Today we’d like to introduce you to Edwin Villalba.
Hi Edwin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a Mexican-born, Texas-raised, Atlanta-based Graphic Designer and Illustrator.
My journey started with my Mexican parents. They hustled with jobs when they journeyed over to the states to keep my siblings and I safe, fed, and with a roof over our heads. As a kid, I didn’t realize how much they struggled and how much they sacrificed for us to be successful. That work ethic has stuck with me through my own journey. From personal growth like coming out as a gay man to career growth like graduating and successfully fulfilling my dream with a career that I absolutely love.
I have always been creative and have always been odd and different, which has helped me express myself through my art and design. I started back in 2010 as a photographer and illustrator. However, I wanted to do more! While working at one of my jobs, I was given the opportunity to work on a logo and since then, Graphic Design has been my life.
I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Atlanta and have continued my career working with some very awesome clients like Disney, CVS, Octavious Marsion, Dillon Burnside, SMU, and many other notable clients.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No way has it smooth! I feel like journeys are never smooth and if they are, you’re not done with your journey.
I struggled with A LOT! I had a lot of self-doubts, mental health issues, toxic relationships, coming out, you name it!
I had individuals wanting me to stop my education and not finish, I dealt with loss. I was kicked out after coming out and lived on my own without any help back when I was 18. That was something out of a storybook. Years of generational trauma had been following me and had kept me from achieving my goals. After some years my parents came around and started to see me for me which helped break those generational chains. It has been a very wild ride.
I struggled while living on my own and I couldn’t pay for school. My sister who was living in ATL at the time invited me to stay with her while I finished school and graduated with honors.
Through all this, I learned to be myself and I learned that the only person in the way of my goals and success is solely me. Even through everything I went through, I was dedicated and focused. Educators took me seriously and that opened many doors that started my career.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Graphic Designer and illustrator.
I specialize in brand identity, logo design, illustration, lettering, layout and print, and some animation.
I am most known for winning several awards during the 10th Annual Student Pin-Up Show. No one who has attended has won more that two. I brought home 4 awards that day. It was such an amazing feeling and very unexpected.
I am proud of everything I have created. I will say that I tend to be most proud of current work as it is fresh in my mind. I am very proud of all the Hispanic and Latinx designs I have created as it gets me more involved and connected with my roots as a Mexican designer.
Professionally the project that I am most proud of is the SMU/South Methodist University work that I did. I was an intern and still in school and my work was chosen to be the design style for the whole university student center. To top it off, it is a university in my hometown of Dallas, Tx and that was freaken awesome!
I am mostly known for my simply sick designs, my crazy thinking, my out of the box ideas, and my design skills.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Take the risk! It is always worth it!
I am an opportunist and anything that comes my way, I will hear it out and if I like it, I will follow it. That’s how I got my current role as a Senior Graphic Designer at Georgia Power. A recruiter reached out and asked if I wanted to interview literally the next day. I am a planner, especially with interviews, but I interviewed and I landed the gig. It was my dream position and my dream team. I took that opportunity and it paid off.
I feel like you learn from risk-taking. It’s not always good, but that turns into a learning and growing experience.
Life is too short to not take risks.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.edwinvillalba.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edwinv.design/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Edwinv.design
- Other: https://linktr.ee/edwinv.design
