David Cho
Summer 2003
BS Graphic Design
Art Director
AMP
David Cho has come a long way from his graduation with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from The Art Institute of California-Orange County in 2003 to his current role as award-winning art director at AMP, an advertising agency in Costa Mesa.
David got his foot in the door of the advertising world while still at The Art Institute by interning at Foote, Cone & Belding, one of the world’s largest and most established advertising agencies. After graduation, Foote Cone hired him as a junior director, an experience that led to his current position as art director of AMP one year ago. He credits his time at The Art Institute with preparing him to be on the fast track to success in his career.
“The presentation skills I developed and the constant harvesting of creativity helped me to succeed in the professional world,” said David. “And the constructive criticism I received from my instructors really pushed me to continuously improve.”
David uses the brainstorming skills he learned as a graphic design student on a daily basis and still designs on a sketchbook before even turning on a computer.
Proof of David’s talents can be seen in the various awards his work has won, including the prestigious ADDY and Belding Bowl awards for his work for Taco Bell and a gold-EFFIE he won with his design team, all at Foote Cone.
David has had the experience of working with such clients in his career as Coca-Cola, Cinnabon, Hilton Hotels, Kawasaki, Aramark, Bacchus and Baker’s.
Ever-grateful for the opportunities provided to him by The Art Institute, David is a recurring visitor to Danny Gross’ portfolio class, where shares his own portfolio and gives students feedback on their work.
David’s advice for current students is to “Be open to new ideas. Don’t be afraid to be different with your creativity, but make sure to execute it well. Have a passion for what you do and you will have fun!”
Andrew Gibbs
Spring 2005
BS Graphic Design
Designer
Shonfeld's USA
Andrew Gibbs credits the Graphic Design program at The Art Institute with helping him to discover his calling for consumer package design. “My education exposed me to so many aspects of the graphic design field and really allowed me to explore opportunities,” he says.
Because he spent much of his education pursuing package design, his portfolio included strong examples of packaging products. He is certain that this, combined with attitude, persistence and personality, helped him impress his future employer when Shonfeld’s USA stopped by his booth at The Art Institute Portfolio Review.
“I showed them that I wanted the job and that I would be the best at it,” he says.
Andrew has found that, for a designer, there is no “typical” day at work. “My job varies from day to day and minute to minute. I could be doing anything from designing packaging and graphics for a line of products, to designing racks and bottles, to designing decorative fills, meeting with buyers or going to product focus groups,” he says. “But it doesn’t matter what I’m doing because every day is a blast.”
Andrew’s favorite project was working on Shonfeld’s national Fall 2006 Drink Mix line. He designed packaging for over 30 different products, as well as the product components, such as leather cases, accessories and racks. “I can’t wait for the day that I can walk into Target and buy something I designed,” he says. “It will truly be a dream come true.”
Jorge Pacheco
Fall 2004
BS Graphic Design
Art Director
Hunter Barth Advertising
Art Institute of California-Orange County Graphic Design alumn Jorge Pacheco has been pretty busy since his graduation in Fall 2004. He currently holds the position of art director at Hunter Barth Advertising in Newport Beach, while maintaining his own company, Kulture Konnect, for much of that time. His career is focused on developing marketing and advertising strategies for clients.
While Jorge considers his portfolio to be very strong, he knows it wasn’t his portfolio alone that landed him the job with Hunter Barth but his “passion for networking and willingness to be open to possibilities” as well.
“Networking is the most powerful way to build a professional relationship,” he says. “I realized that one of the best strategies to land a great job or account is networking. You have to always be prepared and have business cards and a pen because you never know if Gap’s CEO is right behind you in the line of a Starbucks.”
In fact, it was through networking that Jorge met Hunter Barth Advertising President and Co-Owner Ian Crockett at seminar that the Orange County Ad Club held at Chapman University.
“Ian was one of the panelists and, before I left that day, I made it a point to go up to him and ask him, straight-out, if they needed people,” he says. “He gave me his business card, I followed up with a phone call and they offered me a freelance position that turned into a full-time position after three months.”
Jorge has had the opportunity to work with many big-name clients, from Global Imaging Systems, Sharp Electronics and Toshiba to El Torito restaurant and Safeway Groceries.
Jorge’s advice for current students is “don’t wait until you graduate to get a job in your field. If possible, try to get your from the very beginning. That way you start accruing, not only the experience to get the best job possible when you graduate, but also the knowledge to live up to all the expectations for the job.”
Heather Raigosa-Lorenzo
Winter 2006
BS Interior Design
Associate Designer
Herman Miller
Heather Raigosa-Lorenzo proved that she was a consummate professional even before being hired as an associate designer for Herman Miller, a global healthcare furniture provider. Her employers knew they had found the right person during her second job interview with them, when she pulled out her custom-made resume, business cards and portfolio.
“The art director and senior designer were in awe,” she says. “They told me they had never seen a portfolio as amazing as mine.”
A typical work day for Heather finds her working on various projects throughout the day and constantly following-up with sales reps and clients. Her colleagues consider her an expert in space-planning and rendering techniques. She acknowledges that these skills, in addition to the industry-relevant computer programs she learned at The Art Institute of California-Orange County, have enabled her to assume key positions of responsibility on a variety of projects, even as a junior-level employee.
Heather’s favorite assignment so far has been an ambitious Las Vegas project for Renzi Towers, a combined residential and commercial space. “This project enabled me to use all the skills I learned at The Art Institute,” she says. “I was able to go outside the box of systems furniture and take hold of the entire project and just run with it.”
Heather loves that her job enables her to gain experience and expertise as a crucial member of a design team: “It’s a fun, chaotic world,” she says.
She describes her education at The Art Institute as instrumental in forming the foundation on which her career success depends. “My design training gave me the skills to qualify for a great internship, which in turn supplemented my education and empowered me to have a successful interview with Herman Miller.”
Eric Williamson
Spring 2006
BS Graphic Design
Jackets Designer
Quiksilver, Inc.
Always being prepared to network was the key to Eric Williamson’s success. Knowing that opportunity could come knocking when he least expected it, Eric made it a point to take his portfolio everywhere he went, starting several quarters before he even graduated from The Art Institute of California-Orange County.
This paid off when he was at a friend’s barbeque one afternoon and met a designer from Quiksilver, Inc. who happened to be looking for an assistant novelty t-shirt designer. He quickly ran to his car, grabbed his portfolio and the rest is history.
Eric was hired by Quiksilver while still a student at The Art Institute and quickly worked his way up the ranks to assistant knits/fleece/sweaters designer and then to his current position of head jackets designer/assistant boardshort designer.
Eric thanks his instructors at The Art Institute for instilling in him the “work ethic and skill set” that he feels made him extremely well prepared for life at Quiksilver.
“I owe my success to the instructors that pushed my imagination and application of ‘graphic design’ into all fields of design,” he says.
The best part about Eric’s job is that it has enabled him to travel. He has been to such places as India, China and Hong Kong to oversee development of Quiksilver clothing.
Eric’s advice to current Art Institute students is to “learn all you can while still in school. It all becomes extremely valuable information once you are out.”
He also can’t say enough about the power of networking. “Build up a network with your peers. Those relationships will become industry contacts in the future,” he says.