INTERVIEW WITH NERY ORELLANA
Nery Orellana is a graphic designer in the Office of Communications and Public Affairs at Cal State LA. I have the pleasure of working with this extremely talented and humble illustrator who has a keen eye for color and a knack for creating clever design with a powerful message. When I first met Nery, I was fascinated by his unwavering upbeat personality and passion for the arts. Once we got better acquainted, he told me about a time earlier in his career when he worked at Bass/Yager & Associates with graphic design pioneer and legend, Saul Bass.
I remembered learning about Saul Bass as a college student. I studied his work and spent a semester creating motion graphics inspired by his groundbreaking approach to designing movie title sequences. When I learned that Nery knew him personally, I felt honored to be in the presence of a true design master who was trained by one the best. The more we chatted, the more stories he shared. Working with, and learning from, someone as well-versed in design as Nery for several years now has been a great privilege. And it has become clear to me that my friend and colleague, Nery Orellana, is nothing short of an unsung hero.
Nery Orellana (left) and Olympia W. Crawford (right)
Q. Where did you grow up?
A. I was born in the Caribbean about a block from the water in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, a port city off the Gulf of Honduras. I grew up fishing, swimming, and playing soccer almost daily. Puerto Barrios is rich with Mayan, Garifuna, and Spanish history. Puerto Barrios has beautiful attractions, such as caves, hot springs, and seven natural ponds. Tourists come to see the Siete Altares waterfalls, Mayan ruins of Quiriguá, and San Felipe de Lara Castle, an old Spanish fort which was notoriously attacked by pirates back in the day.
Q. How did you get into graphic design?
A. Graphic design sparked my interest in the third grade. My teacher was an artist who painted murals in his spare time. When he was supposed to be instructing us with the standard third grade curriculum, he taught art full time instead. We spent the entire year studying art, art history, and doing projects. We learned the basic elements of graphic design and illustration. As the year went on, I noticed that I was completing all my projects with ease. There were even a few times I would help my classmates with their projects as well. It was then that I realized I had a natural talent and decided to become an artist.
Q. How did you end up at Bass/Yager & Associates?
A. After graduating from Cal State LA in 1989, I was on the hunt for a job. I went to the Career Center on campus to see if they had any job or internship postings. Lucky for me, I found a paid internship flyer with Bass/Yager & Associates name across the top. At the time, I didn't know how famous the name was. I went in for the interview at 7039 Sunset Boulevard and was introduced to Saul. I was given a tour of the studio and after that, was hired on site. I started right away and worked there until Saul’s death in 1996. My time spent with Bass/Yager & Associates is where I feel I made the transition from a student to a professional designer.
Q. What were some of the brainstorming sessions like and how did that translate into a logo study?
A. Saul was an amazing designer who took a collaborative approach to brainstorming and logo studies. Keep in mind, the first Mac was introduced in 1984, so at the time, we used other innovative ways to execute what can now be created within minutes on a computer. Each brainstorm session would start with a design criteria meeting. Once the criteria had been established, we began collecting visual and written information. From there, we were asked to draw rough ideas onto pieces of paper with a sharpie, then tape them onto 4x8’ boards. Saul tailored the process this way so all the designers could see what everyone else came up with. That way, if a designer encountered a creative block, they could find inspiration from their peers and expand their original ideas into new concepts. After we solidified the image, we would repeat the same process for the typographic study using the full name and acronym. Then we would repeat the process once more for the accompanying symbol.
Work by Nery Orellana: 50th Years of Transforming Minds and Communities poster (left); and Utopias painting (right).
Q. Would we recognize any of your work from your time there?
A. Yes, I helped develop and assisted on several projects. Some of the more memorable projects were the AT&T logo, the Getty logo, KOSÉ personal care, the movie poster for Schindler's List, and the intro movie title sequences for Age of Innocence, Cape Fear, and Higher Learning. I learned from some of the best people in the industry! They were very approachable. I could ask Saul, Art Goodman (another design pioneer), or any of the associates for help if I needed it.
Q. What was the most memorable technique you learned from Saul Bass?
A. Overwhelm the client! Whenever we had logo presentations, there would be hundreds of ideas on display. In my experience, when only a few ideas are presented to the client, they tend to want more options. On the flip side, when a client is presented with an extensive study with multiple options to choose from, they look to us (the experts) for recommendations. The latter was always the preferred route.
Illustration of Saul Bass by Nery Orellana.
Q. What inspires your design and how do you implement your Guatemalan heritage into what you create?
A. Creativity is an inexhaustible and ever-expanding resource. I firmly believe that the creative impulse is cultivated with intensity, curiosity, and freedom. Though I no longer live there, Guatemala will always be a part of me and in everything that I do. I am very proud of where I come from and try to implement elements of my background when it comes to design. In my work you will notice my intense attraction to color and culture along with subtle undertones of my aversion to societal inequities and injustice. Like my favorite Guatemalan poet, Otto René Castillo said, "it is beautiful to love the world with the eyes of those not yet born."
Q. What makes you a better graphic designer today than you were yesterday?
A. I would say experience is what makes me a better designer. Even if you're a new designer just starting out, the skills you learned yesterday betters the design you work on today. Just as athletes train to become bigger, stronger and faster, a graphic designer must train to hone their craft as well. There will always be moments that you look back at your work and say, "I could have done that better," but with experience comes more methodical problem solving. Your image reference library becomes more extensive. Your career opportunities will grow and from those opportunities come a myriad of people to learn from with different artistic visions and approaches. I can confidently say that throughout my career I've worked with several people that I admire and continue to be inspired by.
For more artwork by Nery Orellana, visit his portfolio site at www.neryorellana.com
UCDA member Olympia W. Crawford is a graphic designer in the Office of Communications and Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles