{"id":10638,"date":"2021-03-02T16:40:06","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T15:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uchceu.es\/diseno\/?p=10638"},"modified":"2021-03-02T17:55:25","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T16:55:25","slug":"creative-director-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uchceu.es\/diseno\/en\/creative-director-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Ana Criado, a prominent creative director in Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Einstein<\/strong> showed us, time is relative to your point of view. So, the headline to this interview can be read in two seconds, and yet the journey it summarizes took almost two decades. The opening titles of a film don\u2019t usually last more than a minute and a half, and yet they may give us insights into what is going to happen over the next hour and a half or two hours of the main feature. And then, the film coming after the opening titles<\/strong> may tell us a story about the events of a day, a week or even generations.<\/p>\n

Ana Criado<\/strong>\u2019s story is that of someone who has become a leading international designer of title sequences for TV series and films \u2013 just one of the wide range of possible careers for students of graphic design. She originally wanted to be an airline pilot, but now, she\u2019s a creative director working in Hollywood<\/strong> and has been living in LA for almost ten years. On her own, without ever piloting a plane, she has ended up flying very high. It\u2019s all relative, as Einstein<\/strong> may or may not have said.<\/p>\n

\"Ana
Our alumni Ana Criado works as creative director in Hollywood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
What did you know about the design profession before you began your studies?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The truth is that I didn\u2019t even know you could study design or that you could have a career in it. When I was young, I remember saying to myself that that I\u2019d like to study something similar to fine art, but in a way which was useful. These were the words of a child, but without realizing it, I was defining what industrial design<\/strong> is all about: functional art. I actually wanted to be an airline pilot and, in fact, I used to spend all day putting engines together and dismantling them again. I never thought about design until I had to choose a degree.<\/p>\n

What do you remember about your time at CEU Valencia? What was the best thing about your time here<\/a>?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

CEU showed me how to think. Designers aren\u2019t artists; you\u2019re designing in response to a commission. Our work is to solve the problem or the issue the client brings to us. At CEU, I learnt how to break down the problem, analyse it, look for information and then to show conceptually how it can be resolved. The aesthetic or functional part of the design is a given. What really makes the difference is learning how to think<\/strong> in order to reach the best solution.<\/p>\n

\"Ana
Ana Criado recently visited our facilities at CEU Valencia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
You said that you started out being interested in industrial design, but you\u2019ve ended up working in graphic design. How did that shift happen?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

When I started my degree, I was fascinated by industrial design. I really enjoyed that in the first few years, but I gradually came to see that I was a bit too impatient. Industrial design involves very long processes which also require an intense focus. Each project is long-term. When I started learning about graphic design over the final years, something I didn\u2019t know anything when I was 18, I discovered the immediate payoff that the process gives you<\/strong> and I like that. From then on, it was more about taking what I\u2019d learnt from industrial design and applying that to graphic design.<\/p>\n

Where did you take your first career steps after graduation?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

I mostly worked on corporate identities for a range of different companies, at studios in Valencia<\/strong>, Madrid<\/strong> and Barcelona<\/strong>. It was an intense period of work, but then the turning point came with the financial crisis in 2008. Many designers like me had to rethink our future at that<\/p>\n

point. In my case, I took some time to decide whether or not to stay in Spain or to go abroad to other markets.<\/p>\n

New career horizons: becoming a creative director in Hollywood<\/strong><\/h3>\n
So, that\u2019s when you took the decision to look for new opportunities in Los Angeles, where different kinds of career paths are available for graphic designers.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

I found Prologue<\/strong><\/a>, the company I ended up working for, almost by accident. I was a graphic designer and the studio was one of the few in the world that already specialized at that time in title sequences, which I wasn\u2019t aware of when I sent in my CV. The head of the studio liked my portfolio even though my work up to that time wasn\u2019t related to what they did. He insisted that I go over there, see the studio and work with them.<\/p>\n

What do you remember about those early days?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

It was a bit shock and I had a few doubts about it at the beginning. It was then that I saw that there was this whole side of the profession that I didn\u2019t know at all. It\u2019s still all about the visual and about graphical presentation, but it\u2019s very different from I\u2019d been doing up until then. I\u2019ve worked there now for eight years.<\/p>\n

Reinventing the past<\/strong><\/h3>\n
World War Z, Pixels, The Purge, Godzilla: the back catalogue of successful films Prologue has produced title credits for is very impressive.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

There are very few studios right now which focuses exclusively on title sequences like Prologue. We\u2019ve worked on more than 600 productions. The heart of the studio is Kyle Cooper<\/strong>. His work on the title sequence for Seven<\/strong> <\/a>in the 90s broke new ground. That was the point at which this creative area entered a real golden age.<\/p>\n

In the change from the moving camera shots in the opening titles of some films in the 60s and 70s to the freer, more radical graphical approach of the 90s, what role has technological progress played?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The fact is new technology has played a fundamental role in the advance of the graphical approach. Over recent years, a massive change has taken place with the democratization of 3D<\/strong>. The simpler a technique is, the easier it gets to tell a story in a title sequence. And the opposite is also true: if you go for more sophisticated technical approach, the aesthetics of the outcome will be much enhanced, but it may be more difficult to tell a story. I think the democratization of 3D technology has made it easier to tell stories in title sequences, and there\u2019s a real career niche there for graphic designers right now.<\/p>\n