Ana Julia Rodriguez
Q What do you do?
“I’m an Art director / Visual designer with an experiential design focus. ”
Visual/graphic design can be much more than just flat or behind a screen; there are many ways of making graphics exciting and interactive in both the physical and digital world. As an experiential designer, I'm dedicated to create brands with substance and thoughtful experiences by offering tailored and creative solutions.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I consider myself a creative thinker since I was a teenager in high school; I would always be the student in charge of events, decorations, and activities. But my journey as an Art Director began at Parson, I moved from Venezuela to NYC to study a BBA in Design and Strategy, and I thought, for some reason, that path would be safer than just going for a BFA in Communication Design, but after a year I had to switch majors because I was craving all the creative classes.
After graduating, I worked at a couple of agencies as a graphic designer, but I found my professional path when I started working at an experiential design agency. Since then, I've been working on experiences for brands designing pop-ups, restaurants, retail stores, museums, and so on.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
I think it would be connecting with clients and getting involved in every single aspect of the project; when developing a brand it is essential to understand every single part of it, from knowing why the brand is being created, and who the people behind it are to what the vision for the future is to successfully translate it in a logo, space, website, graphic, etc.
As an Art Director working in the experiential design world, I'm involved in the entire process, from ideation to execution of a brand, developing a brand identity that relates to its physical or/and digital space.
Q What are you working on right now?
At the moment I have a couple of projects in the making, an interactive website for a creative studio, a new pop-up museum opening in Toronto, and my personal favorite is creating the brand identity for a bar/speakeasy in NYC.
Q What’s your style?
It changes depending on the client and the project, but one thing that I always try incorporate no matter what is creating brands/spaces that tell stories.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
There is something about working in the service industry that I really like, seeing people actually interacting with your work daily is very interesting to me. I think that doing creative work for the hospitality industry is a field that I would definitely love to focus on more.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
I would say it is actively looking for new clients.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
A sales representative to help bring new clients.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
That things fall into place, and creativity is a muscle you always need to exercise.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Probably a successful agency owner to understand how the backstage of an agency works and how to make it grow thought the years. Learn about outsourcing, hiring processes, and dealing with big clients.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Ideally, I would say brand identity projects. But honestly, I'm open; all projects with creative freedom are always fun to work for.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Developing the brand identity for a boutique hotel, designing the rooms, the restaurants, signage, symbols, collateral materials, website, and everything else.
Q What is your rate?
For project based pricing depends on the project scope, but usually starts at $6,000.00.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
You can contact me by email or directly on my website. Tell me a bit about your project and how we can collaborate!
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Kel Lauren is a great graphic designer and content creator (@kel.lauren)
Also, Sharit Kassab is an amazing architect/experiential designer.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Good conversations, visiting museums and galleries, going to the theater, staying up to date with the latest trends, and always learning new skills.
This member profile was originally published in November 2022.