You are now watching: Zoa Martinez :: Design Made to Move

Zoa Martinez, president and creative director of ZONA Design, New York. ZONA Design clients include: A&E, Disney, and ESPN to HBO, SKY Italia and Time Warner.

how did you transition from fine art to motion graphics?

I’ve always been an artist, sculptress and painter, so thinking in terms of composition and color is very intuitive and natural for me—and all self-taught. I didn’t go right into motion graphics, I went from doing fashion illustration to illustration to advertising to graphic design, all the disciplines. Primarily, my work is pop art.

you can’t really split your art into fine or commercial art, because it comes from the same source.

Yes, absolutely. As an artist, my work continues to grow through the means and media we use to portray the messages our clients want heard. There is a fine-art quality in my commercial work—with the typographic choices I make, or if I use a particular brush, it’s not because I’m trying to “create a texture.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but my choices aren’t decorative; I’m creating a texture that is necessary, as I would do on a canvas, or a patina on a sculpture. My approach to composition is the same, using the intentional juxtaposition or deconstruction of elements to create a message.

the brand identity you developed for Animal Planet’s national R.O.A.R. campaign (Reach Out. Act. Respond.) was strong because it was so simple.

Yes, it was very simple and clean. We wanted to promote Animal Planet’s non-profit R.O.A.R. and at the same time, connect the campaign back to the network by using their on-air talent. So it achieved two goals without feeling unnatural. I live my life that way; I don’t do anything that doesn’t feel right.

to capture the essence of a brand or product, you need to get inside its culture and inhabit the perspective of its target audience. It’s a bit like method acting.

Yes, exactly. I’m very open, I’m a great investigator, and I love to explore. My approach is to get close to the brand and the product, to get in tune with the message and keep it really clear. I’m very passionate and confident about the work I do, so what you see comes out very boldly, regardless of whether it’s soft or aggressive in spirit.

how do design ideas come to you?

I try to be clever with things. I think really fast, and ideas come to me immediately. I might explore alternative ideas but the first one I think of is usually it.

when you’re an artist, it’s like there’s a switch in your head that’s hard to turn off—you’re always seeing the world through the filter of your art.

Oh, it’s crazy. I want to design the whole world. And I’m a nut about details—there are times when I’ll be working with a composite artist, and I’ll ask, ‘can you just cut down one-and-a-half frames?’ They’ll look at me like, ‘what, are you, nuts? You almost get neurotic about details, colors and shapes. I don’t remember who, but someone said, “Art is a subconscious madness expressed in terms of sanity.” It’s so true. I sleep with it, I wake up with it, it’s there when I’m redoing my apartment. My desk right now looks like an abstract expressionist piece—but when I organize the shelf it looks like a pop-art still life.

how do you solve clients’ design problems, what is your process?

Each problem is different, though I actually don’t like the word problem—I try to keep words like that out of my vocabulary. But trying to find a solution for how clients present themselves, how they brand themselves, is very elementary and instinctive for me.

the title sequences you did for CourtTV really captured the brand and conveyed its point of view.

Gavels, scales and lady justice are so cliché, but my feeling was, CourtTV needed to own it, they needed to own her. That’s how we created that package. It’s no longer on the air, but it did have a long shelf life, which is pretty amazing in broadcast design. We just finished another project for CourtTV, doing the launch for Star Jones’s new show.

are design ideas triggered by feeling, movement, music, color…

It’s everything; it’s combinations of things. It could be the most bizarre thing that just gave me an idea, or it could be at a location where you’d least expect it.

what tools do you use?

Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, film and video cameras, sketches. Tools are supposed to help you—but they can also hinder if you count on them alone. Back when we used Quantel in broadcast design, you only had a paint box, so now yes, having Adobe is wonderful. But you’ve got to use the tools God gave you first—then enhance your idea with the tools Adobe made for you. Then you’re set.

Without ideas and concepts driving them, tools are just…tools. But there’s a tendency to fall in love with sexy new technology and tools because they’re bright, shiny and new.

Do you think a painter falls in love with a brush? He’s doing his job with the brush. He’s gonna love what he did on the wall, but it’s not like, ‘Oh I love this brush, without this brush I’d be nothing.’

title sequences serve as a form of branding—can you offer some insight.

We just finished doing a title sequence for the IFC documentary Indie Sex. Title sequences are packaging and branding for a film or documentary—you want to tell the story, you want to entice. You want to draw the viewer in and leave an impression—when you watch Almodovar, or any of the James Bond movies, you remember the opening title sequences.

you’re brand Zona Design with the tag ‘Design Made to Move‘. What’s behind this?

Design Made to Move is the way I approach every project, it’s the culture of ZONA Design. I’m Latina, I grew up dancing, I’m physically expressive, I really am motion active. Design Made to Move is obviously literal motion, but it’s also about impact and moving emotions—or moving retail merchandise. It’s many things, and it’s not just motion graphics; Design Made to Move can also be a printed piece, or an advertisement. It’s the mantra of ZONA Design.

previous motion speaker
Zoa Martinez was one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion07

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

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author: Lilian Dregalla
Working Story Creative
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copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv
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