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My name is Camila and I am honoured to be applying for your Graphic Designer post at the Private Partnerships and Fundraising Division at WFP. I want to prove that great things can be achieved through powerful partnerships, emotive campaigns, and state-of-the-art 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 multi-disciplinary designer driven by the big challenges affecting humanity.

In my role as a Design Specialist at the UNICEF Headquarters in New York, I led a small yet high-performing design team (5ppl) tasked to tackle complex problems affecting children. In the newly formed division of Data, Research and Policy I build design projects with a strong focus on private-public collaborations. I was responsible for overseeing the execution of a broad range of communication material including building a robust design library consisting of pitch decks and presentation templates customised to various professional needs, publications and cross-platform campaigns. I curated video and photography as well as developed design assets, iconography, infographics, and engaging data visualizations.

My daily work involved a close collaboration with technical experts, researchers and policymakers and I regularly held educational sessions on how to best present their work - incorporating practices and trends from the design industry. The division transformed from being a relatively unknown team to gaining a solid reputation for its visual communication.

• 13 years of design experience, straddling the private and public sector. In 2019, I led the creative process of Marble, an innovative initiative using ‘big data’ to solve complex research questions affecting childhood. My role was to raise visibility on a topic fairly new to the organisation. Together with creative collaborator Jones Knowles Richie we developed an extensive design campaign encompassing strategy, graphics, animation, copywriting, photography, social media and web design, and more. I negotiated all external creative partnerships pro-bono (no cost) to a value of 1 million USD. The project won the Design & Art Director Awards (D&AD) for Best Branding in London the same year - one of the industry’s most prestigious design awards.
See the case study here.

I developed the design campaign behind Sociopreneur, a pioneering initiative by UNICEF Nicaragua based on a new model for sustainable tourism leveraging private-public partnerships. I implemented a thorough branding process that helped clarify the initiative’s focus and designed an engaging visual identity supported by a design library of marketing material. The efforts ultimately secured the partnership and full funding for UNICEF, which launched the initiative in 2013.

• Translating complex information to clear, beautiful and impactful campaigns. Working in human rights means being effective and authentic in our communication. I’ve spent a large part of my career in the advertising industry specialising in brand development. This skill set allows me to synthesize a vast amount of variables into clear, powerful messaging.

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

Design strategy - Defining purpose, audiences, creating information architecture and positioning for maximal effect. I conduct design research and am involved in the early stages of projects helping 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. 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 design material.

Execution –  My proficiency span most graphic areas including full designs campaigns that build trust and open hearts, developing visual identities, crafting custom templates, publications, data visualization, and illustration. I am adept in photo/video post-production and designing artwork focused ON web and social media. I am accustomed to collaborating with developers and communication teams and have an eye for sourcing exceptional external talent.

• Deep understanding of the UN’s design standards. My experience designing for the UN spans over 9 years in creating design projects that empower individual teams and initiatives to shine, whilst honouring the hero brand of the organization. In 2016/2017 led the re-design of the official UNICEF Brand Book, an extensive process spanning strategy, usability and design execution, rolled out across the organisation’s 190 offices globally. I regularly functioned as an advisor in upholding brand consistency for my division, and the organization at large including the global Division of Communication.

• A background in international creative 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.

My experience from both the private and the development sector allows me to seamlessly navigate the two worlds, harnessing their unique strengths and best practices. I have deep insight into the mindsets of commercial markets whilst embodying the grand ambition of the humanitarian sector. I fundamentally believe we need private-public unions to help solve the complex challenges facing the people we are working for.

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Truly great design is 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. 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 PPF team’s needs and continue the conversation on how we with meaningful collaboration and visual arts can support the outstanding efforts of the WFP.

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Looking forward,