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Who do you believe to be the three major artists and designers who are shaping the discipline you are interested in pursuing or who have influenced you?
I believe the first artist that had the most influence over me had to be my Dad. As a kid, I never visited him at the office or saw him “in action” doing what he did best in his profession. From what he told me he was an Engineer. But despite his claims, I did know that he played the guitar an awful lot when I was a kid.
When I say an “awful lot”, I mean that from the moment my father would get home and change into his “house clothes” to the moment we went to bed – throughout the night, he would play his guitar. He would strum melodies sitting on his swivel chair- sometimes rock, sometimes ballads, occasionally classical. Whatever the genre, he was always strumming something! He would be so into his music that you had to literally shake him to break his concentration. Music was altogether his “second profession.”
Occasionally, when he wasn’t so ingrained in his tunes, he would draw pictures of Superman for me. I loved Superman! I thought that the ability to draw was the coolest thing my dad ever did when I was a kid. And not only draw, but to draw Superman! I wanted to be able to draw every day. If only I could…
A second influence for me would have to be Joey Quarles, my Art Director at Inkworks Design and Press. He was first mentor who fostered my creativity as a young designer. He not only taught me the process of creating good design, but also showed me how to enhance its “magic”. He was an English major in college, so his skill in creating verbal sell points was uncanny and marvelous. He showed me how far I could broaden the appeal of a design with good copy, and good copy writing.
A third influence would have to be Mikio Osaki, my instructor at Art Center at Night. At first I didn’t know much about this “thing” called Advertising except that it paid my bills by buying space in my magazine, there were these “things” called commercials that ran on TV that were funny sometimes but mostly interrupted my shows, billboards, bus stops, and billboards on buses that lined highways and streets, and banners that popped up everywhere on the net especially when it involved “nekkid chi-chis”. After taking Mikio’s class I saw Advertising a little differently. I picked up a little more about Advertising’s history and evolution, the business of the industry itself, new applications in ad execution, and that there was actually a “point” to advertising – “The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.”
I can also say that the Taco Bell dog or the sexy girl from the Doritos commercial may have influenced me to shape the disciple of pursuing advertising as a major. Or perhaps I realized how strong a message can be delivered in the media with the news and television. I know that whatever influences that happened to turn my life in this direction, it was for the best- in my own, little pursuit of happiness.
As a creative person, my mind tends to wander all over the place. With the proper education and degree, I hope to refine all of my acquired experience in design, marketing, and media to transcend into the profession of advertising. I chose ACCD for it’s unique heritage, commitment and reputation for excellence in furthering the medium of design and process. I anticipate the school to live up to that reputation, and hope to honor that tradition of excellence.
But most importantly, I look forward in gaining the whole EXPERIENCE of it all!
Happy Birthday Junk “The Grad Medudo” Uno! Special shouts going out to Mr. Abel “Hable” Lumikang and Mr. Trin “City Boy” Salaroy.
“Come out to celebrate a good night of good friends, good times, and “space cowboys” as the confirmed FRESHNESS of Usual Suspects, 21XL, Mixwell USA®, CAS, Live and Love Reggae, and CityBoy come together to present…”WE BE ILLIN!” a one-time jam in the LBC. Leading the charge is DJ KWEST (Cerritos All-Stars Radio) www.cerritosstars.com.”
I can just hear the “copy” in things.
I blindly erase typing words and phrases the come through my head. It’s resting time. 8:34 is the time on the clock as I type.
The organization baffles me. Yet the message is clear. I’ve been designing promos like this to what seems like 1000 years working at Inkworks. Keep it simple. I try to remember that as I needed to hunt pick and pray to use the 1000 or so words on the page to SELL.
In the fall of 1998, I was interning at a small creative company located in the City of Cerritos, CA named Inkworks Design and Press. They were a small, grassroots company specializing in event campaigns. I was openly exposed to many forms of media including graphic design, motion graphics, web, print, and interactive media. I actively learned both the conceptual and production process. Broadening my range allowed me to experiment and delve into different forms of communication arts.
After 5 years, I was acquired by Vision Entertainment, the producers of the infamous car-show tour “Hot Import Nights.” to “bud” in the growing franchise as a online marketing & design manager. I was actively exposed to marketing analysis, strategy, and implementation to mixed media via print and web.
I am now in media as an Art Director at Overamerica Media Group, the publishers of hipster-fresh mags BPM, C16, and Vapors. Through my position at the magazine I have been actively exposed to the Hollywood lifestyle and Westside culture, very glamorous indeed! Aside form that, I’ve also been heavily exposed to Marketing and Advertising.
And that’s how I found my way toward a major in Advertising at the Art Center College of Design.
Admittedly, I procrastinated on this one. When am I ever gonna learn that slow and steady surely can win the race? But yes, I tried to hold this off as long as possible for multiple, if not practical reasons.
So I filled on my FAFSA today to apply for student aid and of course qualify me for scholarship. The process was not as hard as I thought given that it took me about a good hour to fill out all the questions. Not to mention, I did check the site out ahead of time to obtain my Fed PIN.
I started a financial folder for my records just like a good records keeper! I felt so adult. haha
I gathered my transcripts to get them ready for admissions. I feel like I’m really doing this! Just a couple more things out of the way before I get to submitting everything. I need to fill out the application for one, and then write my essay. THEN I have to review my portfolio and get that ready for submission. I’m pretty nervous. It’s been a while getting here and I feel that each day I chip away at the old block until this process is complete.
For the first time I actually feel responsible for my education and grabbing hold of where I need to be. A lot of that inspiration had to do with my family. My mom, dad, sister, and older brother all went to college. I feel like I was the last one (even though I am the middle kid) because I didn’t know what I really wanted to do. I feel like this whole time groomed me into the person I wanted to be. Not only that, but for reasons unknown I have felt like I didn’t deserve to be as educated or smart as my siblings. I felt like I was the one always left out. It’s no fault but my own to fail to recognized that as hard as my family STRESSED how important it was to get an education, that ultimately I was in control of my goals in life. How naive I was in the world.
My motivation was the closest of friends – DBS and my good friend Erwin. My brothers in DBS will always be my inspiration in all my pursuits of happiness. It’s not just the people that make up the group, but also the philosophy about self and life that we all explored together so many years ago. Erwin was my catalyst in applying to the school. He was the first to introduce me to the possibilities as it was him that I ran to on on of my many visits to the school.
Sorry for the tangent. I have to keep reminding myself as to how I got to this point. What motivated me to start this journey of self-exploration. That was just a little background. But anyway….
I’m just waiting to get done. I hope this counts for something.
First off, I don’t remember how I came about to make this decision. After all, I have a budding career in graphic design. I have finally become an Art Director.
Oh yea, that’s the reason – I became an Art Director.
There is nothing wrong with being an Art Director. From the beginning of design school at Platt College I dreamed about being an Art Director. I think that that was my main goal to achieve when I graduated from design school.
Now, I’m an Art Director at two fine magazines – Vapors – a cultural look at street-fashion publication and C16 – a digital car mag. And nowadays, I find myself at a very precarious position with life decisions.
On one hand, I love what I do. What is that? Well like I said I’m an Art Director. What’ is that? Well, I direct ART by planning layouts, over-seeing the production, and making sure that the book hits the deadline date. I can honestly say that I can handle every creative end of a publication from planning to print. It sounds like fun – working for a magazine – and it is! But just like any profession, it’s a lot of work. It has the growing pains of any up and coming, independent magazine trying to grow wings before legs. I hate the hours. But I love the perks. I love the challenge. And, I love the fact that I have never before, in my professional career, worked with such a diverse group of individuals with interesting backgrounds, and better yet – extraordinary stories.
On the other hand, I want to know if this is all there really is with my career and more importantly, my education.
So here I am at 3 in the morning, too lazy to put my portfolio together and/or my paperwork. I don’t know why I’m procrastinating. Perhaps I’m scared. Perhaps I’m tired.
