Fresh Face
This month’s Fresh Face is a globe-trotting, entrée-creating art director. We’re talking to Angela MonDragon and we’re rolling our R’s.
DSVC Hello, Angela. I like your name. Dragons are cool.
Angela It’s actually not pronounced Dragon like the mythical lizard. It’s a Spanish name, you’ve got to roll the R.
DSVC Well that’s even better. I love rolling my R’s. Where did you go to school and what did you study there?
Angela I graduated from Texas State University. I studied communication design and photography. I also studied abroad in Italy focusing on art and photography, with some time for a few culinary classes as well.
DSVC Culinary classes in Italy? Wow. I assume you have a love of cooking then?
Angela It’s my secret desire to host my own cooking/travel show on the Food Network.
DSVC What would it be called? May I suggest something with the words “delicious” and “extravaganza” in the title?
Angela It’d be called Food=Life. Of course it would have some awesome logo probably using the equal sign to morph food into life in a stylized ambigram.
DSVC Yeah, that’s probably better than what I had in mind. Tell me more about Food=Life.
Angela The synopsis is that enjoying food is all about experiencing and enjoying all different walks of life. Through my love of food and my fascination with people across the globe, I would introduce viewers to some interesting characters, cultures, and a world culinary splendor. Then I would come back to show you how to experience the same in your own kitchen.
DSVC I’m getting a really good vibe about that show. Have you ever designed (segue alert!) your own entrée?
Angela I accidentally invented a fabulous creamy cake pudding once. I was trying to make a Tres Leches cake, and I got the measurements wrong and added way too much sweet milk so the cake didn’t hold up at all. We had to eat it out of bowls like ice cream, but we finished every last bit of it. It was delicious!
DSVC That does sound delicious. Speaking of design (after all, this is a design magazine), where are you working now and what do you do there?
Angela I’m an art director at latitude/The Richards Group.
DSVC Very cool. Tell me more about latitude.
Angela I love my job at latitude. With our big brother The Richards Group right next door, it has presented me some wonderful opportunities to work on an advertising team over there as well, and learn a lot about that side of the business. I spend a lot of my time working on the Red Lobster account.
DSVC Hold on. Stop the presses. Did you just say you work on Red Lobster?
Angela I’m on the team that has concepted and art directed everything you see in restaurant.
DSVC Wow. It’s all so nautical. And delicious. And awesome. I had no idea when we started this interview, but it turns out I’m a big fan of your work. How did you first get into design?
Angela When I was younger, I had no idea what graphic design or art direction was as a career. I just always loved to draw. I have sketchbooks full of Disney characters and my own comic strips that I used to draw as a kid. It wasn’t until I went to college orientation that I discovered this field and fell in love with it.
DSVC I made up a comic strip character named Ninjor when I was a kid. He was a ninja and he had a flat-top haircut. Yeah…so what influences you as designer?
Angela I love vintage package design. All of the ornate type and raw materials are so beautiful to me. I’m also continuously inspired by what’s coming off the runways in the fashion industry. Some of those clothes are more like works of art rather than clothing, but the fabulous shapes they make when the models move, and the gorgeous color palettes that present themselves each season, definitely inspire me.
DSVC So fashion, fine dining, design, and travel. This has been the most refined Fresh Face ever. And yes, I rolled the R in refined. Thanks, Angela!
Derek Rundgren (darundgren@yahoo.com) is a copywriter at Javelin Direct. The R’s in his name are best left unrolled.
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