Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodrigo Trabbold.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Rodrigo. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in São Paulo, Brazil and went to business school. I know it’s the complete opposite of what I am today, but for some reason, it felt right at that time – I was young and thought it would be a good idea to follow my dad’s steps. It turned out I was wrong, but there is nothing wrong in that. After all, when you are 18 years old, things may not be as clear as they come to be later on.
Soon, after I realized, I was in the wrong field, I decided to follow what I always liked, ART. It was always my passion and it was always there – from sketching during classes to painting my own skateboards, it just took me some time to realize that I could do it for a living. I then enrolled in an Art Direction program at Miami Ad School, one of the best decisions I made back then. It was an awesome program with great people from the advertisement industry. I ended up learning a lot and starting a career as an art assistant at Grey Brazil. It was a great experience as it was my first job in the industry. After that, I moved to Miami, FL for a six-month internship program at Young & Rubicam, where I learned a lot about how the market worked here in the US, and about the differences between the industry here and in Brazil – for instance, how the brainstorming and even the relationship between clients and agencies worked differently from country to country. I went back to Brazil and worked at DM9DDB for about 2 years, one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world and one of the greatest work experiences I ever had. After I left, I started working at Riot, also a major digital-focused agency in São Paulo, where I spent most of my days for another 2 years before moving to Los Angeles.
In 2015, I went back to school – I started a post-grad program at UCLA in Design Communication and Arts. My goal was to refresh old skills and learn new ones like video editing, 3D and after effects. At UCLA, I also discovered the world of entertainment design and immediately fell in love with it. I was then able to mix music, movies, and arts into a completely new form of expression, at least for me. During my OPT (Optional Practical Training, an extension of the student visa), I started working at Global Tour Creatives, an entertainment-driven agency, creating Admats (Key visual/posters) and entire campaigns both in digital and offline media for major bands and artists. The company ended up sponsoring my visa and I’ve been working there since then.
Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. Most people struggle at the beginning of their careers in any industry, but in my case, it was especially hard because I am a foreigner. It wasn’t easy to leave my home country and the career I had in Brazil to start fresh in the US. It’s also never easy to leave family and friends behind, even with the internet and video calls (and, I’m VERY thankful for that).
We’d love to hear more about your business.
As a designer, I always try to create something new and explore unique ideas that work well for the project I’m working with. Sometimes, what the client wants is not necessarily what is best for the project, so I always try to balance their vision and needs with what I believe to be the best approach creatively. I think less is more and simple and clean designs can take you a long way. I always try to first understand the message and goal behind a design and only later actually put ideas on the paper.
At Global Tour Creatives, our department is responsible for developing creative concepts to promote bands and artists throughout their entire world tours.
One of my challenges is to create or translate an existing art concept created by our company into different media platforms, including web banners, social media, outdoor campaigns, promotional websites, print ads, etc. Projects that I’ve effectively contributed to include artists such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi, Dane Cook, Dirty Heads, Hey Violet, Journey, Las Rageous, Third Eye Blind, Shawn Mendes, Gwen Stefani, Kings Of Chaos, Lionel Richie with Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, OneRepublic, Reba, Sting, Playing for Change and many others.
Since I have years of experience with art direction and hand-drawn illustration, I’m also crucial for projects that require this kind of approach and style when specifically requested by our clients.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, Los Angeles is definitely the place to be if you are an artist in the entertainment industry. LA is surrounded by art. There are inspirations everywhere you look – from the beautiful scenery and sunsets to the endless graffitis in Venice and Downtown museums. LA ends up attracting people from all around the world, which as a consequence, makes it a cultural hub for those seeking inspiration.
Contact Info:
- Address: Los Angeles, CA
- Website: rodrigotrabbold.com
- Phone: +1 (424) 610-7631
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: rodzt
- Facebook: facebook.com/rodrigo.trabbold
- Other: instagram.com/rodzworks
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