I consider myself a late bloomer.
Early in my childhood my brothers’ drawings were the first type of art that captured my attention. I was curious about how someone had the ability to form visuals from pencil lines. And how the people that would do that were considered special. But it wasn’t until high school that I started interacting with visual art.
I was determined to be a Pediatrician. But forces outside of myself pulled me into the High School of Communication Arts (Graphics) in Midtown Manhattan [doesn’t exist today], where I initiated my life as an artist.
Reluctant to learn art, I was immersed into a world that I didn’t think I could connect with. And towards the end my first semester, in the minutes just before my English class, I saw her leaned over a stacked pile of white print paper. It was her extended sketchbook. I got a glimpse of her beautiful drawings, and I was impulsed to ask “Can you teach me how to draw?” “Sure!”. And on one sheet of paper, folded in 2, with 4 surfaces, she drew the basic shapes of the human head and body in various views. During our winter break, I lived at the library studying manga. Before the school year was over I was in the art club.
During my years in high school I learned the basics of photography, photography development, Quark Express, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, became the “Most Artistic”, spent countless hours drawing and painting, and started looking into digital art in platforms like DeviantArt.
In college, I thought pursuing art might not have been the smartest move. I was living through the fears of my culture. But after a semester learning Psychology, I decided to switch majors into Digital Art. My heart was not in it. And in doing so, my entire being sparked again surrounded by typography, color, layout, and professors that encouraged my natural abilities for growth.
As the semesters rolled by I was being drawn to the world of illustration, mentored by a professor, after taking an Illustration class. The professor took a liking to my concepts and execution, as well as my work ethic, that I was offered a job in the college art gallery, as an art curator. I spent a year curating art exhibitions from local artists, former students and current students of the college, under the guidance of this professor who became a mentor for me, as I pursued continuing my education at School of Visual Arts as an Illustrator. While I was in the midst of that application process, my mentor sent an illustration project to the [ ], as they were holding a competition to showcase selected artist at their gallery, as an exhibition.
I was selected.
I got to see my art displayed under fluorescent light. I felt so encouraged that I pursued what I thought would be my creative purpose. But life has a way of revealing what’s for us, sometimes by way of disappointment. Which is what I experienced when I found out I couldn’t financially make it in School of Visual Arts. So I went on with the one choice I had, which was NYC College of Technology to receive my Bachelors.
In the walls of this college, I learned I had other interests and skills that were yet to be polished. Typography and Layout. As customary, I took all the necessary credits in order for me to receive my degree. From JavaScript and HTML coding, packaging design, marketing, branding, painting, but nothing called me out more than publication design. During my senior year, this class was available only via one professor. “Tough as nails” is the best way to describe the mentor that would change my career.
In her class we learned about magazine layouts, newspaper layout design—shedding a light on the most-overlooked of design projects. We took the next steps into formulating well-designed InDesign templates, understanding grids, and how to apply styles, before we were given projects on designing layouts. Our final project was to create our own magazine. Building it from its conception, all the way to a finished product rendered for both print and interactive PDFs.
As a working professional, I started my professional job out of college as a Production and Design Coordinator for Privcap. A media company, providing subscription-based private equity content.
During my time at Privcap I did a lot of digital and printed publications. The brand was designed, and templates were freshly created, but had not been applied and my initial task was bringing the brand to life, while learning the responsibilities of representing a department. I worked directly with editors for every digital and print publication. Executing weekly reports [5-12 pages] with graphical content, and producing printed symposiums [120 pages] every yearly quarter. I also worked closely with the video production team, applying the brand identity on various animated graphical elements, as well as assisting the web development team on UI and UX.
As a growing company, the demand for more publishings grew and so did the need for help, and my responsibilities. I was heavily involved in the interview process for new designers, on-boarding and training process. The team had grown to two freelancers, and two in-house part-time designers that I enjoyed developing.
By my departure from Privcap, robust templates on weekly publications, articles, and quarterly printed-compendiums were finalized. I had developed their motion graphics aesthetic for the video development team, and two well-trained strong designers who would take ownership of the department.
When starting ION my focused task was to apply a recently designed brand identity, developed by London-based design agency FutureBrand. Which lead me to safe keep the brand guidelines
ION, an industry standard on management softwares, has various channels of project communication, leadership styles, expectations, and deadlines. I have acquired skills through this unique corporate environment, with an emphasis on being flexible and organized. Skills like working with demanding timelines, incomplete creative briefs, project management, fast-paced designing.
My next steps as a designer is to continue using my skills to problem solve, and bring value where needed. Understanding my history, and what I’ve achieved, I’d like to continue leading design in a role that continues to elevate my experience and challenge my critical thinking.