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My name is Camila Garay and I am applying for your Design Specialist Consultancy at Giga, Geneva Office. I want to prove that great things can be achieved through digital activism, innovation and cutting-edge visual communication. 

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

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

As a Design Specialist (P3) at the UNICEF HQ in New York, I managed a small yet high-performing design team (5ppl), tasked to tackle complex research questions as part of the division of Data, Research and Policy (DRP). Having existed as three separate units merged into a large 200+ppl division, my first task when joining UNICEF HQ in 2015 was to create a unified identity to aid the integration process, build morale and pride for the team. I was responsible for overseeing the design strategy and execution of a broad spectrum of communication material. Including building a vast design library of presentation decks, report design, concept notes, a curated image library, and visual graphic assets such as data visualization guidelines, iconography, infographics, and map design. I worked closely with data scientists, technologists, researchers and policymakers to identify their needs, and held educational sessions on how to best present their work, incorporating practices and trends from the design industry. DRP went from being a relatively unknown division to gaining a solid reputation for its visual communication.

In 2019, I led the creative process of Marble, an innovative initiative that used private sector ‘big data’ to solve complex issues with data science. My role was to raise visibility on a topic fairly new to the organisation. Together with creative collaborator Jones Knowles Richie we developed a design campaign encompassing graphics, animation, copywriting, photography, strategy and more. I negotiated all external creative services pro-bono (no cost) 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. See the case study here.

Through years of advocating design’s ability to accelerate social development work, I was invited to present at NASA Space Agency in Pasadena, California in 2020. The visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was an exchange and exploration into how we can best design for humanity, find intersections and learn from the differences in our creative work as large-scale organisations.

• Translating complex information to powerful, clear and beautiful products. 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. 

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

Design strategy – Defining purpose, and audiences, creating informational architecture, and positioning of outputs for maximal effect. 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 design thinking processes 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 brand development, digital campaigns, logo design, publication, infographics, data visualization, infographics, maps, illustration, and photography post-production. I design mainly for digital platforms and am accustomed to developing designs specifically for web and social media, web interfaces, and microsites. I am comfortable with CMS, HTML and basic CSS, as well as collaborating with developers and sourcing external talent.

• 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.

• Innovating within the UN’s design standards. My engagement with UNICEF spans over 9 years specialising in the fine balance between creating internal ‘visual identities’ (brands) that help individual initiatives shine, and that honour and complement the main UNICEF brand. In 2016/2017 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. I regularly functioned as an advisor for my division, and the organization at large including the global Division of Communication in upholding brand consistency and application. 

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Truly great design is universal, unifying and emotive. 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 grade for my thesis Expressive Generation which explored 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 synthesizing for wide audiences - from rural communities to diplomatic settings. I am fluent in English, Swedish and Spanish.

I am beyond excited to explore the Giga team’s vision and continue the conversation on how we with empowering technology and visual arts can fuel the team’s outstanding efforts – and together, dare to might things.

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Looking forward,