Sun Night Featured at the 2025 ALA Conference and Exhibition
I’m honored to share that my book, Sun Night, was featured at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference & Exhibition 2025, held in Philadelphia from June 26 to July 1. This event, one of the largest gatherings of librarians, educators, and book professionals in the world, brought together over 12,000 attendees to celebrate the power of books, storytelling, and literacy in all its forms.
Sun Night was showcased at the Indie Author Exhibit booth, a curated space presented by IngramSpark that highlights emerging voices and independently published works. As part of the exhibit, my book was included in both the printed and digital Indie Author Catalog, which was distributed widely throughout the six-day conference to library buyers, educators, and industry professionals seeking fresh and diverse titles for their collections.
This opportunity was a meaningful milestone—not only as an author but also as a creative professional passionate about storytelling and design. Seeing Sun Night among such a vibrant collection of indie titles reminded me how important it is to support independent creators and the stories that don’t always come through traditional publishing channels.
I'm deeply grateful to ALA, IngramSpark, and the entire library community for embracing indie authors and giving us a platform to share our work with a wider audience. If you attended the conference and discovered Sun Night, thank you!
Sun Night - Now a Top Notable Indie
November 2024 - Waukesha, WI
Sun Night has received yet another recognition by Shelf Unbound Magazine in their Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for the 2024 Best Indie Awards. The magazine has recognized Sun Night as a Notable Indie book. Sarah Kloth, Publisher of the Shelf Unbound Magazine, noted that the entries they receive for the Unbound Best Indie Book Competition “… come from authors who share their stories with passion and dedication. This year, the competition was especially fierce, with so many wonderful books that made selecting a winner both exciting and challenging.”
Check out the link below to view the online Shelf Unbound magazine.
Shelf Unbound Magazine - Winter 2024 Issue
Adventures in Self-Publishing–Part Three
Use your social media channels to market your book.
Getting your book out to the world
In this last episode of my adventures in self-publishing I share all I have learned about ISBNs, IngramSpark, and marketing your book.
ISBNs
If you would like to sell your book, you will need an ISBN. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number, and it is a unique number that is assigned to each published book in the world. The ISBN can be identified by the bar code on the back of any book. If you plan to sell different versions of a book, such as a hardcover and a paperback, you will need an ISBN for each. You do not need to have an ISBN if you are not planning to sell your book.
There are two ways of getting an ISBN: Free from some printing companies or purchasing them directly from Bowker, the company that sells all the ISBNs. Visit Bowker.com for more information.
If you are looking for a quick and easy way of getting your book produced, using a printing company such as Blurb or Lulu might be your best option. Do keep in mind that while they provide a free ISBN, you might not be able to keep using the same number again if you need to make a change to your book. When I released Sun Night in 2018, I didn’t know this important fact. This means that every time you change or update something on your book, you will get a new ISBN and stores will have a hard time defining which ISBN is the most recent for your book, creating more work on your end. The ISBNs cannot be deleted once assigned.
Purchasing ISBNs from Bowker allows you to own the number and you can make as many edits as necessary to your book while keeping the same ISBN. More on this later.
In my situation, because I knew that I needed more than one ISBN, I decided to purchase 10 ISBNs at once. When I re-released Sun Night in December 2023, I assigned one ISBN for the hardcover version and another ISBN for the paperback edition. I also assigned one ISBN for the eBook, but this is not required if you only expect to sell your book on Amazon. I recommend assigning one to an eBook for easy referencing and to have the most available options for selling across all shops worldwide.
INGRAMSPARK
Once you have assigned the ISBN to your book, you can either go to a printer of your choice to get your book produced or use IngramSpark. I have used IngramSpark for my book production because Ingram is the company that distributes all books around the world and once you upload your data to Ingram using the IngramSpark website, your book will be pushed to all bookstores around the world within hours or days.
Once you have your book files ready for production, create a free account with IngramSpark if you do not have one yet. You will need to know some important details about the book to set it up on their website. Those details include the ISBN, dimensions of your book, page count, cover type (hardcover, hardcover with dust jacket, paperback), interior paper type and color, book price, etc. You will need a PDF of the exterior cover and interior pages of your book to set it up.
To create the cover that includes the ISBN bar code on the back of the book, you can use a handy resource available for free on the IngramSpark site under Resources. To use this feature, simply include all the details of the book (book dimensions, page count, type of paper, ISBN, a price if you choose to show it as part of the ISBN bar code, etc.). You will then receive an email from IngramSpark within minutes with the file type you choose so that you can design your cover(s). When I define cover(s), some books such as a hardcover with dust jacket will require two art files, one for the interior hard cover itself and another one for the dust jacket. Some books could use the same artwork but do keep in mind that the specifications of each one will be different so you cannot use the same art file for both. Using the free tool to create your cover files will ensure they are designed to the appropriate dimensions.
Once you have set up all your book details, IngramSpark will go through an extensive review process of your files and the details you entered. The great thing about this process is that it is free (it used to cost $25 per book upload). The review process can take up to 5 days. Be patient. If 5 days have passed, I would suggest contacting Ingram to find out the status. I have encountered this issue before, and they were able to correct it right away. This process shouldn’t take more than 2 to 3 days but expect delays during busy seasons such as the months before Christmas.
Once the files are reviewed and approved, you will receive an email with a link to a PDF where you can review what your book will look like. Follow the steps carefully and ensure that the PDF looks the way you expected. If you encounter any issues, make the changes on your files and re-upload them again repeating the same process. When you are completely satisfied with the way your files look, then select the appropriate approval box. This will automatically make your book available for printing with IngramSpark.
Note that you can make as many edits as possible to your book files within 60 days of first uploading the file to Ingram. After 60 days, you will be charged $25 per update made, including changes to your book cover, interior pages, paper type, etc.
I recommend printing one copy of your book to make sure you are satisfied with the product you’ll be selling. Remember you only have 60 days after your book is uploaded to make any changes/updates to it for free. The printing process can take from 1 to 3 weeks depending on the number of books ordered.
MARKETING YOUR BOOK
When I wrote Sun Night, I did it to honor my brother’s life and the moments we lived together. I wanted to share my book with others and to do that, I needed to market it. You might feel uncomfortable putting yourself out there, but it is necessary if you want others to know you have taken the time to write something worth reading. Be proud of your work by creating a well-rounded marketing campaign. There are a variety of ways to accomplish that. The traditional direction is working with publishers that could take your book and market it with their spending power, experience, and resources. This is a huge effort that might take a lot of time without any guarantees.
There are several ways you can accomplish this on your own:
Use the power of social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to announce the book release and other news about the book. You can achieve this by creating a separate author social channel and building it by inviting your friends, family, and fans. Don’t forget to use related tags to expand the visibility of your post.
Enter book competitions. This helps spread the word and add face time to your book to others.
Create a website about your book with an author page, book details, a link to purchase your book, praise your book has received, fan photos, a blog, competition announcements, etc.
Create an Amazon account where you can personalize your book page with more details about it including graphics of praise, book photos, etc.
Print postcards or bookmarks with cover art and details including a link to your website or QR code. These are must-haves if you are doing a book signing or marketing in person at events.
Write a blog that could be part of your website. When visitors stop by your website, invite them to sign up for your blog. Every time you have a new entry, they receive an email about it.
Attend local and national book fairs where you can sell your book.
Reach out to local bookstores to do a book signing. Many bookstores can even help market the author signing while you also market on your social channels. Be prepared to bring signage and a healthy number of copies. The bookstore staff can give you an idea of how much inventory authors sell during the signing events.
Get a book review from a reputable source. Book reviews will help your book get noticed even more. A couple of those services include Kirkus Reviews or Booklist. There is a fee for these services. You can also get a free review from Readers Favorite. Amazon book reviews are also helpful but hard to get. People who read a lot may be more comfortable writing a review than others, be patient with these. Unless you are a well-known author or celebrity, expect the reviews to come in slowly.
Run a Book Giveaway. These are a good way of marketing your book and Goodreads.com has an affordable way of doing this. You can give away hard copies or eBook versions. It is also a good idea to have an author account page created with Goodreads so that your audience sees you are a serious author.
Write articles about your book on LinkedIn. I’ve come to embrace this mode of marketing because it is free. I can include links to my website.
Create limited edition artwork inspired by your book as an additional way to market the book. You could give away the artwork or sell it on your book website.
MARKETING STRATEGIES
Create a social media release date countdown to build excitement about your book.
Advertise your book on magazines or websites related to the type of content you write. Some trade magazines such as Booklist or Publishers Weekly could help.
Every time your book earns an accolade, make news about it. Write it on your blog, include it in your social media channels, and talk about it to friends and family.
Make news every time you do a giveaway, a signing event, attend a book fair, or win a competition. The more people see your content the more top of mind it will be. Remember that people are being bombarded with all types of media on their phones, computers, emails, and social channels, so you need to find a way to stand out from all that noise.
With their permission, use photos of people reading your book, holding your book, opening the package of your book, at signing events, book fair traffic to your table, book shots, etc.
IngramSpark now offers a free shareable link for readers to buy your book directly from them. For example, you can use this feature for a pre-sale or to sell your book at a lower price for a special event you’ll be attending. All you need to do is get the shareable link from the IngramSpark eCommerce menu, create a QR code, and use that on your marketing for that particular marketing strategy.
This wraps up the three-part series of my adventures in self-publishing. I have learned quite a lot during the last five years, but I don’t know it all. If you have any tips or ideas about self-publishing, write me a note or leave a message on this article. I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks for accompanying me on this journey.
Adventures in Self-Publishing–Part Two
Dust jacket and book case design for the new release of Sun Night.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
You’ve written your first book, now what? In this article, we’ll focus on book and cover design.
BOOK DESIGN BASICS
A prose book’s traditional size is 5.5” x 8.5” but it can be 6” x 9” or smaller. The size is entirely your choice, however, keep in mind what your printer offers first before deciding to avoid having to reformat your work afterward.
A children’s picture book can come in many sizes, 10” x 8” (landscape), 8” x 10” (portrait), 8” x 8”, and many other trims. Consider the width and height of the illustrations created for the picture book and how they will look on each layout before committing to the book dimensions, plus be mindful of printer offerings. Maybe you can even go into an oversized book trim provided printers can produce them.
BOOK LAYOUT BASICS
Laying out the interior of the book: Before you even begin to lay out your book, it is very important to know the trim size and format you desire. Once you lay the book completely, you will need to know the page count of the interior of your book to create the cover art files for production.
TIP: Start with the interior of the book layout first before designing the cover.
Laying out the book can be done by a graphic designer. You could also lay out your book pages using Microsoft Word and create a PDF from it, which your printer will need. Be sure to have a finished approved manuscript checked for grammar and spelling errors. In the case of picture books, it is expected to have a mockup of your book for the designer to use as a guide. Laying out a picture book requires more collaboration between you and the designer to achieve your expected outcome.
The interior of the book should be laid out with full justification for a prose book (see example below). Traditionally, the book title and author name appear at the top of every page as a header. I have seen variations of this from one book to another. In Sun Night, the book title appears on the left side, and the author’s name in the right side of the spread. The page numbers appear on the bottom of each page, traditionally in the center of the page, however, they can also appear on the bottom outer corner of each page.
Layout of interior pages for Sun Night.
The typeface and color you choose for the interior pages are also important. Since there are many typefaces available, consider one that is going to be easy on the eyes. If you have a preference, share that with the person laying out your book. Classic serif typefaces are traditionally the typeface of choice for prose. I used Adobe Caslon Pro for Sun Night because it is easy on the eyes. Do remember that leading (spacing between lines) is also extremely important.
It is advisable to use a different typeface from the one used for the book content, perhaps a sans serif, for the header text of the title, author’s name, and page numbers.
Regarding papers, printers can offer a limited number of papers for your book. I have used a cream color paper that is also easy on the eyes rather than the stark white ground of some papers.
ALL ABOUT COVERS
Now, let’s focus on covers: The cover artwork, types of covers, and how to layout a cover.
Cover Art: You may have heard that covers sell books, and I believe it to be true. People shop with their eyes first; they connect to visual shapes and colors before words more reason to pay great attention to the cover design. Designing covers is an art and it should be left to the professional with an eye for detail and experience in book design. There are a variety of styles that could be used to design a cover. The cover should represent the essence of what your book is about. It can also be a photograph, an object, a work of art, something personal or relatable. It should have a visual connection to the written or illustration work on the interior pages. Make sure that you own full copyrights to any photograph, design, or illustration you use on your cover.
The typography used on the cover needs to be thoughtfully decided as well. It needs to be easy to read and stand out among other books. High contrast colors should be used. While not necessary, using a typeface that is related to the story in your book would help readers connect to the theme of your book more easily.
TIP: explore bookstores for book titles with similar themes to see what they look like. It is a great way to get inspired and get ideas. You may already have an idea in mind as well, discuss it with your designer.
When I released Sun Night in 2018, I thought of using key artwork from the story, a sun collage I had done in school as a child. I reproduced the collage in a portrait size large enough that I could resize it to fit well into many different trims. Then, chose a typeface that felt more freeform to give the cover a feeling of childish play. The typeface was also used for the author’s name.
In the 2023 Sun Night cover, I went further by visually describing an iconic moment of the close relationship I had with my brother, the moments we enjoyed at the beach in Santa Clara. I wanted to play tribute to the 2018 cover and used the collage as an extension of the sun rays above the children in the design, then used a new bolder, and more readable typeface for the book title. The title has been embellished with many light effects since it sits over the sunlight emanating from the center of the composition.
You may be wondering about the author’s name, size, and location on a book cover. It all has to do with the author’s popularity or title uniqueness. It is a much bigger selling point to move the author’s name to the top billing and size larger if the author is well-known and popular. There needs to be a visual hierarchy between the title and the author’s name. If the author is not well-known, the title is much larger than the author’s name and the latter is laid out at the bottom of the page.
When designing the cover, this also includes the back cover and flaps for dust jackets. What to put in them is up to you and there is really not a rule that I have found, but traditionally, the back cover would include a synopsis, book reviews (if available) plus the ISBN and bar code. The inside front flap can also be used for synopsis if your back cover is filled with other content. The back flap is normally reserved for the author’s biography. While the flaps are important, the back cover will help sell your book and therefore an important real estate.
Below is an example of the dust jacket cover I designed for my book. It shows the marks and locations where everything should fit. Note that this is from a template provided for free by Ingram through their website ingramspark.com. Details below.
Dust jacket layout design using Ingramspark book cover.
Type of Book Covers: The most popular book formats are: hardback with dust jacket, paperback, and paper-over-board. Traditionally first edition books are released as a hardback (or hardcover) with a dust jacket. After the book has been on sale for some time (usually a year), the book is then released as a paperback (or softcover). Books with smaller page counts can be produced in a saddle-stitched (where the sheets are stapled together in the center of the book) or perfect-bound formats (where the sheets may either be stapled or glued together but the staples are covered by a cover sheet and the edges are straightened for a higher quality finish). This again depends entirely on your book and budget. One important thing to note here is that books also have page count restrictions, in particular those with smaller page counts. Inquire with your printer before deciding which cover size to use.
For the 2023 release of Sun Night, I created two book versions (actually 3 if we count the eBook). The hardcover version with dust jacket with a specially designed hardback. See the top image of this article for the finished piece.
For the paperback, the cover is similar to the dust jacket however since we do not have flaps on the paperback, the back of the book cover contains a synopsis, award recognition, and some family photos to help make more emotional connections to the story and front cover. Do remember that if you decide to create a paperback version of your book, you should also include an author’s biography section on the last page of the book. You could also pay a little more and have the author’s biography printed on the interior of the back cover.
Laying out the book Cover: Once the interior pages are created and you have decided what your cover will look like, you can begin laying out the cover. This requires skills in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Consider hiring a designer to help you with this process, especially one with experience with book cover design and page layout.
TIP: Ingram has made it easy to lay out the book cover with book templates. Visit Ingramspark.com under the Resources section for details. Once you know your book’s dimensions and the type of cover for your book, enter those details on the cover template generator. If you haven’t already, create an account with Ingramspark to accomplish this task. Their system will email you the template in the version you need. I highly recommend using InDesign to lay out your book cover and interior pages. The template would be sent to you as an InDesign file or PDF.
To ensure full ownership of my work, I decided to manage the whole creative and production process using Ingramspark.com. If you do not know a designer who could help you with your project, I’d recommend finding one at Fiverr.com where you can safely review portfolios of hundreds of artists that specialize in book and cover design. They have specific pricing based on their experience. I’ve used Fiverr to connect with artists before and it has been quite an easy and safe experience.
In the next article, we’ll go over getting your ISBN and setting your book in Ingram.
Adventures in Self-Publishing–Part One
Cover and dust jacket for the Sun Night 2023 re-release.
In 2018, I embarked on a new journey with my creative career by writing my first book titled Sun Night. Five years later, and several awards to its name, I decided to update the book with new passages to improve the closing chapters and update the cover with an iconic moment in my relationship with my brother.
If you have ever thought of writing a book or have even tried it, you know that storytelling is not an easy task. This journey started a little over 40 years ago when my brother was killed in a tragic accident. My brother could have survived the accident if it wasn’t that the woman who ran him over tried to escape the scene and dragged him under her car. This incident destroyed my family, it further broke the already inadequate relationship I had with my father due to his alcoholism and unacceptance of my brother’s death. My brother was taken away from us too soon, he had just turned 11 years old.
As I got older and found my passion in the creative arts, I kept the memory of my brother close to me and tried to find a way to let his memory prevail forever. I decided to start writing passages about us growing up together the last year of his life. It wasn’t easy. I had put away so many of those painful memories for so many years. But remarkably, as I began to uncover them, I also comprehended so many other things about our special relationship and this helped me embark on that journey of celebrating my brother’s short life.
In the new version of Sun Night, the hardcover has been updated to better fit the story. The dust jacket depicts the two brothers at the beach. The composition shows them running toward the sun as it shines in an almost dreamlike scenery over them, representing the essence of the book. The sun rays above the children, which was coincidentally the artwork used in the original release of Sun Night, reflect out toward the edges of the book cover, an iconic element of the story. The back of the dust jacket includes pictures of our youth, a selection of reviews, and award recognition.
To further embellish the book, I also created a bookcase that protects the interior of the book. The background is deep black with an image of the title with sun rays fanning out in gold foil. The back of the bookcase has a description of the book and an “about the author” section.
Self-publishing Sun Night was much more of an adventure for me. Having never published a book, I searched the internet for resources and quick tips. After reviewing all my options, I decided to produce the book myself, a job that was not only fulfilling but also very educational. One thing is for sure, it is a true example of perseverance to go through releasing a book and exposing myself as an author sharing such personal emotions and events of my past.
In my next blog entry, I’ll share my self-publishing adventure with tips and things I learned the hard way.
Sun Night - Now A Top Notable Indie
November 2024 - Waukesha, WI
Sun Night has received yet another recognition by Shelf Unbound Magazine in their Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for the 2024 Best Indie Awards. The magazine has recognized Sun Night as a Notable Indie book. Sarah Kloth, Publisher of the Shelf Unbound Magazine noted that the entries they receive for the Unbound Best Indie Book Competition “… come from authors who share their stories with passion and dedication. This year, the competition was especially fierce, with so many wonderful books that made selecting a winner both exciting and challenging.”
Check out the link below to view the online Shelf Unbound magazine.
Shelf Unbound Magazine - Winter 2024 Issue
Lessons Learned: A Celebration of a 30-Year Disney Career
As a child living in Panama, I knew about Disney from the classic animated films, the World of Color on television, and when Disney on Parade or Disney on Ice would come to visit Panama City. My first exposure to the Disney parks took place in 1976 at the age of 12. I was so captivated by the creativity and storytelling, I often wondered what it would feel like to work for Disney, but living in a completely different country, it was only a very distant and unlikely fantasy.
In 1994, that dream became a reality when I got hired at Disney as a Resort Sales Agent. Shortly thereafter, I transitioned to the creative area where I have spent most of my career. On November 20, 2024, I will be celebrating my 30th work anniversary with The Walt Disney Company. This long journey has taken me to jobs in both Florida and California, working for feature animation, ESPN, Partners FCU, Sales, WDI, DCL, and my present job at Publishing.
During all these years, I have learned many lessons about creativity, life, and about people. As this milestone anniversary approaches, I would like to share some personal lessons that helped me become the person and professional that I am today.
Feedback is a gift. I have met many artists/designers that cannot or do not know how to detach feedback from the emotions they put into their work. I was one of them. One should feel lucky to work with people that give feedback and know how to deliver it. They are doing you a favor, even though you may not think of it that way at that very moment. It helps to analyze the essence of the feedback, not the words or the way it is presented. While it is easier said than done, not taking design feedback personally will help you in the end. Be proactive and ask for feedback if you are not getting it.
Build Trusting Relationships. This is such an important trait. Building trust encompasses repeated positive and authentic experiences with anyone you encounter. Build a network of people that support and guide you and pass it on to others as well. Be proactive to connect with your contacts all the time even if you don’t work with them any longer.
Never forget the ethical rules of design. I don’t think I need to explain this one. Don’t steal and always work with an objective mind. Remember and use all the elements and devices of design. This should be part of your innate creative DNA.
Nothing is permanent. While we say that we have a permanent job, it’s only a moment in time. You have sure seen the news about so many people getting laid off due to many companies cutbacks. These days it is more important than ever to keep your two feet on the ground to this reality and to have a plan B, just in case.
Change is inevitable. If you work or have worked at Disney or many other forward thinking companies, you know well that they are always ever-changing. After all, life is about change as it is necessary to evolve. Embracing the mindset that things will be different, hopefully for the best, will make it easier for you to welcome that change.
Make mistakes. Don't feel bad when you make a mistake. You cannot evolve if you do not make them. Don’t make the same mistakes twice, learn from them. Each mistake is a learning prospect to become better at who you are and what you do.
Take risks. I will never forget a conversation I had with my grandmother many years ago. She told me to follow my dreams even if there are risks involved. Of course, she was talking about making calculated and smart risks because she didn’t want me to get to her age and wonder why I didn’t follow my dreams.
Never stop learning or finding ways to get inspired. For designers or artists alike, being exposed to other areas of the creative world is an important asset to build your inspiration boards when working on different projects. I look at what fashion, architecture, and interior design are doing so that I can help evolve design. Check out what other artists and colleagues are doing, especially on social media. Visit museums and art galleries to expose yourself to new creative directions and incorporate them in your work.
Update your portfolio regularly. This is important for anyone looking to grow in their design careers. I like to update sections of my portfolio at a time instead of doing an overall update which can be time consuming. Small updates keep the work fresh on your book or website. Be sensible when choosing what to show (Don't show everything or repetitive work). Writing a blog is also quite helpful to show your skills as storyteller.
Keep your resume updated. Your resume shouldn’t be more than one page. It needs to be concise and to the point. For designers, a good layout in your resume is incredibly important to show as part of your design skills.
The workplace is not a playground. I am a friendly person at work but the reality is that not everyone is. Regardless of the reasons, remember that at work you are hired to do a job first. While it is true we can make incredible friendships at work, not everyone wants to make friends at work.
Don’t let anyone underestimate your talent or self-worth. Never let toxic so called 'leaders' or anyone else influence negatively how you feel about yourself or your work. They do this because they lack your talent in addition to other issues I won't get into here. I believe it is true that people don’t leave their jobs, they leave their bosses. I experienced this first-hand. It does not feel very good working for someone that belittles others so they can feel better about themselves. My approach is to document everything and never sink to their level by always acting professionally. Regardless of the situation you might be in, always show up to work and do your best work because not doing so will only jeopardize your reputation, which is what narcissists, egotistical, and megalomaniac leaders hope for, so they can have an excuse to get rid of you.
Don’t be an A--hole. A so called 'manager' I was unfortunate to work for once told me that I smiled too much, and people thought I was too nice. Of course, he wasn’t very nice to anyone who wasn’t kissing his behind and he was too full of himself to notice that he wasn’t liked by anyone either. After all he had the title and thought he could treat others any way he wanted. He thought to succeed in life people needed to be just like him. I told him that I smiled because I truly loved working with people and doing my job. I always smiled at him as well, because I knew deep inside, he was a miserable person. He was eventually let go. This also goes for those leaders of leaders that endorse the behavior or look the other way. They are as guilty and in my book they don't belong leading people or organizations.
Mentor others. There is no greater satisfaction than sharing your talent and lessons learned in life with others. During my career at Disney, I have had the opportunity to mentor work colleagues and college students starting their creative journeys. Sign up for your local AIGA or check in with the company diversity teams since many also support mentorship programs. Mentoring to me also means helping your work colleagues when they need your advice or need someone to listen.
Don't give up. During my career, I found myself feeling down when I didn't get a job offer. This is a normal feeling and know it is not personal. Take the time after to assess what you need to work on to get the job you want. If you can, ask the hiring leader what you could have done or missing in your portfolio to get hired. Be proactive and look at it as a learning opportunity. And more importantly, don't give up, I was turned down many times before I was hired for the right job.
Great design requires time. There is a perception among many people that it is easy to design. If design was so easy, more people would do it. Design/creative time needs to be part of any strategy, it should never be rushed. I’ve met teams where their leadership refuse or avoid this important aspect of successful design causing an unhealthy environment where everything is a last-minute request. This is not conducive to good design and adds to low morale in the creative studio. There is no excuse about it. Showing the appropriate respect to creatives by thoughtful planning creates a healthy work environment where everyone wins. And as I always say, marketers can have great ideas, but without design, those are just ideas. Designers make those ideas a reality; give them the time they need to make that magic happen.
Be a voice, not an echo. I saw this inspirational message on Instagram the other day and it stuck with me. This is something I always keep in mind when I am designing. While we must work within budgets and brand limitations, we can always expand the horizons of design by coming up with new and unexpected ways to communicate visually. An inventive designer does this by breaking the mold and trying new things. That is a way we can create our own individual voices and move design forward.
If you have read through the whole list, thank you for staying with me until the end. I would love to hear your feedback or if you have other traits you can think of, feel free to leave a response.
creating my first picture book
Orlando, Florida - July 13, 2022.
Last year, after looking back at the success of my first book Sun Night, I had an aha moment. What if I could illustrate the stories my brother and I used to tell each other at night, those in the book, and more? That is exactly what I set to do since then. This summer, I am finally releasing the first in a series of picture books called When The Sun Came Out At Night.
Getting the book produced was more difficult and extensive than I thought it would be. As a self-published author, I do not have the means of well-known authors and publishers, so this meant doing a lot of research and learning. One of the first steps was formalizing the story to fit in a single-book format. Once the story was edited and concrete, I began the arduous process of simplifying it to be easily read by children. This was harder than I thought. What do I keep, or take out? There were so many moments that I wanted to highlight but I stayed focused on the story and the main idea of a fantasy world where children can create anything in their minds. This informed my next steps.
Since the stories in Sun Night are so visual, it was difficult to select which scenes to illustrate, but once I had defined the sections to keep in the story, I was able to separate those ideas into individual book spreads. My vision for the book was to fill the page spreads with beautiful scenes depicting the actions described in the story. I created a storyboard document where every page had an area assigned for the copy and the rest for the illustration.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS
I began to research illustrators from around the world while I was laying out the book to save time. I had just come out of designing the Disney enterprise look for the 2021 Hispanic Heritage Month celebration and this inspired me to focus my attention on Latin American artists. I was quickly captivated by Sergio Guillén, an amazing artist from Costa Rica. His illustration work was stellar and very unique. He dominates color and has a very personal aesthetic for building characters and illustrations. One of the reasons I ended up hiring him was his ability to create captivating illustrations that appear as if coming out of the page, as well as his level of detail.
Character Development Drawings and with colors.
The illustration process took many months. Starting with the creation of character models, scene concepts, storyboards, reviews, changes, and final set-ups for each spread and cover art. It was refreshing to collaborate with a talented and experienced illustrator because he really understood the process and the need to relate that this was a work of fantasy. Even though the story has a fantasy element, I wanted the characters to appear real and in a natural environment that would align with where they came from. For that purpose, we focused heavily on documenting specifics about each of the characters. For example, Koa and Elio both have tattoos on their chests, arms, and legs. These tattoos were carefully designed to represent both the infinite love for the family on Koa’s chest and the volcano story on Elio’s chest.
Scene Development shows a lush and dimensional space that creates cinematic depth and interest.
The book setup was important as well. My approach was that it would start at night, with dark pages and as the story progressed, the pages would get filled with more and more bright colors as a way to emphasize the story.
Once the book was ready to get produced, I worked on creating several options, a hardcover 8 x 10 version, a softcover 8 x 8 version, and a set of read-aloud cards. These are to be available only in limited numbers for the original pre-order release of the book. Once the book is released in late July 2022, it will be available in book stores and online in an open edition 8 x 10 hardcover version only.
I would like to thank you for supporting self-published Latino authors and artists. I would also like to thank Sergio and Jim for believing in my dream to help make it a reality.
December 7, 2022 Update – The book has now been released in Spanish under the title Cuando el Sol Salió en la Noche and is available in all fine book stores online.
THE DESIGN OF THE 2021 HISPANIC LATINX HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATION
First, you hear them, for they are loud and zestful.
Then you see them, flying right above you,
for they are easy to witness with their
bright red, blue, yellow, and green plumage.
Shuffling from tree to tree, discovering their surroundings
while continuing their journey toward the sky.
– EH de la Espriella –
How do you define the rich culture of Hispanics across the world in one single inclusive visual representation?
That was the question posed on me when a couple of months ago I was honored as a Disney Latino artist with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring to life the creative direction for The Walt Disney Company’s enterprise celebration of the 2021 Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month.
When it came down to discussing the possibilities for this effort, there were already some ideas tossed around when I became involved. These included designs using flags, tiles from various countries, even some muted colors that didn’t really speak of our culture at all. While those were all good, they were not pushing the boundaries of creativity and they were missing the heart of who we are as a community. We are more than a flag or a tile design. We are loud, vibrant, and colorful.
As I was going through my weekend chores at home back in mid-July, I began to form ideas by recalling my past living in Panama to see where this would take me. I talked to several of my Latino friends and colleagues and asked them about their Latino experiences growing up. Incredibly so, we all had a strong connection to the land we grew up in, including the flora and fauna. Burned in my memory are images of my family going to the beach out in the countryside or walking down the Rio Piedra near Colon, where I was born, and hearing the “guacamayas” (macaws) screeching for everyone to hear, as if saying “here we are, look at me.” And the sight of these beautiful birds was something that never departed my mind. The gradient of coloration in their bodies became even more exotic as the macaws expanded their wings or moved about against the bright sunlight. Coincidentally, many of my friends and colleagues had very similar experiences growing up.
Flora and fauna found all across Latin America.
COLOR
Color can express individuality, it can express the mood of a person or a story. Color is incredibly important in Disney storytelling. Each film scene displays a color model that expresses the mood of the characters which is echoed in the color scheme of the environment, from the background to the costumes and lighting in the scene. As a predominant emotional element in film production, I began to see how we utilize color to emphasize ideas and build on attitudes and highlight important parables.
Use of color to represent mood, personalities, and for identification. © Disney
Then, I started to make color connections to my culture. In Latin America, we paint our houses with bright and happy colors, we dress in the same manner, and we speak at a higher volume than most, perhaps to balance the brightness of the sun of the tropics. All our cultures revere color, both the factual and the philosophical. This can be seen in the folklore of the dance and costumes as in the Polleras of Panama, or the way that homes are painted in the little town of Guatapé, Colombia; or the colorful designs of Spanish and Portuguese azulejos (tiles), and how Mexican culture celebrates death with colorful and lively meaning. Our cultures celebrate color every day of our lives in everything we do from the clothes and patterns we wear to the way we connect to one another with warm tones of love and kindness.
From left to right: Guatapé, Colombia; Mola designs from the Kuna Yala, Panama; Spanish and Portuguese tile designs.
Use of color dominates the beautiful folklore of the Hispanic Latinx culture as seen in these examples.
It was definite that color would be the foundation to represent our rich heritage. And what better way to do that than by paying homage to the macaws and the brilliant gradient of color their bodies enjoy. There is more to macaws than just their beautiful feathers. Just like us, most macaws mate for life, they share their food with their mates and enjoy grooming each other. They are also highly intelligent and very social birds. Macaws also possess individual traits similar to our fingerprints with distinct yellow feathers framing their faces.
There is something quite magical to discover when examining the feathers in the body of a macaw in detail. No feather has just one color. They all work together, like united voices (Voces Unidas) to create the most amazing rainbow of colors. And with that, I leave you with this year’s Hispanic Latinx Heritage Month visual story, from my heart to everyone at the Disney enterprise and beyond. This is not only a celebration of our culture, but also of our sacrifices, struggles, love of family and community, and most important of all, a celebration of life. Happy Hispanic Latinx Heritage Month amigos!
Examples of the finished branding/design.
DESIGNING A NEW ATM SURROUND
I am never bored in my job. There is always something new and exciting we are working on. The latest project to bring excitement to my world entailed updating the ATM at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The ATMs were being updated across our network and this location would be getting a completely new model which offered us an opportunity to create a new surround for it.
From Concept to Delivery, the new Partners ATM surround frame at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Many ideas came to mind when designing concepts for this ATM, especially because of its location and proximity to the Galaxy’s Edge land at the theme park. We ended up with a design concept that would play well with its surrounding while also supporting the technology and futuristic storylines so strongly featured in the “Star Wars” land. In order to accomplish this, we used a variety of materials that included brush aluminum, followed by a layer of acrylic mirror printed from a pattern I designed based on Partners branded graphic elements. The logo was layered over the acrylic face, also printed, and cut out in acrylic. For the overall shape, I conceptualized a variety of modern approaches than just a boring standard surround you would encounter at another bank or credit union.
One learning opportunity for me involved using a different color than our standard Partners Red which we normally use on all our ATM surrounds. At this particular location, we were limited in only using the dark gray, which is also an important brand color in our style guide, however, we had never used it on an ATM surround before. We were concerned the ATM would not stand out enough or that the colors would not show well, but to our surprise, the design worked very cohesively. We stayed true to who we are as a brand, by using the gray and metal texture, we pushed the boundary of our brand in ways we hadn’t done before.
The finished product speaks for itself. We tried an out-of-the-box approach at designing this ATM surround and the result was simply put a huge success.