1962–66, and Design Institute Neumann Foundation, 1966–69. He studied with European émigré artists and masters of graphic design in Venezuela, including Gego and Nedo M.F., and for more than ten years he maintained a professional and formative relationship with the designer Gerd Leufert. He has received nineteen prizes since 1975, including Best Designed German Books, two Gold Letter awards (1985 and 1999) from ‘The Most Beautiful Books in the World.' Sotillo’s work has been commissioned by Venezuelan cultural institutions since 1985. In 1999, he designed the UNESCO presentation to nominate the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas for the World Heritage list. In 2000 he founded the Laboratorio de Tipografía. Recent exhibitions: ‘Iböckernas grafiska värld’, group show, Malmö Konsthall, Centre for Contemporary Art, Sweden, 2005; ‘Álvaro Sotillo – Gestaltung eine Auswahl 1975–2005’, solo show, Public Library, Leipzig, 2005.