The Latin American Design Awards Festival took place on July 9th, highlighting two polytechnic alumni whose work received awards in various categories. One of them was Javier Pérez, known on social media as Cintascotch. He won the silver award in the animation category for his project Stop Motion Experiments. Meanwhile, student Renata Bazurto secured a win in the student category for New Brand Identity.
Javier Pérez is a graduate of the Design and Audiovisual Production program at ESPOL. His extensive career has earned him recognition and association with his brand due to his distinctive graphic style. He has participated in various competitions, gaining significant recognition both in Ecuador and abroad.
"I define my style as minimalist; I like to use everyday items, as simply as possible, so that it looks like I’ve hardly intervened and that the essence of the object remains," shares the polytechnic graduate. Pérez mentions that he always watches stop-motion animations and art in general. Therefore, when he sees an object, he tries to use his previous references to combine them and create something new, whether for a static or animated image, always maintaining simplicity.
His animation projects can take at least 4 hours to complete, for a 3 or 4-second animation. He first develops the idea, then creates a sketch in Photoshop to check its feasibility, and finally makes the video. He takes around 10 to 12 photos, considering the complexity of the project. He then creates a loop in the software, adds sound, and exports it in two formats: one for the feed and one for Instagram stories. His work also includes behind-the-scenes content, which is edited for his social media.
Pérez notes that this is his first time participating in the festival: "I had seen the competition and noticed the high level of the entries. The animation in the competition is very different from what I do, and I wasn’t sure if I would win or at least be a finalist."
Pérez is a partner at the agency Cafeína, active since 2013. The company manages national brands such as Jugos Sunny, ARCOR, Hispana de Seguros, and since 2014, Sweet and Coffee.
Renata Bazurto, a Graphic Design student currently in her fifth semester, was among the winners at the fifth edition of the Latin American Design Awards. Her project, Puyo, earned recognition at the festival.
“The motivation for choosing the city of Puyo for this project comes from Amazonian graphics. I find it exciting how each culture has its own system of signs and symbols to represent ideas. In the Puyo area alone, there are more than 32 communities, each with its own colors and shapes. Therefore, I am passionate about the visual richness they possess,” says Bazurto.
Her project involved branding the city of Puyo, creating a complete visual identity with various applications, from open spaces to digital media. She decided to design a logo that followed patterns and forms from the region’s endemic cultures, modernizing them to preserve Amazonian graphics while highlighting Puyo's cultural richness, adapted to urban modernity.
The color palette was inspired by a selection of endemic plants to convey the vitality of the region’s nature. The patterns were drawn from the shapes used by various ancestral cultures in their face paintings, crafts, clothing, and architecture.
Bazurto’s graphic proposal includes items such as shirts, labels for craft sales, signage, murals, and tourist guides, as well as a graphic line for social media and digital deployment. The project integrates elements from ancestral cultures and rural inhabitants through a comprehensive design that highlights the cultural richness of Puyo.
“For this project, I read several theses on archaeology and architecture from different national universities that compiled graphic information on Amazonian signs and symbols, as well as scientific publications explaining the Amazon’s communication systems. I also explored the city via Google Maps. I started by creating mood boards with all the forms I wanted to use, then made many paper sketches. Once I had the complete idea, I transitioned it to digital to run several tests until I reached the final result,” Bazurto explains.
Renata highlights that undertaking such projects helps her learn to research and support a proposal effectively, emphasizing that the most crucial aspect of any work is the foundation behind it.
“As students, I believe it’s important to have healthy competition (…) contests like this allow us to meet professionals in the field, which generates significant learning,” the polytechnic student notes.
The Latin American Design Awards is an international competition that recognizes the best design pieces presented throughout the year. The awards are directed at creatives from agencies, design studios, and independent designers. The competition took place in Lima, Peru.
13/07/2021
