Alejandro Gavancho

Where did you study and what were some of your first jobs?

I studied graphic design at a design school here in Lima called ISIL, it's an institute that teaches technological careers, focused on practice and innovation. It was there where I started to train and to meet people related to the field of design in Lima. In addition to graphic design, I have always had an admiration and affinity for industrial design and since I was a student I have always tried to incorporate some industrial design into my design work, be it a book, packaging, poster, etc. and I think that was what caught my teachers' attention at the time. That's how I arrived at my first job. One of my teachers had started with her own design studio and needed a designer on her team to help with small projects. Since we were all young, the pace of work was more unstructured in terms of relationships, and the work became more human and fun. The fact of being a new graphic studio and the good relationship that we had, helped me to learn a lot, not only about design itself but about the administrative part and how to meet with clients. During that time I was also doing freelance in my free time and that helped me, even more, to put what I learned individually into practice.

Give us the elevator pitch on what you do.

I make clients' ideas real and tangible, I create brands that connect with people and that always have a human side. My job is to shape an idea, make an idea useful and beautiful. Make the design generate emotions and connect with people. For me, creativity is more than just design, it is knowing how to take advantage of other disciplines and applying them to our work, it is discovering new axes and livelihoods in the process of creating a project. Finally, I would define my work style as risky and different/weird but elegant, as a reflection of what I am.

What are some of the best and worst parts of your job, day-to-day.

At the moment I have started working on my personal brand as an independent designer and as I just started, I'm working from home, which has good parts and some not very good. The first thing is the freedom that I have working from home, I can get out of bed and go directly to my office that is a few steps away, I can manage my time as best suits me. So, if one day I want to start late, I can do. Another factor that I value a lot is that as a freelance I can work from anywhere, I travel a lot and I can work from wherever I am, I just need my computer and that's it, in fact, this is one of the factors that led me to start working independently. Some points that I would consider difficult, and I think it is due to the fact that I am not used to it, is that I find it difficult to work alone, I am used to working surrounded by people, in a friendly environment, exchanging design opinions and what is happening to our around, but I think it will be a matter of getting used to it and starting to organise myself better to have meetings with colleagues in my free time.

How does the local culture of where you live affect your design work and getting clients?

Lima is a city that is constantly growing and that is reflected in new local businesses, restaurants, clothing stores, bars, art supplies shops. A few years ago I do not think that I would have felt this way about my city, that we are at the level of other big cities around the world but creating our own style, rescuing our origins and history. The fact that new artistic currents are being created here and that is beginning to encourage creative careers at the same level of other vocations inspires me and makes Lima's design circle ever bigger. Another positive factor is that in recent years people have just begun to truly value design, we are in the process of learning about the importance and benefits of good design, personally I see it reflected in my environment, in local businesses that I find in my city, there are more and more inspiring places, and I can notice that there was a professional hand behind it, places with very interesting concepts and new proposals. Now there are many young people who are starting to create their own companies and there are such good brands in the city, it definitely serves as motivation to do something better and go to a professional to transform their ideas into something tangible.