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My name is Camila and I am honoured to apply for your Senior Designer position. I want to prove that great things can be achieved through civil justice, activism and cutting-edge visual communication. 

I am confident I am a strong candidate for the following reasons:

• Building award-winning design projects for concrete results. Design has the ability to make us feel, react, and ultimately act. I am a cross-platform designer driven by the big challenges affecting humanity.

Up until 2020 (pre-pandemic), I managed a high-performing design team at UNICEF at the United Nation’s headquarters in New York. The small but focused team (5ppl) was tasked to tackle complex problems affecting children around the world, as part of a larger Data, Research & Policy division. I was responsible for overseeing the creation of a broad range of communication material and translating complex information into easy-to-understand policy pieces. I strategically build the division’s extensive design library, work stream, and incorporated best practices and trends from the creative industry. 

In 2019, I spearheaded Marble, an innovative UNICEF project that uses ‘big data’ to solve issues affecting children. My role was to raise visibility on a topic with negative associations in a new territory for the organization. I led the design encompassing graphics, animation, copywriting, photography, strategy and more. I negotiated all external creative services pro-bono (no cost) in a new form of win-win partnership to a compound value of 1 million USD. The project won the Design & Art Director Awards for Best Branding in London the same year - one of the industry’s most prestigious design awards.

In 2017, I led the re-design of UNICEF’s Official Brand Book, an extensive process spanning strategy, usability and execution, rolled out across the organisation’s 190 offices globally.

• Translating complex information to clear, beautiful campaigns. Working in human rights means the information we produce must reach its audience. I’ve spent a large part of my career in the advertising industry where I specialized in brand development. This skill set allows me to synthesize a vast amount of variables into concentrated, powerful messaging. As creative lead at the United Nations, I liaised daily with data scientists, technologists, as well as researchers to amplify our impact. 

I’m a hands on-designer who excels in:

Design strategy – Defining creative direction for complex issues that intersect multiple areas and audiences. Informational architecture, and clarifying messaging. I am involved in the early stages of projects and help technical experts ‘think through their thinking’, especially useful when a project gets muddy or stalling.

Conceptualization – My strength lies in being able to see unorthodox design solutions, but also to ‘bring it home’ as successful results. This means having a deep understanding of what, why and who you are designing for. Rooted in brand development processes from the cut-throat advertising industry my working style allows me to take projects from free-flow ideation to meticulously executed products.

Execution – Although a senior creative, my passion still lies in designing the actual artwork. My proficiency span most graphic areas including campaign design, logo design, publication, infographics, data visualization, poster design, infographics, maps, illustration, and photography post-production. Digital design is an important part of most projects I do, developing designs specifically for web and social media, creating web interfaces, and microsites. I am comfortable with CMS, HTML and basic CSS, as well as collaborating with developers and sourcing talent for custom pieces such as advanced animation.

I am also accustomed to creating campaigns in multiple languages, as well as designing for larger events, including Findemo a social innovation festival in Colombia, and UNICEF’s Leading Minds Conference in Florence, Italy. 

• 13 years of design experience and a background in international agencies. My professional background lies in the world of advertising (Ogilvy and BBDO). In my role as Art Director, I worked for many years within the luxury sector - from the legal diamond industry in South Africa to the Emirati government of the United Arab Emirates. Developing projects for high-end markets honed my sensibility for uncompromised attention to detail. Today I devote this expertise solely to social advancement.

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Truly great design is universal, inclusive and emotive. I am a committed advocate for the power of effective visual communication and its ability to influence social development work.

With parental roots in Bolivia, I have a passion for diversity and culture which has taken me to different corners of the globe. I graduated from Malmo University in Sweden with the highest honours for my thesis Design as a Tool for Social Development. I’ve operated in multicultural settings throughout my entire career and am fine-tuned to sensitive gender, race, and religious contexts, as well as accustomed to synthesizing for wide audiences from rural communities to diplomatic settings.
I am fluent in English, Swedish and Spanish.

I am excited to explore the Communications and Engagement team’s vision and continue the conversation of how we with strong advocacy and visual arts can fuel the outstanding efforts
of Access Now.

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Looking forward,