My name is Lautaro Cabrera, I'm 20 years old and I'm a designer. I do graphic design, web design, actually, anything that my skills allow me to. I've always liked to design, though I didn't always know that. Since I was a kid I used to surf through my PC looking for images to change and modify, creating some funny effect. MS Paint, next to videogames, were my favourite programs. Until one day I decided to combine both of them and started editing the graphics of the games I played. That's how I learned to use Adobe Photoshop, required software to modify soccer t-shirts in my Fifa games. After that, I started to become interested in all the things of the visual world.
Specially during my exchange year in the United States, where I learned to be much more perceptive, in addition to seeing completely different ways of designing and marketing than the ones I was used to in my country, Argentina. It was in Washington, D.C. where I had my first job as a junior designer, assisting the Chief Marketing Officer of AppAssure. I started paying much more attention to advertising in the streets, on TV and that was when I discovered that, in the future, I could be able to work thanks to the passion of "making pretty things with a computer", since that was my concept of designing at that age. The same way, thanks to a deeper obeservation, a developed a great interest for communication, propaganda, and the effect of advertising in people, the symbols and hidden messages of everything that surounds us.
Using exclusively Photoshop, I tried to submerge myself into the world of Logos, through a website that allows different designers to compete for a prize that the best logo gets, according to the client's choice.
After trying some work in Photoshop, I discovered that this world (the logo world) was ruled by a different program called Adobe Illustrator. That's how I met my current favourite software. I learned the advantages of vector images and the great techniques this program had to easily modify images.
All the knowledge I have, I was able to collect from forums, online tutorials, design websites and blogs, explainatory videos and more. But above all those tools, I believe that the most significant part of my learning process was the practice of touching and testing every single button available in the programs I used, and seeing what each of the did. Also, it was very important to have a self-learning ability, that expanded my limits beyond only what others could teach me, and the courses that I was able to pay for.
That is the reason why I never stop learning, both the 'formal' way, like studying graphic design in college; and the informal way, like watching more online tutorials.
My plan and dream is to become a professional graphic design, to create great new brands and appealing products, and to be able to make a living while doing what I love.
