Once you go Brit...
[O] A chat with Oliver Sanz about the creative industries in Spain and UK.
... can you quit? Alex Zorita
Produced in Leeds, United Kingdom. May 2017
I want to thank Oliver Sanz for his time and advice. He is not aware of it, but he has helped me a lot in deciding what I’m going to do in the future with my life. ¥Gracias, compaùero!
What is this all about ?
Allow me to explain. My name is Alex Zorita and yes, I know what you are thinking and no, this little publication is not about anything related to personal relationships with British people. But that doesn’t mean that the content isn’t interesting... keep reading. I’m at this moment in time a Spanish graphic design student living and studying in the Leeds College of Art, England. It was mainly a ‘money decision’. Spain hasn’t been going through its best moment in economic terms and I wanted to become a designer in a country that treats with decency this profession. That was my plan, anyway. Things have changed. I’ve recently have been experiencing the worst symptoms of a widely known disease called homesickness. Now, this might sound normal to you but I used to be that guy that has nothing to do with patriotism and didn’t understand the Spaniards that wanted to go back home. Well, like I said... things have changed. I will have spent nearly 6 years of my life in England once I finish my degree, in 2018. These years have taught me A BLOODY LOT. It was when I found myself thinking that it was time to go home that I wondered... is this actually a good idea? In my research I came across Oliver Sanz A.K.A [o], a Spanish graphic designer established in Barcelona that has an interesting trajectory. Back in the days he was already established in Barcelona, but decided to quit his job to move to London, then Rome and then New York. He read a post I wrote in a forum wondering ‘is it worth to go back? How is the industry nowadays? What about the salaries?’. The following pages consist in a conversation I had with him where he gave me very good advice based on great and extensive experiences. It’s surprising how much you can learn from a simple conversation.
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[o]: Hey, Alex.
I’ve seen your thread post and I didn’t want to reply you there because this is a very personal answer. I don’t know much about that university you mention (Leeds College of Art), I don’t know if it’s comparable to the european institute of design in Madrid or the ISABA in Barcelona, but my guess is that it won’t open too many doors for you. About the salary over here... forget about earning more than 25000 € a year, and to reach that it needs to be a big company, which they demand a high level of English from you. In my experience, I’ve been in Barcelona for 5 years after working another 5 between London and NY, and I would suggest you to work a lot over there making new clients, creating an interesting portfolio with your best work and start selling yourself. Have an active list of clients and start working with them... spend some more time as a self-employer with someone else over there (I suggest native people) and once you have all that then come back to Spain. I assure you there’s nothing better than working in Spain with an European salary (with non-Spanish clients). When I left to NY I had an English client. I had to make a yearbook and a magazine every three months and that alone allowed me to afford living costs for a whole year. That’s why it’s so important to use your contacts to get clients over there. Maybe at this point in time the name of your institution really can help you.
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How did you find that client? Did it happen working for a company? And how do you make companies notice you?
I look for new clients constantly and I bill them as a self-employer. Being working for a company and a self-employer in Spain is shit, because taxes are really high, but it’s the only way. In England is much cheaper. Don’t expect companies to be interested in you, YOU have to be the one going after them. Anyway, I think you are young and you have time to understand how life and businesses work. I would also recommend that once you learn English you should move on to another language, since everyone takes for granted you speak it.
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NY has ver trends and to say abou American d
ry quick d what ut the dream...
Would you say Catalan is important to work in Barcelona?
I’ve been living in Barcelona for 5 years and I can’t even make a sentence. But I have to admit that it helps. Many companies, especially with the 2.0, ask for it. For written communication it’s really important.
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Your website says that you’ve lived in places like Rome, UK, NY. How did you end up in these places? Did you plan it?
I initially went to England and Italy to learn English. I went over there at the age of 28. I had 6 years of experience as designer, steady job... I was feeling stuck, so I decided to leave everything and fly. I worked as a waiter, learning English... in Rome I worked as PR spending my whole day with Australians, English and Americans. I learned English and many other things. I met my girlfriend and we decided to move to her place in NY. I didn’t have a job over there so I decided to look for new clients to work and have an income. It was great over there, getting the visa, visiting Canada... I didn’t look for a job as a designer, since I had enough in Europe.
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Being in NY as a designer must have been very inspirational, right? And how did you find those clients? Through your work, using a platform... or how?
Well, back then there was a website called Creative Pool and from there I got a couple of yearbooks. I was also working advertising a couple of restaurants in London, which I got by talking and talking to the boss, making some free stuff. I also had clients in Spain. There’s a lot of myth with NY, maybe I’m inspired by other places like Scandinavia or even Italy, but yeah. NY has very quick trends and what to say about the American dream... any European can make an empire from there without much problem, including a designer.
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“Inspiratio but it has you workin
on exists, to find ng�.
How do you see the future of the creative industries in Barcelona/Spain? Do you think the work conditions and salaries have improved or are we stuck like in other industries?
Look, I think that if we talk about the creative industries we would be speaking about the average designer, which is precisely what I want to be different from... I think there are possibilities for the good ones in Barcelona for sure. In Spain I don’t know what to say, but I think it’s probably the same. Companies know what they want, but it’s sometimes difficult to get in their cores. But in short, who perseveres succeeds.
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Who is your greatest inspiration and why?
I love and I am very happy of not having “aâ€? inspiration. I like studying different referents depending on the approach I want to have. You really can learn loads from everyone. I can be inspired by CĂŠsar Manrique or Calatrava as architects. I normally get inspired by painting and photography, we have a good history of artists in Spain. I could name people that inspire like Manuel Estrada, but I would only look for inspiration if him if the approach I want to make is similar to his style. Travelling and taking notes is another great source of inspiration...
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Is there any saying or quote that represents you? Or do you have a personal one?
Well, I have many mostly from photographers. But there is someone, a painter that said something that I have always in mind and drives my life. This is from Don Pablo (warmly referring to Pablo Picasso) “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working�.
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If you want to know more about Oliver Sanz make sure you visit his website at www.oliversanz.es
Made by Alex Zorita alexzorita.com