Sometimes the customer is not a big bank, airline, or entertainment company. Sometimes the customer is at home and is seven years old. Discover this story about Arturo (Visual Designer) who applied design to the creation of a board game with his son.
How did you start your professional career? How did you become part of Globant?
Visual arts have always been interesting to me. My father worked in the design of stands for international fairs and used to draw too, so they were part of my life since I was a kid. I knew I wanted to bee an architect since I was 6 years old.
But it was not until I was 21 years old that a friend offered me a job as a designer of graphic peaces for an event. I accepted, but until that moment, I barely knew what Photoshop was. That was my first time designing. I remember that I split up some pieces that had been previously designed and it was then that I started to understand how the tool and its graphic possibilities worked.
They were times of bevels and shadows. The thing is that my friend (my boss) told me that I had talent and was ready to invest in my training, and, even better, continued to employ me.
Then, in Uruguay, I focused on web design and pursued a technical career (Website Professional Design), and thanks to that career, I started working at the first private online company in Uruguay on an e-learning project. At first, I developed the graphic and interactive part of the lessons and ended up being in charge of the web portal’s design.
At that time, I had already considered Globant and I liked it as a place to work. After a few years, just when I was beginning to consider a professional change, they contacted me. They needed someone with my profile, and I did not think it twice, I wanted to work there!
What are your hobbies?
I have many. I like everything related to pop culture: movies and TV, drawing and painting, but mainly music (I play the guitar, bass, and drums), comic books, collecting figurines, and anything related to superheroes, specifically from DC Comics and, above all, Batman. Also, everything related to Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings.
How did you start collecting superhero objects and how is your collection going now?
I think almost every fan of superheroes started doing it when they were kids. That was the case with me, with those first few toys that were barely articulated and those albums around which exchange communities were created.
In particular, I remember a collection of Super Friends figures. I wanted to have all of them. My path to collecting definitely started at that moment. Also G.I. Joe, the Ninja Turtles, and the Transformers. Starting from there, toys not only already attracted me, but also the “game universes”. However, what motivated me the most to collect when I was a teenager were the Knights of the Zodiac (Vintage figurines) and comic books.
The state of my collection is a little uncertain: there are figurines that did not survive my children, but most of them remain at my parents-in-law’s home in Uruguay (we now live in Colombia), waiting for the day we go back for them. Same happens with the comic books. So today, here I do not have a lot. But, on the other hand, my oldest son “inherited” that interest, so a good part of my budget for that is going to my son’s collection.
How was it that you came to create the board game with your son? Where did you get the idea from?
The idea came from my oldest seven-year-old son. We were drinking mate on the balcony and he arrived with his Marvel action figure collection and some pages on which he had drawn a board and a battle zone. After playing a little bit under his rules (rules that he adapted at his convenience), I told him that we were going to make a game with rules that did not only benefit him. That same day in the afternoon, we started to work.
It was a nice family project and helped us pass a good part of the quarantine.
How was that process? What methodologies did you use? What challenges did you encounter?
In the beginning, everything was very empirical, which means that we did not consciously establish a methodology. But yes, it is true that, “without wanting to”, we were brainstorming, benchmarking, and doing small interviews. Later, we were already more intentionally applying Design Thinking.
But the most enjoyable part of the process was sharing my profession with my son. He was very excited about everything related to designing and got a better understanding of what I do on the computer every day.
What conclusions did you take from it after the process?
Many. I divide them into two groups. First, what I learned as a father in relation to the education of my children, and next, what I learned as a designer.
As a father, I learned that my children’s education is not only the responsibility of a formal education, but also that the family must be actively involved so that the children can develop all of their potential, including (and especially) those whose development is not stimulated in formal environments.
I also learned that design and anything can be learned at an early age. You have to have a certain sensitivity to “detect” the child’s interest, and then propose projects that stimulate it. Children learn by doing.
With regard to me as a designer, I learned that you have to speak with children, but not speak like we often do from our “adulthood,” but rather ask. Children help us get out of the box. If we do this, we will surely be surprised.
I also learned about the enthusiasm and commitment that they have for something when it interests them, and they have a passion for it. Finally, I learned how important it is to include the client in the process. That gives us the possibility of having immediate and more faithful access to the information that we need, but we also are going to have the client defending the product.
How do you think that as adults we can boost our creativity as children?
As I said before, if we have children at home, or nephews, speak with them, try to enter their world, and share it, play while creating and supporting that universe that they create in their minds. It is a good habit to stimulate Thinking Outside of the Box.
But the main thing is to succeed in not being inhibited when proposing solutions. We always have “reality” as a factor that limits us; however, if we dare to go beyond, maybe we can encounter ideas that may make them tangible and that are completely “outside of the norm”.
Finally, enjoying what we do or doing what we enjoy.
Thinking outside of the box, unblocking creativity, achieving unexpected levels of innovation, and bringing them to life in a product needed by the client. Are you willing to take this challenge? Apply here: https://bit.ly/2QX0L1a
