Personal user manual
An aproximate guide of Laura2024
Who I am, where I come from, and career history
I'm a designer, builder and thinker. I'm driven by the idea of exploring what total design means on the web. My approach is informed by my background in architecture and philosophy. The former, inspires me to do functional, durable, and delightful human centered artifacts; The latter, draws me to research, abstractions and concept-driven work.My career history as a designer started while I was working as an architect. At the time I was the only architect at the office who knew how to use Illustrator, so everything related to environmental graphics came to me. I saw how graphic design was everywhere, and started learning, creating and working for clients. After six years of this career change, I continue to be excited for the expansive potential of visual work and the web, which to me means that I’m in the right place.
As to where I come from, I've been moving around and constantly adapting to new places. Born in Medellin, Colombia. Lived in Bogota for half of my life, then moved to Brazil for four years to study philosophy and Portuguese. Now, I'm splitting my time between New York, Barcelona and Bogotá.
My core beliefs
Intentionality. I believe you are what you spend your time doing. I'm intentional with my time and devote it to things I care about and love.Strong opinions, weakly held. No idea is final, I'm changing and updating constantly. I value flexibility, adaptability and not taking things too seriously.
Active creativity. I believe the best way of learn and understand the world is through action. This encompasses having an active lifestyle, learning while doing and prototyping often.
Ideal work environment
Early focus. I’m a morning person. I devote my early hours to the tasks that require more concentration.Name your layers. I'm naturally drawn to project management and organization, both offline and online. I enjoy creating structures, categories, making keys, creating folders and making it easier to find and search.
Team player. I love working with others, specially in multidisciplinary, tight knit teams. I enjoy working collaboratively, getting and giving feedback and understanding concepts from a wide range of perspectives.
Always learning. I value dynamic workplaces where I need to learn new skills, technology stacks, or practices. I'm comfortable updating my knowledge and changing ways of doing things if needed.
Independent creative time. I'm fueled by intrinsic motivation for the craft and often block long sessions in my calendar for focused work. I enjoy giving time and effort for ideas to bloom. My ideal spot is good balance between independence and collaboration.
Feedback
My preferred type of feedback is actionable and aligned with stablished goals and values.Constructive feedback of my work is not personal criticism. I can articulate the reasoning behind my design decisions and have a healthy discussion around them.
Known bugs
My energy levels tend to fade in the afternoon and evening. I rarely schedule important meetings at the end of the day.Because of my love for challenges, sometimes I take the difficult route. I need to remind myself of working smarter and not harder.
I dislike complaining because it is stressful to focus on a problem without taking practical steps to solve it. And if it is impossible to solve, stressing about it is only going to make it worse.
Other useful or fun info about me
Being active is a big part of my life. I've been a roller derby skater for 12 years. Besides skating, I do running, hiking, lifting, CrossFit, yoga.Making art is another big part of my life. I create architectural explorations with ceramics and textile artifacts: knitting, basket weaving and hand embroidery.
I love new music. I enjoy making playlists and I’m always in for discovering artists or genres and sharing music recommendations. My favorite playlist is called Difference and Repetition.