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CARLOS VELASCO EDUCATION
University of Nebraska – Lincoln / Lincoln,
Bachelors of Art: Major Graphic Design; Minors in Film Stu 3.9 GPA, Anticipated Graduation, May 2017
Institut Catholique De Paris / Paris, France
French Language & Immersion, Institut de Langue et de C Education Abroad – Summer 2014
WORK EXPERIENCE
NE State Historical Society / Fall 2013 – Fall 2 402.276.4289 / sephyleader@gmail.com / www.carlosvelasco.prosite.com
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contents about me client selection research + coursework selection fashion monster
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about me My portfolio represents my strongest curated selection of designs from jobs, research opportunities and coursework. My work is an intersection between commercial artwork and conceptual artwork that branches through various categories such as branding, publication design, front-end web design, product and packaging design, urban research and mapping design, digital art and illustration, typography and photography. My style is one that is influenced by culture, technology, interaction and engagement and my personal goal of bringing beautiful aesthetics into the every day life. I invite you to look at my portfolio and delve into the different pieces I have created for various clients, organizations and courses.
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myBlock Project: myBlock Category: Front-End Web Design + Branding Strategy Client: Matan Gill & Cory Scott / Epoch Labs “Winner of Jumpstart Challenge Lincoln 2015” myBlock is a front-end web design and branding strategy that I created for the Jumpstart Challenge Lincoln 2015 Competition for Matan Gill and Cory Scott of Epoch Labs. myBlock is the “Yelp of Neighborhoods” and is useful for both people looking for a neighborhood to live in, people who are rating their current or past neighborhood, real estate agents and also Home Owners Associations looking to improve neighborhoods and communities. The design strategy of myBlock focused on a mainly Salmon and Navy color scheme, large typographic elements, use of expansive galleries, vertical scrolling, clean design, sticky menus and an intuitive user experience to allow for any user to quickly learn and use the webstie. The main target is both current homeowners looking to improve their neighborhood or promote it, people looking to sell their home, people looking for a new home and neighborhood, Home Owners Association groups that can utilize the data gathered for finding problem areas and good areas in neighborhoods, and finally, Real Estate agents who can use the website to promote their listings or neighborhoods.
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Top: myBlock Logotype, 2015 Bottom: myBlock Homepage, 2015
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Page:6 myBlock “Neighborhood Ratings” screen, user generated reviews can be from Verified Residents or ex-Residents or non-verified residents Page:7 myBlock “Community Ratings section takes ratings from different sections in the neighborhood and presents them in easy to read data and graphs.
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln Project: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015-2016 Student Planner Cover Design Category: Illustration, Publication Cover Design Client: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, New Student Enrollment “Distributed to around 5,000 freshmen and sold in Campus Bookstore afterwards.” Working with the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and New Student Enrollment I was offered the opportunity to design the cover for the official 2015 – 2016 student planner. The planner is distributed to around 5,000 freshmen and sold in the campus bookstore afterwards. The design honored both past geometrical trends while also moving forward in a newer direction that embraced wire-frame illustration, warmer colors and a sense of literally ‘planning’ out one’s year through the use of grid lines and sketch lines that are prominent in the sketching-planning process.
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Center: University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 2015 - 2016 Official Student Planner cover design, 2015
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ASUN Client: ASUN, Student Government Category: Various Collateral including: Logo Design / Advertising / Branding / Social Media Graphic Design
I work as UNL’s ASUN Student Government Graphic Designer, creating various collateral for the organization including logos, advertisements, re-branding efforts and social media graphics. Re-branding efforts have been an extremely important part of the general job. Projects have included the creation of various Committee Logos to compliment the Re-branded ASUN Logo that was designed by the Jacht Ad Lab in an effort to create more visibility and awareness of the overall brand and the committees within. Projects have ranged from event advertisements, to longer campaigns including a Wolfgang Weingart inspired “It’s on Us” campaign that featured lithographic halftone images, an extensive Homecoming campaign that featured collateral ranging from advertisements and stationaries and invitations. Exploring different techniques is an extremely important part of the work created for ASUN. Projects have been created with everything from Chalk to 3D modeling programs. Media is also an extremely important consideration for the projects themselves, everything from Ads on large screens, small Environmental Cards, and social media campaigns are important in order to insure that both re-branding efforts and awareness of the ASUN brand continues to grow and innovate.
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Center: ASUN Student Government Committee Logo Rebranding
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Top Left : Homecoming Calendar Advertisement, 2014 Top Right: Homecoming Parade Advertisement, 2014 Bottom Left : Holiday Mail for Heroes, with American Red Cross Ad, 2014 Bottom Right: How to Run for Student Government Chalk Art Campaign,2014
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Top: It’s On Us, Halftone Campaign, 2014 Bottom: the race has just begun, Student Government Election Campaign, 2015
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Earthstock Project: Earthstock Category: Branding and Advertising Client: ASUN, Student Government “A month long celebration of the Earth� Earthstock is a month long celebration of the Earth that was started in April 2014 by the Environmental Sustainability Committee of ASUN Student Government at UNL. Earthstock is an event in campus and community sustainability that has drawn many followers to events, heightened awareness of living a sustainable and socially conscious lifestyle and has also helped in strengthening the role of Sustainability Organizations within the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. My role within the Earthstock Team was as chief Graphic Designer. I was able to collaborate with Creative Directors Nick Gerken and Melissa Bakewell on the general branding and advertisement direction that would run for the entire month of the event. During the event I also worked closely with Environmental Sustainability Committee members Lizzie Mensinger and Alyssa Cody on establishing the social media identity of Earthstock and later on @GreenUNL. Earthstock’s branding is reminiscent of a paper-cut style used in the Woodstock Music Festival branding, this style translated into consistently bold and eye-catching designs. As the Earthstock brand has grown and changed in two years it has become more earth toned, focused on texture, white lines and simple composition while still reflecting and honoring the Woodstock influenced origins of the brand.
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Page: Earthstock Logo
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Top: Earthstock, Policy for the Plains Event Collateral, 2014 Bottom: Earthstock Music Festival Event Collateral, 2014
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Center: Environmental Sustainability Committee, Roundtable trading cards.
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Daily Nebraskan Project: Daily Nebraskan Layout Design Category: Publication Design Working as a Layout Designer at the Daily Nebraskan Newspaper at UNL was an experience that allowed me to both embrace and respect style guides and conventional editorial style while also have freedom to experiment in elements such as Typographic lockups. I was able to collaborate with the Sports Desk in the Fall of 2014 and create of the ‘Flare’ typographic section for Sports. The ‘Flare’ page is a quick preview of an important sports event from the week focusing on large photography, and quick and easily readable information while staying consistent with the style guide of the Daily Nebraskan.
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Top: Sports Editorial layout sample with Typographic Lockup exploring a mixture of conventional layout with artistic type-setting Bottom Left: News Editorial Layout, Typographic Lockups added a movement to the page. Bottom Right: Alongside the Sports Desk, I created the “Flare” page that featured a “Flare” Typographic lockup in white on the corner of each large photo and red banners underneath typeset in Bodoni and Helvetica Neue for event information.
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Bus+ Project: Bus+, transportation system design Category: Public Transportation Design & Systems / Transdisciplinary Research Event: a2ru: Emerging Creatives Summit ‘Cities in Flux’ “By 2040, it’s estimated that 80% of the world’s population will live in cities.” In January, 2015, I had the opportunity to attend the a2ru: Emerging Creatives Summit: ‘Cities in Flux’ conference at VCU. The conference focused on trans-disciplinary collaboration and research for creating solutions to the cities of the future. I was a member of the Public Transportation group that, through a few short team meetings, developed the concepts behind a more effective bus system for medium sized cities. Our team consisted of designers, urban planners, mechanical engineers, sociologists, interaction experience designers and more, working together to create the bus system. Our team was divided into a System and a Design section, with the System section focusing on bus route systems, payment systems and more. I was a member of the Design section that focused on both the interior design and features of the bus, the exterior features, and also the branding of the bus. It was extremely important to create a bus that could be re-branded to increase ridership and public stigma. The final design featured collapsible seating, horizontal bars and special commuter areas to increase ridership density while not compromising comfort. It was important to also incorporate existing projection and mobile technology to create engaging experiences for the user to do things such as bring up a projected map, tour guide or web experience from their seat to the window. The physical design of the bus was created to be more aerodynamic and allow more natural light to enter, while also incorporating sustainable energy, solar panels and emergency features.
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BUS
Center: Bus+ Logo
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Top: Bus+ Inside Layout Plan, Collapsible Wrap-Around seating, Wheelchair accessible entrances, Commuter Central Section and Horizontal Bars instead of Vertical Bars. This design builds on ideas of communication and creating a social and redesigned bus experience. Technology within the bus includes blue-tooth operated projectors, self-cleaning hose system, Apple Pay ‘pay as you go system’ and ‘Bus on demand’ feature for suburban areas of mid-sized cities.
Bottom: Population Diagram of recommended bus density about 61 people. This design allows for a good amount of people to comfortably fit inside the bus and have space. Should collapsible seating be lifted, the bus could hypothetically fit around 30 more within the space provided ceiling arm handles are used.
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Center: Plan of bus elements, including solar panel top that would help to power the technology inside the bus. There are wrap around glass windows to allow for more natural lighting to come into the bus and create a positive stigma. An LED banner wrapping around below the windows has a kinetic typography element with destinations and terminal points visibly seen. An Aerodynamic design with pointed front and curved back allows for faster speeds, less energy consumption and finally, an emergency compartment underneath provides access to storage and emergency material.
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History of Typography,1960–1990
Project: History of Typography Category: Group Based Publication Design and Execution Course: Typography I “Collaborative Editorial Project” Publication Design and setting good type were key components of creating a successful Online publication about Typography History between the years 1960 -– 1990. History of Typography 1960 – 1990 was a collaborative Editorial Project between myself and a colleague, Leah Urbank. Collaboratively we created a general style guide for the book that focused on clean typography, elegant white space and focus on content. I designed the book up until the 1980s, covering topics such as the Basel School of Design, Saul Bass, Helvetica and Swiss Minimalism. My colleague designed later pages relating to the 1980s and 1990s.
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Center: History of Typography 1960 – 1990, sample pages including, Type Specimen samples and Poster Specimen samples, 2014
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Puss in Boots Project: Form as Language, Fantastical Landscape Category: Photo Manipulation & Composition Course: Graphic Design I A copy of Gustave Doré’s 1862 woodcut of Puss in Boots was the main inspiration behind the creation of fantastical landscape’ photo manipulation assignment in Graphic Design I. The project was heavily inspired by Baroque art as well. In the composition I wanted to place elements like still lifes, landscape scenes and ornate details of interior scenery together. The poster brings the main illustration to the front and center of the composition. Puss in Boots is sitting on top of an abstracted modern sculpture,illustrative still lifes cluttered around. Puss in Boots was meant to display a playful sort of chaos and becomes ridiculous villain figure in the poster that at the center of the composition, with light highlighting him, would launch his terrible attack on the landscape around him. The entire composition was color graded with a layer of Prussian Blue in an Exclusion setting layer blend. This was able to add a warm blue tint to the overall composition. Colors were also kept relatively subdued throughout with a selective amount of saturation going into certain elements and certain elements staying almost black and white in saturation.
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Center: Graphic Design I, Form as Language Project, ‘Fantastical Landscape’
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Cocoa Pebbles x Kanye West Project: Typographic Cereal Box Category: Conceptual Package Design Course: Typography I “Luxury Cereal” My goal while working on a Cereal Box Package Design project in Typography I was to re-brand Cocoa Pebbles as both a luxury item and a satire of contemporary fashion and art markets. The ‘Limited Edition’ design features a prominent transparent sleeve with a “Takashi Murakami”(inspired) drawing of Kanye West, the actual box also pays homage to Fashion branding and past collaborations. A special detail is that each box includes a Kanye West statuette by Takashi Murakami as well. Two other iterations were made to focus on how typography could move through different axis’ and create both elegant and fashionable compositions that were conceptual in nature. Ultimately, the project is also a satire on items such as those that are heavily featured on the annual ‘Neiman Marcus’ catalogue or the various celebrity endorsed fashion products that are released throughout the year.
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Top: Limited Edition Box, Cocoa Pebbles X Kanye West, 2014 Bottom: All Editions Perspective, Cocoa Pebbles X Kanye West, 2014
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Fashion Monster Project: Fashion Monster Category: Fashion Photography & Film, Fashion Design “Featured in Adobe Students Social Media Best Of, 2014, The Daily Nebraskan, Raw:Omaha EXPOSURE and New Artist Festival 2015” Fashion Monster is an independent Fashion Photography & Film project that I began in the Spring of 2014 as a personal project. Fashion Monster started and continues to focus on the personal growth of people, the darkness within people and the cross-cultural hybrid of both Mexican culture obsessed with iconography of death, nature and an overall celebration of life, and contemporary Western culture that is obsessed with glamorous fashion, material and perception of beauty. The first episode of Fashion Monster, Episode Zéro features model Deiony Moreno in a paper dress designed by myself. The narrative is one focused on the intersection of growth, sensuality and innocence. This episode was featured in Adobe Student Social Media as a highlight of Student Work for Spring 2014 and was also a part of the Elgas Promise Gallery in the Hixson Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts. Episode One: Le Sacre Du Printemps further explored darkness taking over people, maturity, and an overall mourning and fascination of what is lost as one progresses through life. Episode Two was featured in a local First Friday at the Night Owl Pub in Lincoln, NE. Episode Two: La Belle Au Bois Dormant is an episode that further delves into the realms of consciousness, reality, and the world of dreams versus the world of conscious life. Intertwined with both imagery and narrative of the classic fairy tale and past episodes. Episode Two has two film appearances, the first, NAF at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film is a short Fashion Film, while the full episode a Sleeping Beauty themed film, at RAW: OMAHA.
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Top: Fashion Monster: Episode ZĂŠro: Model: Deiony Moreno 2014 Bottom: Fashion Monster: Episode One: Le Sacre Du Printemps: Model: Jhalisa Robinson 2014
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Top:Fashion Monster: Episode One: Le Sacre Du Printemps: Model: Jhalisa Robinson, 2014 Bottom: Fashion Monster: Episode Two: La Belle Au Bois Dormant: Model Jhalisa Robinson, 2015