Lessons Learned: A Celebration of a 30-Year Disney Career

November 16, 2024

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

July 13, 2022

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

September 15, 2021

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.

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

May 14, 2021

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.

THE PARTNERS MOBILE BRANCH

November 11, 2020

Four years have already passed since Partners Federal Credit Union launched its mobile branch in Orlando, Florida. The project became a reality from a team-building event where diverse individuals from different departments got together to bring innovation to the credit union. There was a unique opportunity for the credit union to bring the branch to areas of the widespread space of The Walt Disney Company in Lake Buena Vista and other areas near Orlando where the Cast works out of. The idea was simple, bring the branch to the Member.

As part of the project management team, I led the interior design, selection of materials, colors, finishes, and external branding look/feel. I quickly came to learn that designing a mobile branch is very different than designing a brick-and-mortar branch. The layout of the interior which was a team effort, included a bank teller window, a service desk, and a private large area in the back that could be split into two offices or used as one room to conduct workshops.

In order to make space feel larger, we used a light color texture in beiges/grays for walls and countertops, flooring in grays, and a feature tile wall in Partners red.

Mood Board

Wrap Concept Design

Interior View

The exterior of the branch included many requests that would make the unit even more useful when visiting locations around the Disney property. There is an extension that pulls out that provides the interior more room for the front desk. The branch includes an ATM that is accessible from the exterior as well as a teller window. The exterior mid-section also has a TV monitor that is used for marketing purposes. We utilized the color red again on the extendable canopy that brings a nice pop of color to the branch when it is fully open.

A highlight of the wrap is that it was installed in two layers. The metal effect layer is one layer, then there is a second layer of semigloss pixie dust elements spread throughout the body of the truck. The beauty about the wrap is that we are able to easily overlay marketing campaigns over the back of the mobile branch wrap.

Mobile Branch Under Construction

Completed Mobile Branch

Back of Branch Wrap

Mobile Branch with Extended Cab

Mobile Branch with TV monitor

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS AT THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

November 20, 2019

November 20, 2019, marked my 25th Anniversary with The Walt Disney Company (TWDC). It seems almost unreal that I have arrived at this moment in my career. Time does fly when you are having fun.

In 1994, with two thousand dollars in my bank account and a huge dream, I rented a truck and moved from Miami to Orlando. Then, I drove to the Disney Casting Center in Lake Buena Vista and applied for any job I could get. A short time after, I was working at the Disney Reservation Center (DRC) as a Sales Agent.

In following my artistic dream, I built my art portfolio and applied for all creative roles that came available. Just a year and a half later, my artistic career began as an animation artist for the Magic of Disney Animation Tour. This experience and exposure led to a new opportunity with Ink and Paint where I painted collectible animation cels for 5 years. Working there also allowed me the once-in-a-lifetime chance to tour the United States and Canada with the Hercules Mega Mall Tour and be part of the Animation Celebration that the Studios hosted in 1997. My career then transitioned to the graphic arts.

During all these years, I have learned so much from some amazing artists and leaders. Ralph Kent, who was instrumental in keeping Mickey Mouse's character model standards and who worked directly with Disney, taught me techniques for fine line quality in animation drawing, something I have never forgotten. There have also been so many great leaders that have taught me so much and have allowed me to expand my creativity and grow my career.

The power to affect change is one of the most important achievements I feel that I have made while working for Disney, indirectly through my work and directly through my relationships and interactions with the diverse and talented Cast Members. It is not about me in the end, it is about leaving a legacy for others as those that came before me. Just like Ralph and others truly made an impact in my life, now I am doing the same for the younger generations through mentoring and sharing my talent with insightful conversations about the world of art and design. Just last month, I was humbled by an invitation to speak at the Disney Hispanic Heritage Month celebration where along with three other fantastic Disney artists, we were able to share and celebrate our personal Latino journeys while working at Disney.

Someone asked me not long ago what the fondest memory has been of my quarter-century with Disney. I didn’t even have to think about it. A month later after starting my job at Disney, I met the love of my life and the person I am so lucky to have shared the last 25 years with. Jim is also celebrating his 25th Anniversary with Disney in December.

My Disney journey continues today at Partners Federal Credit Union where along with an incredibly talented marketing team, we work to building a better tomorrow for all our Cast. That in itself is incredibly rewarding. It is equally gratifying to volunteer my talent and time to support the Disney Business Employee Resource Groups. It feels so good to know that my work is helping Disney culture grow and strengthen.

I have to thank so many mentors, co-workers, and leaders that I am so proud to call my friends. Some may have moved on from the company, but we still stick like glue. We have supported and celebrated each other through all our highs and lows. I have to also thank a very special person; someone I feel I know so well but never got to meet. Walt Disney, of course. He believed. He made his dreams come true with perseverance never looking back at failure but forward toward his vision. For me, he has been the model to look up to and the inspiration for never ever giving up on my dreams. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your dream for 25 years.

THE STORY BEHIND MY FIRST BOOK – SUN NIGHT

June 30, 2018

In January 2018 I released my first book, SUN NIGHT about my brother and I growing up in Panama. It was a project that took three years to complete, but about 40 years to be ready for. The last chapters were the ones that took the longest and were the most difficult to complete. I finished writing the book in May 2017, but that was just the beginning.

Even though there were a lot of items to check off the list to get the book published, I felt organized internally in my mind. I think it helped to have that instilled in me since I work in the design industry where one has to show clear results within a deadline. One of those items in my list involved working with Sam Hubbard, my good friend and editor of the book. Having edited previous books in the past, I trusted her to give SUN NIGHT the appropriate love and attention required. Imagine being a first time author, and showing your work to someone that is an avid reader and editor. Sam took my book and gave it the care it needed. It wasn't something that could be rushed. Something I learned since early on. I was so excited to release the book, that I couldn't wait for all the round of edits.

And there was so much more. I didn't only write the book, I also created the cover art and laid out the front and back cover, laid out the interior of the book for both the print and electronic version, in addition to the marketing and website design. I also learned how to sell the book on Amazon, Apple and other book stores, as well as taking credit card payments. It was all exciting, but at times mind-blowing. It was a lot of work, but I never questioned myself that I could do this.

The cover art is a paper collage that represents the rays of the sun starting in the center in white to yellow, orange, and red toward the outer rim. The collage is actually an important element in the story and I felt it needed to be something I created. The work for the cover started a year earlier. I never created any concepts. I had conceived the design in my mind for such a long time, that once the work was complete, it turned out exactly how I had expected or visualized.

Once I finished writing the manuscript, I began to lay out what the cover would look like, creating a total of 10 versions. It was evident that it would be a formal design based on the composition of the collage. I tried so many different typefaces for the title, but only a few seemed well to represent the feeling of the story. They were Perla and a cursive script. While I loved the cursive, it felt too playful for the tone of the story. I went with the more formal Perla. The cover was not embellished in any way, however, the letters were made to look as if the collage elements were glued on the board over part of the letters to make the title more inclusive of the overall design.

As a first-time author, I decided to create a simple back cover using a darker hue borrowed from the front. The short synopsis and author bio were laid out with corresponding photos. This was done intentionally to make it easy for anyone to get a clear feel for what the book was about in addition to learning a little about me without taking away from the story summary.

The layout of the gut of the book was quite a challenge for me but I did a lot of research. I quickly learned that there wasn't a specific rule but most books were laid out in a simple manner. I took my time laying out each page of the book to ensure that everything not only looked visually pleasing but also following appropriate writing styles. I took part in the collage cover and created a partial sunray design in black and white that was used as an illustration at the beginning of each chapter.

I researched several options to publish the book, and decided to self publish in order to save time. This meant that I would have to pay for the production and create all the marketing on my own. I worked with Blurb.com to get the book produced in two versions: a hard cover and a soft cover. Blurb's platform also allows authors to launch the book with the Ingram marketplace, a worldwide distribution system for books. This allowed for the book to appear on Amazon, and any online book store. A marketable way for me to reach to prospective interest for the book was to create a website. I produced the site using Squarespace.com because they offered the ability to charge credit cards and help me manage the book sales process. Their templates are also very easy to work with and easily viewed on different platforms.

The day I released the book, January 31, 2018 to be exact, I had such a mix of emotions. I was scared, sad, tired, but also excited, anxious, and happy. I was worried that people would judge me because I wrote a bad book, after all I was a first time author and wrote a book in English, my second language. I was also incredibly worried about negative feedback on Amazon and other sites. But above all, it felt freeing to release the book to the world. It had been such a long process, it felt like a huge achievement.

I released the book with a Facebook announcement, I was literally shaking. I didn't expect many people to actually take notice but interestingly, everyone supported my project. For many it was a total surprise, but for those expecting it, it was welcomed news. I was surprised as well by the amount of people that purchased the book at first. Thank you to all those who have supported my dream.

Designing Award-Winning Credit Card Campaigns

September 25, 2016

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to create a campaign that would help enhance our loan assets by encouraging customers to use their credit cards and be entered to win a trip to a resort in Hawaii. Of course, it had to be our very own Disney Aulani Resort and Spa.

The campaign included a mailer, a pre-approval letter, an email to three different targeted groups, print ads, online and in-branch presence. While this project could have been the standard job where we use characteristic photography assets from the company, we wanted to take the project a step ahead by creating memorable deliverables. We worked closely with the resort brand style guide and went to work with some concepts. All the print materials were created using InDesign.

THE MAILER – For the mailer, we wanted to do something larger and in unusual dimensions that would attract attention when received in mailboxes. For that reason we went with a square design. In order to add some weight to the piece, we went with a 120 lb weight cover. The element that makes it real special is the use of a dye cut in the shape of a flower, which is used as a framing device to expose some of the most beautiful and colorful photography of the resort. The panels were all built together on each of its sides. This means that a lot of measuring was involved to ensure that the images would fit seamlessly when the panels closed over each other. In looking at the front panels below, the front panel (image of dad and child) on the right, and the panel next to it in brown (the back panel), were the same size. The other two panels' width were smaller in order to fold internally. The dye cut panel was glued onto the panel next to it in order to create the framing effect. The whole mailer was also glued with glue dots on the top and bottom corners (inside the front panel), in order for the packet to stay together.

UPDATE – On April 2017, the Credit Union National Association awarded a Diamond Award for excellence in direct mailer marketing.

The mailer with four distinct panels that when closed, connects the images together.  The magenta area shows the dye cut. — The mailer with four distinct panels that when closed, connects the images together. The magenta area shows the dye cut.

Detailed sample of the mailer interior with the first panel opened; Detail of dye cut showing lifestyle photography.

THE PRE-APPROVAL OFFER LETTER – The letter came in a customized envelope that carried more of the colorful photography of the resort. The offer letter inside is legal size needed to fit all the required disclosure for the offer. The letter was designed following the brand style guide where photography assets are organized with white stroking without overlaps.

PRINT AD – The only other print item designed for this effort was a full page print ad that appeared for several print runs of various local magazines. The print ad followed the same overarching photography and layout style.

DIGITAL – The rest of the materials produced for this project were digital graphics for the consumer website and email deployment. These were created using Photoshop. The email included animated gifs of changing photos. The same images were used on the digital channels to connect with the print collateral.

Pasión

August 8, 2016

Pasión is passion in Spanish, and it is where the best of us comes from. When I am asked, what is my passion, my response is always Art. It has been since I first can remember and it will always be. From my early childhood watching my parents draw for fun and learning from them, through my discovery years when traveling abroad in Europe and finding out that this world is much bigger than the visual space around me. The paintings of the renaissance called most of my attention for their beautiful composition and symbolism, but I never thought that I had talent enough to be able to do it myself. I discovered oil painting during a difficult episode in my life and I instantly fell in love with it. It was an intimidating medium for me, as it usually is on anything you don't know anything about at the beginning, but I found the courage and was determined to learn and try it out.

While some people are fans of music pop artists, I am a fan of the old renaissance artists Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Botticelli. Maybe I am just an old soul. As I grew older and my taste and aesthetics evolved, I discovered new artists and mediums but my passion to oil continued to grow. In the last ten years or so, I have discovered new artists that continue to surprise and inspire me, to name a few Odd Nerdrum and Kehinde Wiley.

Let's say I learned to paint in oils on the job, while doing studies of paintings I admired. One in particular that is near and dear to my heart was the study of a Caravaggio painting "Betrayal of Christ". It actually took me a couple of years to complete because it was incredibly intimidating. I remember going to sleep thinking of the section I was to paint next and looking at the original for clues on how to make it happen. The amount of visual effects Caravaggio used in the painting were incredible and in the original, just plain successful. To make the painting my own, with all due respect to Caravaggio, I changed the face of Jesus to the face of a colleague artist of mine, in addition to his own hands. This is a huge painting, 60" wide x 48" tall. I was able to sell the painting to a hospital in Chicago. I often think of this painting as proof that I can paint. But it also taught me an incredible amount of patience and higher understanding of color and how it reacts to light and dark.

I continued to paint for some time trying portraits and original work that included crumbled paper as in the samples below.

THE PRESENT

I stopped painting for many years after my career change to graphic design. It was just energy consuming to design all day and then get home and paint. But through the years, I have felt as if something has been missing out of my life. Just this past May I decided to get back into painting. It was like riding a bike. I started with a paper study to get me back into the habit of painting. Here are some progress photos as I produced this study.

I have a variety of ideas of paintings I would like to produce in the next few months. One of them is a new canvas I have started called Two Cranes. The painting has personal symbolism. It is about two origami cranes that I folded, then unfolded to unveil the lines that have been left from the folding unto the paper. The painting will be finished with a sky background. This is a painting in progress.

Designing a bank deposit campaign

April 11, 2016

If you work for a bank or credit union creative team, you know exactly how I have feel when the word "Deposits" comes up. It's like getting an automatic writer's block, in this case a designer's block. Creating marketing for a product as bland and boring as a "Deposit" is perhaps the biggest challenge for visual designers because of the lack of visual queues we can connect to the word "Deposit", especially if we are trying to go for the unconventional. Producing a unique design and successful creative while communicating the strategic needs of our brand is even more difficult. Most banks usually highlight the rates in big numbers. I am sure you have seen those everywhere. We've also done that, to be exact it was last year, but we went a little more unique by creating the numbers out of US coins. It took quite a while to create the graphics but the result was very successful.

For this year's campaign we wanted to do something different and more unconventional. We did a brainstorm session where our fantastic writer and I started to play with words that we could connect to the effort, such as "Power Up", "Charge Up", "Electrified" came up. From those words I quickly came up with two ideas to pitch. For the first idea, I wanted to utilize the wealth of creativity that our company has to offer, and in particular the film Monsters, Inc. came to mind. My idea was to show the scream canisters but here used as canisters where people keep their money. For the second idea, I pitched the visual of a battery charger (such as a jumper cable) where the money is getting charged. After the meeting, I began creating concepts for both pitches since I had a little time to work on this project. The canister idea was interesting but when I went to design concepts for it, I quickly realized that it was going to be difficult to explain what the canister had to do with the idea of charging the money. For the second idea, I was able to find a perfect image on iStockphoto of jumper cables charging dollar bills. The image is exactly what I was looking for but it was not going to be enough to be convincing and engaging. I quickly looked for other images or sparks and electrical charges and was able to find some good choices that would work well for the project. Finally, I decided to use an image of metal texture for the background that closely matched our brand style. For typefaces, I decided to use a newly released modern clean font, something that no one has seen before in order to focus on a more fresh and new experience. I found a good font called Sullivan that came in three different versions: Regular, fill and bevel. I went to work once I had all my assets.

My design process is very internal. I am able to get ideas in the brainstorming process and layout the elements in my head. I remember when I started to work as a designer, I sketched everything. Mostly they were blocks in a page to help me place the main elements of the composition. This helped me better visualize to the point that today it is a completely mental process. I can see visuals in my mind, and slowly create a full picture of what the design will look like before it is fully completed, often before the end of the creative session. I know when I do not fully understand a project because I usually have a hard time visualizing it in my head, and that is when I ask a lot of questions.

Once I had all my graphic elements for this project, I started in Photoshop to color manage the image of the money with the jumper cables because the money didn't appear as colorful or as lively as I originally wanted. I proceeded to mask the image from the white space. Next, I pulled elements from the vector image that would work well in the space. For visual clarity, I was conscious to keep the money clear from the sparks and electrical charge effects while still showing the effect across both positive and negative sides. I actually ended up rounding some of the effects in order to better frame the electrical charges around the money. Finally, I added the sparks right where the metal connected to the money. Since the raster image of the spark was dark enough, I was able to apply a screen effect to the layer to remove the black space from the photo. I added the spark on each connector.

After the effects, I added the background and played around with drop shadows to give the design more depth. Once the design was completed in Photoshop, I moved on to InDesign to lay out the copy. Normally, I will do a preliminary headline in the same Photoshop art file for several reasons. First, I can align where the headline will go in the InDesign workspace, and secondly, it may give me more opportunities to be creative by adding effects to the headlines, something that is not possible in InDesign. For this particular project, I ended up including the headline in the Photoshop file in order to give the design even more depth. The body copy, call to action, logo, tag line and disclosures were placed in InDesign and the composition was complete.

For this project, we created elements for the web and for our in-branch digital posters. We had motion graphics created that took full advantage of the sparks and electrical charge effects on the money.