Gilberto Corona
he/him
MFA in Design and Visual Communication
About Me
I'm a Mexican graphic designer.
I was born in Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, México.
The name Autlán has its origins in the Nahuatl language, associated with it its proximity to the water (the Pacific Ocean) and The Sierra Madre Occidental (Mountain system of México). My hometown is a valley, connecting vastly different worlds.
Shaped by my life experiences, my research and practice interest focus on design for social impact.
Recent Highlights
2021
"Gainesville Drag Communities: Participatory design research documenting the oral and visual history of Gainesville local drag community"
MFA Project-in-lieu-of-Thesis proposal
I plan to co-create ―with members of the drag community― a visual ethnography about Gainesville, Florida drag culture.
This study will document drag performance as an integral element of public-facing queer communities. Its aim is to contextualize the importance and nuance of drag as an activity supporting LGBTQ+ individuals and communities and as a publicly visible format for sharing elements of LGBTQ+ community identity with broader audiences. This project focuses on conversations with the queer community (performers and allies) and will center reflections on drag venues as safe spaces, to build on the oral and visual history of drag art form. The project weaves together past and present stories and contributes to the collective creation of safe spaces for queer people.
2021
“Collaboration as a methodological tool for social impact design”
Paper presentation
Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CALAS)
Congreso de jóvenes investigadores: Producción de conocimiento en tiempos de crisis: Dialogando desde la horizontalidad.
7/5/21Guadalajara, Jalisco, México.
Virtual collaborative paper presentation at CALAS. In the conference The conference theme centered around horizontality and decolonial theory. I participated in the panel discussion for the category of arts. I approach design practice from a pluriversal perspective. I shared my experience interrogating topics of heritage, community engagement, social design, and design theories and practices.
2019-2021
"Design for Equity and Equitable Engagement" Co-Investigator
Engageville
Participatory design project
Engageville is a tabletop game for facilitators to use during civic engagement events involving young audiences. The project aims to facilitate a community-building experience. it incentivizes neighbors (players) to produce valuable interpretations about the city’s performance and agency through dialog. The aim of this project was inspired by the initial research work of Design for Equity and Equitable Engagement, thanks to the collaboration with Dr. Anne Wolf Community Engagement Manager, City of Gainesville and the MxD MFA program cohort.
Engageville is designed based on the participatory principles I’ve explored. In response to this experience, I wrote a paper (unpublished) analyzing toolkits as devices for learning and social action. Engageville is an ongoing project that has been tested by city employees. It’s also currently being used by a group of students from the College of North Central Florida. I hope to continue improving this idea until it reaches the young community that inspired this co-design project.
Teaching Experience
2020 - 2022
University of Florida
Instructor of Record Fall 2021
Typography 1: Letterform
Instructor of Record Spring 2021
Visual Methods & Processes
Instructor of Record Fall 2020
Typography 1: Letterform
Professional Experience
2014 - 2017
TATA Consultancy Services
Thomson Reuters
In 2014 I joined TCS, the largest IT services company in the world. Here, I designed remotely for Thomson Reuters a multinational media conglomerate. I worked in multidisciplinary teams, due to the nature and size of this company I got accredited with the Six Sigma Belt and as BPO manager. Working in this -multicultural- diverse team allowed me to utilize my English skills. I proactively develop automatization scrips for Indesign. I was credited as a graphic artist (Layout designer) for various publications distributed in Spain, Peru, and México. As a designer, I was handling multiple style guides for digital and print collections, magazines, and books.
2012 - 2014
Aqua Comunicación
Chamber of the footwear Industry of the state of jalisco (CICEJ)
At first, I was hired to re-design an editorial style guide for the biannual fashion magazine MODAMA. Distributed during the international shoe and leather goods orders fair organized by the chamber. The communications department was run by the consultation of the agency Aqua, they were responsible for all the CICEJ organization communication and institutional image. My duties entailed delivering visual consistency for almost 200 applications per year in promotion and distribution plus all the agency agenda with other clients. My role in this new small thriving agency was as a senior designer. I worked with various teams, clients, local artists, and collaborations amongst the fashion industry.
2013
Si lo Vivo - CHECCOS A.C.
Graphic artist and video production for Si lo Vivo National HIV Awareness Campaigns.
Si Lo Vivo (Yes, I’m living it) campaign targeted at-risk populations and people living with HIV. The project aimed at awareness and promotion of free STI testing sites, safe sex practices, and post-result therapy. The advertisements combated the fear and stigma of receiving a positive diagnosis by showing people living with HIV. The campaign was funded by CENSIDA, the national center for HIV prevention in collaboration with CHECCOS, a local association promoting a therapy model for recent HIV diagnoses. The therapy aimed to help people navigate the universal health care system and treatment adherence. Introduced by the association director Victor Dante, the model paired people who were involved in the association programming agenda with recently diagnosed people. This opportunity allowed me to redefine design practice. More important, thanks to this experience I was able to undergo a human-centered design project.
2017
SICAR point of sale
I joined this software company from my hometown, after resigning to TCS, I wanted to apply what I’ve learned during the last years and pursue a career path as a growth hacking. SICAR operations were based on online sales. I joined the marketing department as an SEO assistant and community manager at this point I was certified in Google and Facebook Analytics, A method we used to plan and create digital content.
2017
Trust Dental Care
I decided to move to Tijuana where I continue working as an SEO assistant. The company worked in the medical tourism industry. Living in a border city was a very interesting dynamic. Working with this team allowed me to invigorate my understanding of digital marketing. I was exposed to a growth hacking community that encourage me to keep looking for opportunities in this area.
2016
Manos Indígenas, Guadalajara
Freelance work designing a package design for pillows made by Chiapas indigenous women. The non-profit organization aimed to support indigenous communities in collaboration with the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO).
2013
International Volleyball Federation
Promotora LARX
Freelance work for Promotora LARX. Dossier design for FIVB Grand Slam funding allocation.
2010
Pagina 6 & Editorial Arlequin
Internship as a layout designer at a local publishing house. First time working in multidisciplinary teams, my role as a designer was supervised by style correctors. Together we work with Mexican independent authors’ texts, research work, and the house collection for The Guadalajara International Book Fair. The internship lasted for 6 months, it was a small team led by the owners, a sociologist, and a historian. I got a fair understanding of Indesign while also learning about editorial standards.
COMMUNITY SERVICE EXPERIENCE
4-H Graphic Design Judging | 2020
Gainesville, Florida
Judge for the Youth Development graphic design competition.
Secretary of Culture | 2013
Guadalajara, Jalisco | México | 2013
I served the coordination office located at the 17th-century church Ex Convento del Carmen, my responsibilities included working with museographers in an art installation. I was later assigned to the cultural spaces coordination office. I designed an infographic map that served as directories for cultural precincts in the state. This outcome was a design used by government employees during two administrations. This experience inspired my bachelors’ dissertation that was centered around a conversation with Silvia Linet Flores. An amazing self-taught woman who was responsible for typesetting the first cultural pamphlet, a photocopied schedule with all the cultural events and precincts in Guadalajara. The information that she gathered was shared out of her kindness. Silvia’s kindness is the skeleton of what turned into a federal-funded magazine Cultura Aquí.
Administrative Services and Technologic Infrastructure Coordination CUAAD
Guadalajara, Jalisco | México | 2012
I did part of my social service, a requirement for public schools universities in México at the office responsible for the site and digital platforms used in the college of arts (Universidad de Guadalajara)
Education
2019-2022
University of Florida
MFA Design and Visual Communication University of Florida
2013
3DMX University
3D Modeling certificate
2008-2012
Universidad de Guadalajara
BFA Communications for Graphic Design
PUBLICATIONS & CONFERENCES
CALAS (Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences)
“Collaboration as a methodological tool for social impact design” by Gilberto Corona and Alejandra Silva
Collaborative paper presentation | 2020
The conference theme centered around horizontality and decolonial theory. I participated in the panel discussion for the category of arts. I approach design practice from a pluriversal perspective. I shared my experience interrogating topics of heritage, community engagement, social design, and design theories and practices.
UCDA Design Education
Virtual Panel participation | 2020
Teaching and learning through digital archives, group panel presentation at UCDA Design Education. I share my experience researching Mexican design iconography through ephemera design.
PROCEEDINGS
2021
- Pivot 2021 Dismantling/reassembling — Tools for alternative futures
- Incomplete Latinx Stories Of Diseño Gráfico/Borderlands/ La Frontera
- Series of BIPOC Centered design history courses.
- Antionette Carroll’s Workshop: Redesigners for Justice.
- CALAS conference: Congreso de jóvenes investigadores: Producción de conocimiento en tiempos de crisis: Dialogando desde la horizontalidad.
2020
- Pivot 2020 Designing a world of many centers
- Black Design in America: African Americans and the African Diaspora in Graphic Design 19th CENTURY – 21st CENTURY
- Series of BIPOC and QTPOC Centered design history courses.
- Redesigners in Action Webinar Series How Design Thinking Protects White Supremacy
- SHIFT: AIGA Design Educators Community Virtual Summit
- 8th International Bibliology Summit | VIII Encuentro Internacional de Bibliologia
- Press and typography culture: history, edition, education, and preservation
- TypeWknd conference
- Codesigning Equitable Futures Speaker Series
- Gerard Duncan Pastor and Community Leader
- Robin Lewy, Co-Founder and Director of Programming at the Rural Women’s Health Project (RWHP)
- Anne Wolf, City of Gainesville Community Engagement
- Design Futures | AIGA Jacksonville
- Aaron Draplin Workshop & Talk | AIGA Gainesville
- Podfest Multimedia Expo (Orlando, Fl. 2020) March 8 Podcast convention.
- Microtypography by Javier Alcaraz July 13, 2020 Imprimatvr webinar conference.
- Typographic scene in Mexico by Mónica Munguía July 18, 2020 Tipografilia/DpT webinar conference.
- Style correction functions by Astrid Velasco July 21, 2020 Imprimatvr webinar conference.
- Regular expressions (GREP) Indesign by Javier Alcaraz July 27, 2020 Imprimatvr webinar conference.
- Typefaces: Mayapan, Gandhi, Chayote by David Kimura Aug. 15, 2020 (Tipografilia/DpT webinar conference)
- Valentina a mexican typface by Cecilia del Castillo, Aug. 1, 2020 Tipografilia/DpT webinar conference.
- Typography and Legibility by Cristóbal Henestrosa Aug. 3, 2020 Imprimatvr webinar conference.
- Type in motion. Creative process in graphic animation by Cecilia Brarda Aug. 17, 2020 Imprimatvr webinar conference.
- Typographic texture a by Jorge de Buen Aug. 10, 2020 Imprimatvr webinar conference.
2019
- CAA’s 107th Annual Conference – College Art Association
- Ibram X. Kendi How To Be An Antiracist public lecture
- ‘A Coming Out Of Ourselves’: Knowing Our Place In Racial Injustice
- Chris Lebron (Johns Hopkins University), Speaker Series: Rethinking the Public Sphere Part I – Race & the Promise of Participation
- Equal Justice Initiative | Truth & Reconciliation?
- Discussion of a process for Truth and Reconciliation, to recall the history of racial injustice and repair what we can. The process was prompted by research completed by the Alachua County Historical Commission (ACHC) in response to the national Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) lynching research including Alachua County.
2010
- Design Fest Guadalajara, International festival of graphic design
2010
- Design Fest Guadalajara, International festival of graphic design
2009
- Del Dicho al Hecho, congress of design and communication | Puerto Vallarta
SCHOLARSHIP & AWARDS
Full Tuition MFA Scholarship with assistantship
University of Florida, Gainesville | 2019-2022
Graduate Award for Ligature 30 | Queer Bar
Handcrafted book in collaboration with Budd Dees exploring queer art and histories.
University of Florida, Gainesville | 2021
Award Chamber of the Footwear Industry of the State of Jalisco |
Modama MDM magazine
Participation as art director | Spring/Summer 2013
Participation as art director | Autumn/Winter 2013
Participation as art director | Spring/Summer 2014
Participation as art director | Autumn/Winter 2014
Programa Nacional de Becas para la Educación Superior (PRONABES)
The Mexican Secretaria of Public Education | 2008
National Program for Bachelor’s Degree Scholarships, first generation transition assist.
Contact
- www.gilbertocorona.com
- kaban.corona@gmail.com
- (352) 222 6829