Today we’d like to introduce you to Angel Ramirez.
Hi Angel, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m a college student going through school again to pursue Graphic Design at The Laguna College of Art and Design or LCAD. beforehand I went to Cal State Long Beach for screenwriting but when I realized that career wasn’t for me I had to make a change. And it was difficult seeing as I had already done the entire school route, earned my bachelor’s only to realize I am not in the field I want to be. So I took classes at saddleback community College and with the help of my partner I fell in love with graphic design. Taking a year to do the saddleback certification and realizing that if I wanted to take the next steps school would probably prove to be the best move for me- so I applied to LCAD, almost on a whim as if I knew I wasn’t going to get in. But I got accepted, with some of the highest merit scholarship award money and transferred some of my credits towards LCAD. However, doing LCAD meant making some changes in my life. I had to move back in with my family, pull off 12 hour studio days at school, and juggle my part-time job at a local design agency since that is invaluable experience. Despite the challenges and the schedules I’ve been trying to do more than stay afloat. I am student rep of the design department and actively try to aim for top projects in my classes. I take school much more seriously now since this is my second attempt, but I also know I want it to be my last attempt. I love doing graphic design but the school part I could do without!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The first challenge was a major degree change- just holding my bachelor’s diploma and realizing that despite all my work, I’ve climbed the mountain and I felt nothing. I knew I needed to find something else that I wanted to do.
I’m among the first in my immediate family to do college and the only one to do it in the states. My family is from Mexico and never graduated from college or lasted more than a couple years, so the knowledge of grants and scholarships were lost on us. I’m trying to be much more proactive in that aspect since I don’t have much money and as good as LCAD is as a school, the price was a massive con in whether or not I should go to that school.
The school burnout has also been a factor. With the inclusion of this year, I will have been in college for about 8 years now, and my expected graduation date isn’t til 2028. When people ask me about school I like to have a self-deprecating quip about how I’ve taken enough school that I should have just been a doctor or something more useful than a graphic designer or an artist. But the truth is that I love doing art and design, and no matter how much I try to minimize it, its a huge deal, the universal communicator, and I don’t think I could do anything else in my life.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I work at an advertising and design agency as a production assistant- fancy talk for helping support the designers with additional workloads. I work on advertising campaigns for restaurants, help create their promotional material, edit photography, etc. And to be honest I have a job that is probably much more available to newly graduated designers than a second year sophomore like myself. I hate bragging about it, but my partner Hanna always tries to help me see that I’m ahead of the curve in that sense, already getting in-house design experience and getting really hands on much more than the seniors and upperclassmen are probably THE candidates for this job.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
A.I is a huge talking point. I don’t want to be the silent film actor saying “talking pictures won’t ever work” by saying that A.I won’t ever replace us, but I do believe that A.I will not replace the bespoke sensibilities that people enjoy from human creators. Sure if A.I can help me with my photoshop clean up, great! Saves me time and tedium, but to say that A.I will replace the hand of the artist? I just dont think people will go for that. Wishful thinking perhaps, but I believe A.I can be a tool to replace tedium- not the artist.
And there’s so much to design than just ads and campaigns. Everything is design from the soles of your shoes to the title card of your favorite show. I just dont want to believe that people as a whole will look at everything we have and say “Good enough”. Historically… people like art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Paperduck.art
- Instagram: paperduck.art
- LinkedIn: Check out Angel Ramirez’s profile on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/angel-ramirez-207a481a8
