Zero
Morales

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Digital Designer from Mexico specialized in branding and Interactive Design. He was meant to be a musician but someone told him that he sucked at singing.

LocationMexico City, Mexico
DateSeptember 19, 2018
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Introduction
The meetup

Monday morning in Mexico City. I was welcomed by Zero and his co-founder Andrew. We immediately clicked and had a such a great time together. After the interview I did a podcast with them, which was great and also weird because with Esperanto I’m more used to ask questions than to answer them.

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Listen preview
The best advice that I think I have received is to fail harder and fail more times. Have this philosophy of trying more things and not be afraid of failing.
Chapter 01
About the designer

Can you introduce you to us and tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm Zero, I was born in Mexico City. I started sculpture as a hobby when I was 14 years old, I really wanted to be an artist at that time. Then, at 18 years old I learned design when I started to work on a studio, this was kind of my school. I founded a studio dedicated to branding and packaging. Three years later, I left our studio to go study an intensive course for 4 months in the north of the country in Saltillo, Coahuila. It was a course to specialize in digital design and Business innovation in an agency called Grupo W Agency. I met with my partner Andrew Alvarado. I started calling myself Zero there, because learning everything about digital design was like a rebirth for me. After the final project at our school, we got a call from an agency in Guadalajara saying that they wanted all our team so we moved there and worked in this agency for 1 year and a half. In the meantime in 2015, at night, we started our own studio called Mandelbrot studio, doing websites and branding. We were working during the day for the agency and at night for our own studio. We were mostly doing things for fun just to experiment what was possible and to know the boundaries of the technology. One year later, we were starting to be tired of the work culture at this agency in Guadalajara that was kind of “always on the rush” so we decided to quit and focus on our own things. We are now dedicated on building brands from scratch. We were not sure if it could be a viable business when we started but at least we could decide what to do and how to do it. I’m really glad we made this choice and started Mandelbrot!

I started calling myself Zero there, because learning everything about digital design was like a rebirth for me.


How would you describe your work? 

Branding is my strongest skills. I love to build a brand from scratch. The problem is that a lot of people don't understand what is branding in Mexico, so we have to educate the clients. The first part of my work is to educate them showing the case study of the branding of Airbnb, Uber and whatnot. I need to teach my client that to achieve their ambition and meet their business goals, they need to invest in their branding. The biggest misunderstanding here is that clients don't think that branding is necessary, they see it more as a luxury. 

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Welcome, Branding Project


Where are your clients mostly located? 

Mostly from the USA now, but before, all of our clients were based in Mexico city. Oh, one of them was French like you! 

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Milie Marie

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Milie Marie


What does a typical day look like for you? 

Here in Mexico city, we have a lot of traffic problems so if you start your day at the same time than everyone, you will get stuck and your commute will take forever. We decided to move our schedule so instead of starting to work at 9am we start at 12pm. For the same reason, we finish our day around 11pm.

I need to teach my client that to achieve their ambition and meet their business goals, they need to invest in their branding.


The first thing I do in the morning is to check my mails to see if there is a new prospect. I start working directly after and what I do depends on the current state of the project(s) I'm working in. We also delay our lunch time to 3pm to avoid the crowds. Then we get back to the office, have a meeting with our clients via Skype or Google hangout and then work until 11pm. 

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Zero and Andrew working in their office 


What are you working on at the moment? 

We have three different projects, the first one is a portfolio of a creative developer. One is a client from Texas called Modern Business. We helped on the branding and on the website.

Modrn Businss


Where do you find your inspiration? 

Most of the time, my inspiration comes from music covers. My biggest reference are Studio Dempsey, Stanley Donwood and Storm Thorgerson. I use to be a punk so I'm really influenced by that culture, that philosophy and this visual language. From my punk period, I try to maintain that attitude of always questioning things. 

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AlanParsonsProject- Pyramid


What would you do when you get stuck creatively? 

I love to walk on the streets and punch walls sometimes.. If I could have a heavy bag in the office, it will help a lot to clear my mind. When I'm really stuck, I try to analyze projects that other designers have made to push me to do better. 

I would compete with them not to keep them down but instead growing with them and keep the pace.


What is the best advice you ever received?  

The best advice that I have received is to fail harder and more times. It pushes me to get this philosophy of trying more things and not be afraid of failing. 

How do you keep learning and growing as a designer? 

I try to have those kind of rivals to compare myself to and to compete with them to push me to get better. It motivates me to want to do better and beat them.. in a healthy way. I would compete with them not to keep them down but instead growing with them and keep the pace. I also love the philosophy of Muhammad Ali who said that you need to believe in yourself even before you are capable of doing something; I would fake it until I can make it. 

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Tulum, Mexico - © Robin Noguier

Chapter 02
The design industry in Mexico

How will you describe the design education system in Mexico? 

The design education system in Mexico is old. They put "theory" on a pedestal and overlook practicing to solve real problems, especially facing clients.
Most of the designers that stand out in Mexico at the moment are self-taught. Education in Mexico doesn't come from experience, but from theory. Most teachers working at universities graduated from their master degree and now teach what they learned in school, there aren't any practical advices to help students to better face the challenges of the current markets.

What will your advice be for someone who wants to be a designer here in Mexico? 

A big problem in the education system is that it's a bit behind compared to other countries so when students graduate, they are not really ready to work. They don't have the skills or the creative process to solve problems. In fact, at school, they just teach you how to use the tools. The best advice I can give to a student is to not settle with what you learn at school. School is a good way to start but you need to go further. Try to have a wider vision of the design industry and experiment by yourself. Stay hungry and don't be afraid to fail. 
In Mexico, sometimes we take for granted that the success that someone has comes from where they study so I would say to students to not rely on school degrees but instead try to go further than the piece of paper and realize all the work that is behind the success of someone.

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Zero working hard


How will you describe the design industry in Mexico? 

I think that the design industry in Mexico is a bit confusing. Right now when people think about design, the first thing that comes to their mind is illustration. They don't see the big picture of design. If you try to think about great Mexican designers, most of them are illustrators. In Mexico, some students think that because they are good at drawing they will be good designers but that's not true. Also, for too long, we've been telling people that design is to make something pretty and now it's hard to change the mentalities. I take it as a challenge to change that mindset in Mexico. 

Was being designer a path that you think you could take growing up in Mexico? 

When I was a kid, I didn't think about being a designer. I was more into cooking, I wanted to be a chef but then I switched my mind and I wanted to be a musician. I had this vision of being creative but didn’t realize I wanted to be a designer until I saw my brother working. More than just design, he also helped me to grow as a person and to have a more mature vision of life.

The best advice I can give to a student is to not settle with what you learn at school.


Who are some of your favorite designers and agencies? 

As a designer, I love Stefan Sagmeister. I also admire the founder of Ueno, Haraldur Thorleifsson, he really inspires me. I can't understand how he built Ueno so quickly and so well. I also love Bjarke Ingels that was recently featured in the Abstract documentary on Netflix. 
I love Nick Slater, the illustrator, Dieter Rams, Paula Scher and Massimo Vignelli.
In terms of agency, I really like Fantasy Interactive, Ueno, Pentagram, Your Majesty, North Kingdom, Unit9, Firstborn, DogStudio, Hello Monday, Active Theory, Resn and Stuurmen. In Mexico I like Foo studio

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Reach out to Zero

Spread the word

Final boarding call

Where do you
want to go next ?

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