Innovative Individuals

Innovative Individuals: Gerardo Samano Cordova

This post is also available in: Spanish

When digital animator and developer Gerardo Samano Cordova’s name came up for recognition as an “Innovative Individual,” I was curious to learn more about him as I have to admit that I was unfamiliar with his work. After spending only a minute with his portfolio site, I knew this guy had talent.

I then noticed that he recently started his own digital media company based in Mexico City called Bowtie, which provides website design, game development, animation, iPhone apps, and e-commerce infrastructure to its clients. His company site was recognized as the site of the day for The CSS Awards, and I’m pretty sure I know why.

Check out his work and you’ll also know why we were eager to track him down and feature him as this week’s Innovative Individual!

To keep up with Gerardo, follow his company on Twitter, and take a peak at this site and that site, his older two versions of his portfolio for further design inspiration.

Q) How do you drive innovation in your work?

A) I think innovation in my work comes out of curiosity, from the desire to always be working on something interesting and challenging. I’m always stopping myself when I catch myself doing something I’ve done before or is similar to work I’ve seen around. “What if?” is a favorite question of mine because you can always ask yourself what if I did this differently, what if I flip that, what if, what if, what if.

Q) What piece in your portfolio are you most proud of and why?

A) Its always hard to say, there are elements of each project that I love otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to finish them. I’m always proud when I figure out a way to do something that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do. I’m like a mad scientist happy doing experiments and happier when they don’t blow up in my face.

There’s an animation piece I’m working on that really speaks to me but I haven’t been able to finish but I think when I do finish it its going to be a great piece. It’s loosely based on Garshin, a 19th century Russian writer and his writings.

I love the Brooklyn Filmmaker’s Collective site I did, because it’s so dynamic and simple at the same time. I love the “wheel” functionality in the member’s section which is a bit of coding I’m particularly proud of. The black and white can be boring but I’m really proud of the look and how the functionality makes the site come alive.

Q) Please provide a brief educational and professional history.

A) I studied my BFA in visual arts with a concentration in film and photography. After graduating I found it easier to get jobs as a designer than anything else, so I stuck with it. I’ve worked for a fashion designer, for several marketing and communication agencies, for Playboy, for Y&R, and finally for myself. I’ve designed from logos to shoes, to fully interactive websites where I’ve found an outlet for my animation.

Q) Where do you believe multimedia fits into today’s society and how will that role change over time?

A) Multimedia is ubiquitous. You can’t escape it. When I think of multimedia “fitting” somewhere I can’t picture it, because it’s everywhere and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. However I do feel the concept we have of multimedia will grow. Now we consider multimedia anything that has text, images, sound, and video is the internet. However multimedia can be something you can touch, or smell and also hear and see.

Q) Whose work do you admire?

A) Its hard to say because different work touches me at different times. Right now I’m really into architecture and interior design. A lot of times like in this instance I can’t really reference the work that I admire directly but it helps me think in different ways. It also inspires me with moods and little gestures that speak to me and lead me to bigger gestures that I can use.

Architecture inspires me as a concept. Going to different buildings whether they be museums or new hotels, always spark ideas in me. Zaha Hadid is an architect I especially admire, I loved what she did for Chanel’s Mobile Art. Frank Gehry, Alvar Aalto and Gaudí are others who truly inspire me.

I love Gabriel Orozco, he’s a Mexican artist who uses banality and common objects and by presenting them in unique ways he manages to create new planes of reality. I admire the way he understands how anything can be re-imagined. That re-imagination is something I’m always trying to push into my on work.

Q) Where do you find inspiration for your ideas?

A) Everywhere. Curiously I find that a lot of the ideas are from architecture and space. I think in a strange way it helps me organize my ideas. Otherwise from art, tv, swimming, anything really.

Wired.com. SpaceInvading.com. The nytimes.com is a must every day. livingdesign.info has some interesting and fun bits on design.

Q) What specific resources do you recommend for A) beginners, B) novices and C) experts to improve their skills in digital animation?

A) The internet, the internet, the internet. And I also fully recommend watching a lot of animation, especially trying to find things that you wouldn’t watch normally. There is a bounty of work out there.

One easy way to start watching animation is to get the list of nominated animated shorts for the Oscars and then look for them on the net. Amazingly most of them are published for everyone to see, otherwise iTunes has a pretty good selection of them. As for the technicalities and learning of animation I would suggest getting the Friends of Ed books, and that goes for web design as well. Those books are easy to understand, very well written and range from beginner topics to expert ones.

Q) What is one thing on your “To-Do” list?

A) Getting more of my own animation work out there.

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Want to nominate a deserving colleague, friend or inspirational figure to be highlighted in this series? Confidential nominations can be emailed to innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com on an ongoing basis. Self nominations are also welcome. A person will be featured every Friday, so look for the next “innovative individual” Friday, June 18th!

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