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Manifest with Your Passion Projects w/ Cezar Arvelo
32 Plays3 months ago
Your portfolio isn’t just a collection of work—it’s a reflection of who you are as a designer and where you’re headed. But what happens when you realize it’s not telling the right story?
In our first episode of The Creative Milestone, we sit down with senior graphic designer Cezar Arvelo, who made the decision to start over from scratch in his early years. It wasn’t because his work was bad—it just wasn’t him anymore. Through passion projects, self-reflection, and a relentless commitment to growth, he rebuilt a portfolio and personal brand that truly represented his skills and vision.
Join us as Cezar shares invaluable advice for designers at any stage, from portfolio strategy to creating work that excites you. If you're looking to craft a portfolio that resonates, this is the episode for you.
Make sure you follow @creativemilestone and @cezararevlo and subscribe to this podcast. More episodes coming soon!
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Transcript
Introduction to 'The Creative Milestone' Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Hi everyone and welcome to The Creative Milestone, the podcast where graphic designers, illustrators, and artists share their experience and advice new creatives to reach new milestones. I'm Matthew Chakrow.
00:00:14
Speaker
I've been practicing graphic design for seven years now, but only recently joined the creative industry two years ago. For a few years there, I struggled to enter the industry. But the kindness and advice of others helped to start my career.
00:00:27
Speaker
Now, as the creative job market has changed and gotten harder and harder to enter, i wanted to use this platform to help new creatives that are looking for guidance in these trying times.
Meet Cesar Arvello
00:00:36
Speaker
In these first four episodes, I'll be sitting down with the mentors that helped me find my footing.
00:00:41
Speaker
They'll be sharing with you the advice they gave me that changed my life. I met our first guest in 2023 when he first gave me a portfolio review. Ever since then, we've stayed in touch.
00:00:51
Speaker
Enough from me. Cesar, do you mind introducing yourself? Hey, everyone. My name is Cesar Arvello. I'm a senior graphic designer at Hasbro. I'm also a freelance designer. i've been working in the industry for over a decade plus now.
00:01:03
Speaker
I work in a bunch of different mediums and programs and styles. But I would say brand development is the overall umbrella of what I do. Are there any recent works you can talk about? My most recent was actually for Transformers 1. I'd say it's one of my most special projects that I've done.
00:01:21
Speaker
Just because there was just so much heart and soul in that movie, I got to connect with a bunch of amazing creatives and animators and producers over at Paramount. And like the amount of passion that went into this movie is, it's crazy. Specifically for Transformers 1, I work on the Global Action Brands team at Hasbro. So I'm focusing on brand development, all the assets that go into style guides from logos, badges, patterns, consumer products.
Cesar's Work and Freelance Experiences
00:01:48
Speaker
From the freelance side, most recently, I'm actually working on a new restaurant that's opening up here in Georgia it's called Phloga. It's like an upscale Greek Mediterranean inspired restaurant. The client really trusts me and they're just super happy with everything I've been developing. So they're just letting me run free. And that's what I've been up I've seen so much stuff about Transformers 1 and kind of getting to hear from you about what that experience was like.
00:02:14
Speaker
It sounds like you've taken everything you learned from having worked on Rise of the Beast and you've put all of that into Transformers 1, which has been super cool to see. Being surrounded by your Transformers 1 designs here in l LA reminded me a lot of when your designs were up on the toy shelves, not only for Transformers, but for Power Rangers.
00:02:31
Speaker
ah So for when me and Cesar first met, i was i am still a huge nerd about Power Rangers. And that's the one thing i really picked his brain about because I saw all the packaging he worked on. Back then i was still in college. I still am now. I recently came back and I was curious, what was design college like for you?
Design College Challenges and Mentorship
00:02:50
Speaker
It was probably the biggest challenge of my life, but it was a time period where I felt like I had the most exponential growth when it comes to like literally watching my skillsets change from semester to semester.
00:03:06
Speaker
Because when I went into college, it was straight out of high school, had never done graphic design in my life. I was always doing art and different creative projects, but it was all fine arts.
00:03:17
Speaker
So it was really intimidating. I walked into school, I saw a bunch of other students and, you know, designers, and i just felt like I was just so behind, you know, everyone was just so familiar with the operating system and the programs. It was just really intimidating, but I knew this was what I wanted to do. i knew this was the future. I didn't think I was going to be the next Picasso. So I was like, I got to figure out, you know, graph this graphic design thing and I need to learn these programs and the technology.
00:03:47
Speaker
So I think that sheer, like relentless goal in my head of like, this is who I want to be. This is who I want to become. That's what really got me through college. And funny enough, the programs, they all clicked for me on my very last semester, my summer semester. um I mean, get into that.
00:04:05
Speaker
It was a time of growth and a challenge as well. What exactly made it click for you that all of a sudden these programs worked? It was a professor, man. Never underestimate like a good mentor, a good teacher, a good professor. i had this professor, shout out Jason Ellison.
00:04:21
Speaker
He was one of those professors that like made students cry. I would see it time and time again. He was very serious about this thing called graphic design, about this industry.
00:04:34
Speaker
And I respected him for that, you know, because at the end of the day, like this is our lives, like this is our livelihood. We're making a living doing this we or we want to. I totally respected his approach. And he was the type of teacher, the type of professor that if he knew that you had hidden potential, he would not let you slack.
00:04:52
Speaker
So at that point in time, all I wanted to do was illustrate. I'm like, no, I just want to illustrate this project, this packaging assignment or this branding assignment. just want illustrate it. And he's like, no, you're going to do this whole project in Photoshop. And I was like, I don't know how to use Photoshop. He's like, you're going to learn. You're going to figure it out.
00:05:08
Speaker
Because of his like hardcore approach, by the time I got to like the last, you know, couple months of his portfolio review class, like It was weird, man. It was like something came from above and just like, I woke up one day and was like, I know how to use Photoshop now. Like, or like, you know, obviously I don't, I didn't know how to use it the way I know how to use it now, but it was like enough to be like, oh my God, I can see my concept in my head and actually put it to the canvas.
00:05:43
Speaker
It was a revelation. And as soon as that happened, it was like, I looked at my portfolio for the first time and I'm like, all of this stuff sucks. Like, this is not, this is this this is not me, it doesn't represent me.
00:05:56
Speaker
And I was like, oh, I gotta start over. So I told my professor like, hey man, like I hate my portfolio. It doesn't resonate with who I am as a person, who I am as a creative. I wanna start over. And he was like, you're crazy. Like there's there's four months left, you don't have time.
00:06:11
Speaker
And I was like, all right, I'll prove you wrong. So every single night I was just working on new projects. I think I did seven brand new projects from scratch that summer, literally from concept to completion.
00:06:24
Speaker
And it was projects that all represented things that I was passionate about.
Portfolio Revamp and Career Success
00:06:30
Speaker
And I'm so glad I did that because it really paved the way for my current career now, from for my future, for my lifestyle.
00:06:37
Speaker
I was able to really go out into the world and be like, hey, I'm here. This is the type of work I want to do. Hire me for this. it it was it was great That's Cesar. That's so great to hear. For students out there now that might not have that motivation and they don't know how to prepare their portfolios, is there anything that you could suggest that could help them find that motivation to build those case studies you're talking about?
00:07:00
Speaker
Like I said, this question is like, it's near and dear to me because a lot of students, they just try to get the grade pass and think they're going to just land a job. But What students need to realize is what you put out into the world, what you show on your portfolio, you're just going to keep getting more of that. So I noticed like a lot of my colleagues, some of them were not into like, let's say layout design, but all they had was layout design. And then they ended up getting jobs at places where they're just doing some like, you know, magazine layouts or like email blasts or just things that they weren't passionate about. They ended up in that situation because they just wanted to get the grade. They just wanted to finish.
00:07:40
Speaker
And... Instead, what they should have done, they should have put projects in their portfolio that inspires where they want to be. I think that's what what students should think about is put stuff in in your portfolio that will take you to the places or turn you into the designer that you want to be, not the designer that you are today.
00:08:02
Speaker
And that'll just push you to get to the next level, in my opinion. If you could go back and have done anything differently, would you? Could you have prepared for your career, your portfolio any differently than you did?
Staying Informed with Technology
00:08:15
Speaker
oh my God, there's a million things I would have gone back and done right. but In those moments, I thought what I was doing was right. I guess if I, you know, to to give you an actual answer to this question, it would probably be to just stay a little bit more informed, informed in the sense of like technology.
00:08:35
Speaker
You know what I mean? i I'm the type where I'm like, it'll find me eventually. I don't have to sit here and like be the first to know about the newest program or technique or website. I let those things come to me. I was the dude who was rocking the oldest iPhone in my internship. You know, so maybe um if I would have put a little bit more emphasis in my brain of what is trending, I don't know, maybe that would have excelled my career a little faster.
00:09:04
Speaker
To speak a little bit to of what Caesar is saying about staying on top of this technology game. That's all what Caesar is doing now. He is producing reels on Instagram. He is making sure he has the right equipment. He's touching all the new programs. Most recently, he started 3D designing a little character of himself that honestly, it represents your art style found in Kip and Gill, I think pretty well. So you were kind of talking about having built to these personal projects that you really cared about. Can you talk more to that and why it's more important to have something in your eyes speaks more to the designer?
00:09:37
Speaker
Yeah. um Writing things down physically is powerful, right? Like thinking about things is powerful. Writing down your goals is powerful. To me, the most powerful thing you can do as a designer is curating your portfolio.
00:09:52
Speaker
And that's what I did at the time. This is like, again, 12 ago. But I curated my portfolio to represent the things that I'm passionate about and the types of work that I wanted to do in the future. And what that did was it literally manifested my career today.
00:10:10
Speaker
It's actually kind of freaky because all of the projects that I put in my portfolio as a student, I eventually got all of those projects in real life. You know, if I can think of some examples in my portfolio, I designed like a fake peril brand and I did a fake burger joint. I love burgers, right? I did a project on um Tokyo, you know, because I always wanted to go to Tokyo.
00:10:35
Speaker
Dude, I went to Tokyo. I have worked on multiple restaurants. Everything I put in that portfolio happened. i I really, i hold this thing. Like I take this very seriously when it comes to like,
00:10:48
Speaker
what you put out there. It's going to reflect back into your life. Almost like setting up a goal and saying, hey, this is what I want to hit and this is how I'm going to get there. Yeah, man. And like sometimes you don't even have to be that intentional. Just because you put it in your portfolio, could even like not think about it. And all of a sudden that project will come and you're just like,
00:11:07
Speaker
why does this look so familiar? It's like, oh, wait, 10 years ago, i'd made a ah cookie brand. And now, you know, Jane's Bakery is hitting me up. Yeah, man. It's powerful stuff. That's that is awesome. Earlier, you kind of mentioned about looking at your portfolio more holistically and going, oh, my gosh, I need to change everything.
00:11:25
Speaker
What were kind of the weaker areas you recognize of that portfolio back then? And what ways did you learn from those mistakes in your newer version? I try to erase terrible design from my memory, but no, ah some of the weaker stuff that I had in there, definitely a lot of like layout.
00:11:44
Speaker
I am good at doing that now. I was okay back then. it like didn't look terrible, but I didn't feel like magazines were the future at that point. Like I knew in my head, like stuff's gonna go digital and don't get me wrong, there's digital magazines and stuff like that, but it just wasn't,
00:12:01
Speaker
It wasn't the future you wanted for yourself. There you go. Right. Wasn't the future I wanted for myself. Like I said, I threw everything out. You could just see that the stuff was just amateur. I was trying to figure out the program more than I was designing.
00:12:15
Speaker
And you could just see it in the design. It's hard to explain, but you could just... You can see when a designer is just as having fun. You can see when you can see the passion on the canvas. Sometimes people will look at it be like, wait, how did he do?
00:12:28
Speaker
How did she create that effect? Once you get past the how did they
Passion for Branding and Personal Journey
00:12:33
Speaker
do X, that's where the beauty of design comes from. and and yeah i don't know, I just felt towards the end of my semester that I got to that point where i was like,
00:12:42
Speaker
okay, I can finally just start creating now. Cause I, I had the skill sets to to create. It was just breaking that threshold of like the program. Kind of to touch back on you had what sounded like a generalist portfolio. Is that fair to say back then?
00:12:57
Speaker
Yeah, I would say so for sure. Yeah. And then when it clicked for you, when you were like, oh, man, i can take everything I've learned from Photoshop and Illustrator, and now I can actually make stuff that I really want to make. It sounded like you leaned more into branding. Was there anything else that you leaned more into? Dude, branding.
00:13:15
Speaker
The reason why i love branding and and why I leaned into branding was because everything that i wanted to do, like all the fun I want to have, i can have it under branding. If I can sneak in ways to do really cool illustrations for a brand, like I'll do it.
00:13:31
Speaker
Yeah. If I can design cool posters and patterns and icons, like you can do all of that in branding. Every project, it just comes with just so much variety and also the types of clients that you work with.
00:13:45
Speaker
It's endless. You're not going to be doing the same type of branding work for ah restaurant than you are for like a technology company or an entertainment company. So yeah, man, it's just where I thought I was gonna have the most fun. And here I am, like, still having fun. There's there's nobody I know better at branding than Cesar because he really does find the joy in helping a client really realize this vision. I've seen a lot of his work from working with those smaller influencers to even these bigger brands.
00:14:13
Speaker
Before I met Cesar, I had no idea who he was, but I was already a fan of his work. I say this to him all the time. Because it's true, because the energy that he's represented in these brands represents not just what the brand is trying to achieve, but what the client or what the audience is looking for.
00:14:32
Speaker
So if anyone needs a brand designer, this is your guy. And all that to say, the reason why i wanted to talk to you, Cesar, today was because of personal branding and implementing that into a portfolio.
00:14:42
Speaker
When I first looked at your portfolio, i was honestly blown away. It's so amazing. It's so cool, but it speaks so true to you. Is there anything about your portfolio and your personal brand more specifically that is really just your personality? Can you talk more to that?
00:14:56
Speaker
Yeah, um I think one theme that I've honestly kept in my portfolio for so long is, and I'm i'm actually looking around because I was going to see if I can find my my college portfolio.
00:15:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's actually right here under my mic. So.
00:15:15
Speaker
No, do it do it. I want to. I'd love to see this. I'm so glad that you're going to show this right now. OK, so this is my college portfolio. This is a very old logo.
00:15:27
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. This is my old. it's it's It's basically a hundred and fifty page book. Hardcover, right?
00:15:39
Speaker
Hardcover. I printed like nine of these. They were... oh my God, like $100 each or something. Like, you know, for a college student, like it was ridiculous.
00:15:49
Speaker
I mean, I'm not going to go through every page, but I'll just kind of flip through. Like, so this is the portfolio that I was just talking about that I basically started from scratch. Anyways, the reason I brought this up was because on the front cover, there is a silhouette of New York City. So I was born in New York City. I was actually born in in Harlem, Harlem Hospital, hundred and twenty fifth Street.
00:16:13
Speaker
I probably lived in New York City until I was about two years old. Soon as I was two, my mom and I moved to Boston. And i had a very early childhood in Boston. i was in Boston for, you know, up until I was like 12 years old, 13.
00:16:33
Speaker
But then when I was 13 years old, we moved to Orlando, Florida. And that's really, honestly, where I say I grew up, you know, 13 to about 22, 21. was in Orlando, Florida. That's where I went to high school, college, first job, first girlfriend, first car. Like it was just, that's where I, I don't know. That's where I hold a lot of those memories of like, just becoming the creative that that shaped me today. But anyways, even though i was in Orlando, there was still something in my soul that was just tying me back to New York City. And I've just always been a city guy like I just I love and as I've gotten older, I've appreciated I've always appreciated nature. Honestly, when I when I lived in in Boston, I was always outside always exploring as a kid.
00:17:25
Speaker
But as I've gotten older, I think the best way to describe myself is like, I like being surrounded by things that feel bigger than me. I like things that make me feel small. So the ocean, right, in LA, skyscrapers. I just, I like that stuff. You know, it just makes me feel...
00:17:42
Speaker
I don't know. It just makes me, it just inspires me. Anyways, New York City, i lived there for about four years out of college. That's where I really started my design career, worked for a few really amazing companies over there. And then after four, or four and a half years in New York City, I moved to l LA for seven years.
00:18:01
Speaker
And that's where I really got into a lot of the entertainment companies that I worked for now, Warner Brothers, Saban Brands, and now Hasbro. Yeah, man, I'm really proud of the different areas that I've been able to live in and get inspired by and network in and places that I've been able to like leave an impact or or or an imprint, you know, and every single one of these cities that I mentioned to you, like I have people that I hold near and dear to me in all of these cities.
00:18:30
Speaker
All of that to say, in my portfolio, I represent all of these cities just because I'm so i'm just proud of that. you know I'm proud that I'm a designer who has been in all these cities. So very subtly in the backgrounds of my website are those cities that I've lived in.
00:18:46
Speaker
ah really tie in my story into into my journey. Also, like this book, this is like 12 years old at this point. It's black and white. My branding has always kind of been black and white.
00:18:58
Speaker
because my work is actually very vibrant. Way back in the day, I used to do graffiti, you know? So I always wanted my work to just pop and just be like a little bit over the top. So creating a personal brand was always a challenge. I've probably done like seven iterations of my logo, my personal brand. And I just eventually,
00:19:18
Speaker
came back to the black and white because to me, it's just like a fresh canvas. And within this black and white branding that I put out for myself, it leaves open interpretation or room for for projects to just express themselves. Like I didn't want my branding to kind of overtake the work, if that makes sense. I don't know, but that might change. You know, that's that's how it is now. And it's it's worked.
00:19:41
Speaker
I will say your work definitely speaks for itself, not only in obviously the nature of being a designer, but also because there's a little bit of you in every project. Even kind of talking back to Transformers and Rise the Beasts, you can see in some of the posters that Caesar has up on his portfolio, graffiti inspired branding choices for those characters.
00:20:02
Speaker
So kind of going back to your choice for New York as your homepage, um and keeping those elements of these different cities that you lived in and keeping that black and white. What were some things that you actually refreshed that you took a look at your old portfolio and said, hey, I'm okay with this. I liked this back then, but this doesn't really speak to me now.
00:20:21
Speaker
Maybe you can talk more about your logo, for example, on your book, because it's drastically different than the logo that you now use. Right, right, right. Yeah, no, that's that's perfect segue. That's exactly what I was going to talk about. So I think honestly, students,
00:20:34
Speaker
They have a ah difficult time coming out of college, figuring out what they want to call themselves. Like some people want to call themselves company name, like as if they were starting a company. And honestly, that was me.
00:20:45
Speaker
I came out of school like, I don't want to be myself. like I want to be this design company. So the name is actually like, it's kind of silly to me now, but C's Designs and it's supposed to be C apostrophe Z. Oh, wow.
00:21:01
Speaker
i didn't I didn't see that until you brought it in closer. So see, because my nickname, you know, people some people call me sees, right? So I made it look like a stencil. So that's kind of like that homage to like me being into like street art and stuff like that. At the time, like that was me that that that's what I was into. That's who I was.
00:21:20
Speaker
and I kept the name for for a long time. like But when I was living in l LA, I lived in Koreatown and I was going to this amazing run club called Koreatown Run Club. I was one of the early, early participants of this run club. I think I was there like the second week that they opened.
00:21:38
Speaker
One of the founders of the run club, really cool dude, really talented guy. His name is Dewey. And he, he just, ah well, actually I was, I was asking for his advice on my portfolio at the time. It was like two websites ago.
00:21:52
Speaker
And I was like, dude, what do you think? How can I make this better? And he's like, first of all, the name sucks. Like, I like, what? i was like, really? I was like, but I've always used that. And he was like,
00:22:04
Speaker
He's like, I don't know, it just sounds a little cheesy. Like just that like C's design. Like, like i don't know, like if you're going to a room, like how do you introduce yourself? And I'm like, Caesar. And he's like, there you go. That's it. Like your name is Caesar.
00:22:17
Speaker
Use your name. And I was just like, yo, you're right. You're right. And so that was the biggest change, honestly, since those college days is like using my name, being proud of my name,
00:22:28
Speaker
um owning up to my name. That's why um' really trying to build just Cesar Arvello, you know, on my socials now, like on Instagram, making, you know, content because it's timeless. Like your name is your name, you know?
00:22:44
Speaker
So I'd say that was definitely one of the biggest changes since then.
Balancing Authenticity and Professionalism
00:22:48
Speaker
in kind of talking about, again, these cities that you are a part of, how do you balance authenticity and professionalism in not only your brand, but your portfolio and how you represent yourself?
00:22:59
Speaker
That question is really interesting, right? Because everybody is slightly different outside of work One thing that I really pride myself with is like I'm really not that different, honestly.
00:23:09
Speaker
The way I am at work is really the same way I am out in person ah with friends, you know, with my family, talking to my wife. To be honest with you, the only time I feel like I've just overthinked on how I'm going to put stuff out or my my messaging. It's really thinking about should I add this type of music or this type of tone in my content?
00:23:32
Speaker
I am straying a little bit more away from that these days. you know I am becoming a little bit more authentic with the stuff that I wear, like the kind of um you know the way that I edit my content. like if it's if it If I like a song, like I'm going to put it on there.
00:23:47
Speaker
But it it it really has grown with time. I feel the more experience you have in your career, the more wins under your belt. It just allows you to have space to to be even more authentic where where you're just like, know what? Like I've earned this. So I'm kind of in that realm right now.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah. Speaking to that about confidence, is confidence something your work brought you, your skill set brought you, or was that something you had to kind of learn in time over just experiencing life?
00:24:16
Speaker
Dude, all of the above, all the above. Like you you basically answered the question. it It was like every single project that I have completed, that I've put out in the world, it's just given me more and more confidence. It's planted those seeds of like, you can do this. You've done this.
00:24:36
Speaker
And I'm able to say yes more. I'm able to look at every project and be like, hey, you've been here before. This isn't any different than that other project. It's just disguised in a different way.
00:24:48
Speaker
That's really been a huge game changer for me. I think as of recent, I've been super privileged to get invited to you know to be a speaker at Adobe events, do some public speaking stuff.
00:25:02
Speaker
And that's completely... boosted up my confidence and going back to like the authenticity thing, because now I'm interacting with up and coming creatives that are like, yo, what you just said up there, how you said this. And I was thinking to myself like, oh, I was just being me.
00:25:18
Speaker
So it's really, it's just given me that positive feedback of, oh, wait, just tell your story. Just be authentic. Just be vulnerable. It's going to impact somebody. It's a combination of all of that.
00:25:30
Speaker
Yeah. but What's some advice that you can give to maybe a new designer that hasn't worked on so many projects to build their confidence? Is there anything that you could suggest? Hey, this is where you can start. Yeah, actually, I've actually said this a few times. I don't remember where I heard this. I just think it's a great way to think about it. So it's called leaning into your unfair advantages. a lot of people are self-conscious.
00:25:52
Speaker
They just get stuck about what they're self-conscious about and they're and they're not even looking at the bigger picture or like their surroundings. So an unfair advantage. It's really like putting a list of things together where you might have an advantage over other people or other creatives. Like if you live in a major city, you have an unfair advantage to a designer that wants to be in your position that lives in the middle of nowhere.
00:26:19
Speaker
I'm sorry, but if you're living in l LA, if you're living in New York City, if you're living like a major city, you should feel like really happy or really grateful because you have access to some of the best talent around you, best companies to work with, best communities.
00:26:36
Speaker
You should not be in your room feeling sorry for yourself. Make a list of your unfair advantages. It could be quirky things like this hairstyle that I have, like is an unfair advantage. Some guys are bold and guess what? They own that.
00:26:48
Speaker
You know, so like so it's like certain things like that I can use towards my benefit. Like, hey, I have this hair or listen, I'm i'm a husband. I have two kids. I'm not saying that's an unfair advantage. But at the same time, it just further solidifies my value into this world.
00:27:04
Speaker
My experience as a father to solidify that value that I give to my clients where they're like, Dude, you're taking care of a family. You can take care of my brand. You know what i mean? That's me using my unfair advantages to like, you know, sell myself better.
00:27:19
Speaker
Everybody has unfair advantages. i don't care what you say. You start there. And once you recognize those things, just lean into those things. You just got to own all your identities. Put some of that into your branding. If you have a really cool style or unique look, like you can put all of that into your branding. The way you speak, all of that can be in your and your messaging and your copy.
00:27:38
Speaker
So yeah, I'd say start there. When kind of looking holistically at these unfair advantages we're talking about, if let's say a designer isn't living in a major city, is there any advice that you could give them as to how they can branch out more?
00:27:52
Speaker
Yeah. um Honestly, dude, I'm just gonna be straight up. Move. Just move. Yeah. ah I'm serious. Like, like, dude, like, mean, you're right.
00:28:03
Speaker
You know, I lived in Orlando, Florida, when I graduated college, I could have stayed there. Nothing against Orlando, Florida. It's amazing now. But the type of work that I wanted to do was in Orlando at the time, I wanted to work in, you know, entertainment and advertising and just bigger brands.
00:28:19
Speaker
So I moved, I moved to New York City, you have to adapt. Yeah. And so listen, young designers, students, they don't realize how blessed they are. Like they have way less to lose.
00:28:32
Speaker
i did it a bunch of times. And by the way, i moved to New York city. I had a gift card with 250 And I, and maybe $1,000 in my pocket to my name. That's it.
00:28:44
Speaker
I mean, I lived in straight up squalor for a little bit before I got my first apartment with a roommate. l LA, same thing. Even after living in in New York and i when I moved to LA, I had $3,000 to my name and I bought a car with an oil leak for that money and I had $0, but at least I had a car to go and interview.
Taking Risks and Personal Branding
00:29:04
Speaker
And I was sleeping on a buddy's couch. All of that is great. You know, that builds character. And when you look back, you realize like how much of ah of a blessing those times were because you're like, man, like it really shaped me. And it really like, yeah, man, it's it's just take the risk. Like, just just just do it.
00:29:22
Speaker
you You said so many nuggets of amazing advice in this one story of how you've moved around so much. I guess that's multiple stories in one. But to your point, young designers and new designers, please understand that it is important to scale up to what projects that you want to work on.
00:29:39
Speaker
You can stay in those small towns if you want. that is completely up to your discretion. But understand that that is smaller ad agencies for local businesses or local events that are happening. But if you want to get involved in the entertainment industry, New York, Los Angeles, you have to be aware that you have to be adaptable.
00:29:57
Speaker
You have to be able to make some sacrifices along the way. and The same way Cesar has gone to New York with only $250 card to then going to Los Angeles with only which and that point he's he's clearly doing better Sure.
00:30:13
Speaker
It is true. It is important to look at your career more objectively and understand what sacrifices be made, be that in your location, your body of work and say, Hey, what can I do to improve this?
00:30:25
Speaker
Honestly, you summarized it beautifully. Exactly what you said is the person that I was when I left college, take the risk and just don't be afraid to experiment with again, your personal style, your environment,
00:30:39
Speaker
who you are all of that is up for grabs. All of that is, you know, you can put on the table to play with and change and develop because eventually, all this experimentation, it's going to form a very solid persona, authentic designer, or whoever you are, whatever creative thing you do, it's going to form that person five years down the road, 10 years down the road. And if you don't take the time now to experiment and fail, you have to fail. If you don't take the time to do that now, then you're going to fail later. You know what I mean?
00:31:13
Speaker
Give it all you got and learn from the from the lesson. There's a quote that I actually used at the last Adobe event that I spoke at, and it's, if you're going to lose, don't lose the lesson.
00:31:24
Speaker
So that is the mind state that all students should be in at this point in their career. Great. Really quickly, one more question, tying it back into personal branding.
00:31:35
Speaker
Cesar, why should students do personal branding? I mean, you are a brand. You know what I mean? You're a walking, talking brand. The way you talk, the way you dress, the way you look, the way you you carry yourself, that all is your personal brand.
00:31:49
Speaker
And the biggest reason why you need to do a personal brand is because we live in an attention economy, an eyeball economy. We live in a time where there are so many distractions that It's easy to just get lost in the shuffle and just be another anonymous person or anonymous name.
00:32:08
Speaker
These days, it's your job to control your own narrative. And the way you control your own narrative is by having a personal brand, having, and it's not only the visuals, it's,
00:32:21
Speaker
The story behind the visuals, how you communicate to the world who you are and the type of work that that that you're trying to do, that you're trying to put out there, all of that creates that personal brand of I'm here, I'm ready to kick some ass, I'm ready to to do some great things.
00:32:39
Speaker
That's why it's important because you want to be memorable and you want to make an impact. And the only way to do that is to have a personal brand, have a message and have the why, right? You have to have something that people can remember you by.
00:32:53
Speaker
it's it's It's always tough because like we we talk on the phone all the time. And now with the podcast, i have to fill in these gaps of me going, oh, nice.
Advice for Aspiring Designers
00:33:04
Speaker
So Cesar, as we wrap up here, I want to hit you with some more fireball questions. Feel free to answer to your discretion. What can young designers do in school to set themselves up for success?
00:33:14
Speaker
Okay. Honestly, try to just get out of your shell as fast as possible. You're not that cool and you're not that smart. um And what I mean by that is you are not too cool to ask for help, to ask questions, to learn from other people, other designers, from your professors. Don't be too cool to just blend in and just have a portfolio and just get that grade. Like be vulnerable at this point.
00:33:38
Speaker
This is the time to ask all the questions and enlighten yourself with the experience of other people, of other people's journeys, of other people's failures. Like that's gonna shape you in ways that you wouldn't even imagine.
00:33:52
Speaker
Also during college, I found a mentor. Honestly, I've had accidental mentors like throughout my entire life. And during college, my college was doing a ah mentorship program.
00:34:03
Speaker
He was an amazing artist in downtown Orlando and graphic designer. And we just so happened to get paired together. And I already knew of this guy's work. I was extremely excited. And I learned so much just watching this dude grind, you know, putting together 10 piece art shows, like drawing crowds in branding himself.
00:34:21
Speaker
That really changed my perspective on what was possible for myself. um I said, you're not that cool. It was the second thing I said, I forgot. um I don't know. You're not that cool And I think I said you're not that smart. Yeah, yeah. No, you said you're not that smart.
00:34:36
Speaker
The moment you feel like you figured it out, that's when you start failing. Never close that part of your brain where you're like, I know what I'm doing, especially as a student.
00:34:48
Speaker
You're student. Like, it's literally in your title. Embrace that. Soak up information and continue getting inspired. And don't look at other people's work and get discouraged. Look at it as a new height that you're trying to achieve or the next bar that you're trying to get to.
00:35:05
Speaker
Don't get offended, stay inspired. That's the biggest thing can leave this with. Cesar, thank you for being an accidental mentor to me for these last two years. It really has been very informative for me as well to kind of see how you work and where your passions lie and how they those all tie together back into your designs.
Transition to Next Guest
00:35:23
Speaker
Cesar, on that note, thank you so much for spending time with me sitting down and talking about your career, personal branding, and what young designers can do to really level up their game. Everyone, you can follow Cesar at Cesar Arvello on Instagram, and you can find his portfolio at CesarArvello.com.
00:35:39
Speaker
Cesar, am I missing anything from that? That's it, man. ah Cesar Arvello, that's it. LinkedIn, Instagram, portfolio, it's all Cesar Arvello.
00:35:49
Speaker
At the start of his career, Cesar wasn't proud of his work, but he didn't let that stop him. He got up and restarted his portfolio with passion projects. His body of work began reflecting the person he is.
00:36:01
Speaker
This experience helped shape the person he is today, a dynamic graphic designer that is memorable, adaptable, and always ready to learn. Cesar, I can't thank you enough for discussing your creative milestones with us, and for being my first guest.
00:36:16
Speaker
Our next guest will be Nick Longo, a leader in the graphic design community here in l LA and a pioneer in how it's taught. If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to subscribe, but most importantly, share this with someone who needs it.
00:36:29
Speaker
This isn't just a craft and this isn't just a job, but it's a community of creatives and designers trying to make a name for ourselves. We shouldn't let the competitive job market affect the longevity of this community.
00:36:41
Speaker
So share what you've learned here with a friend, a student, whoever. And to thank you for listening.