Troy Garza
Artist Statement
I was an introverted kid growing up in Mission, TX. I never went outside, I just stayed inside and read books or used Microsoft Paint to create interesting, chaotic, designs. I enjoyed watching different billboards pass by when I would sit in a car. Insurance, food, automobiles, and such had so many different variations that I did not think could be done. They were so different and unique with many different colors, fonts, and styles that branded their respective brands into a cohesive form. From there, I took a more basic approach to learning what I like by taking basic art classes in high school. They were good for learning fundamentals with color theory and shaping aspects, but traditional art was not what I was looking for. When I arrived to the university classes I found the design style I was looking for: branding design on a digital workspace. Learning the different ways of designing an image to capture the eye of a viewer was exactly what I wanted to know about.
My work is important in that my family has helped to shape the work I create. I enjoy promoting cool imagery that takes inspiration from TV shows or videogames that I like from time to time. However, my family helps to inspire my work with their experiences and unique tastes in what branding styles they enjoy. Some of my promotional material was inspired by what my father taught me about what a business needs to survive and thrive. He showed me examples with how his pharmacy would promote to customers. Those ideas helped me to envision what people look for in a branding design. My mother inspired me by her creative color choices when she would paint various walls or pottery holders. I then could see what colors can be helpful when choosing certain themes.
I prefer to work in an environment that has a nice ambience sound such as an air ventilation, or the fans running inside computers. These help me think and give me clarity for when I come up with ideas. Total silence worries me so in some circumstances I listen to music such as rock, folk, or country music types. When I work on a certain project I like to get ideas on the subject. I do this by going outside to look at local branding posters to see what the normal trends in such media are. Other times, I look online to gain some insight on what new techniques are being used to draw a person’s attention to a product. The programs I usually use are Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. These are the main programs I have been taught to promote branding posters, cards, and brochure designs.
I break problems down into phases and what needs to be done. Phase one is the brainstorming part of just creating various ideas. Some will be outlandish and a little crazy, while others will be more feasible but kind of boring. Then I present my findings to my colleagues for feedback. With their thoughts in mind, I revise what I like and do not like into more grounded ideas. This leads into phase two, which is choosing the style and theme for what the project will be about. Choosing the correct fonts and colors that join together to entice the viewer’s eye can be a struggle, but with enough time I end up finding a fitting choice. This then leads to phase three which is the proper placement of what information and images that the viewer will be interested in seeing. This leads to creating type hierarchy and what images should be the main focus. Explaining a product in the simplest of forms can be the best way to grab a viewer’s attention. After they are drawn in, then they will notice the smaller details that will keep them there for quite a while. That is when the product objective has been completed.
