yolanda santosa

Yolanda "Yo" Santosa knew in high school that art was her calling when dissecting frogs, factoring prime numbers and interpreting Kafka failed to interest her. As a matter of survival, art gradually became design. Graduating from Pasadena's Art Center College of Design in 2000, Santosa launched her career designing main title sequences for yU+co, where she lead such notable projects as Desperate Housewives, An Inconvenient Truth and Zack Snyder's 300. Despite her passion for motion graphics, Santosa couldn't seem to shake a growing fascination with branding. In 2006, she made what others viewed as an untraditional shift out of the trendy motion graphics world and founded her own branding studio, Ferroconcrete. She landed the Pinkberry account, managing all brand and marketing strategies for the company. Ferroconcrete has allowed her to explore the loyalty that people have to the brands that surround them; she believes design applies to just about everything, including designing her own life. Santosa has worked as an instructor at Art Center and is also an active guest lecturer. Her work has received worldwide recognition; she has been featured in several prestigious international publications and has earned over a dozen awards, including three consecutive Emmy nominations. When asked about her artistic inspiration, Santosa insists it's always been Tadao Ando and concrete.

Is graphic design a growth industry? Absolutely. More and more, design and art have become a part of our lives. The most successful brands out there incorporate design as an integral part of their philosophy: Target, Apple, Method. As technology, manufacturing and tastes become less and less distinguishable and more easily replicable, companies have to rely on branding to separate themselves and win our hearts.

Do graphic designers have a special responsibility to promote a green society? Yes. Green is the present, perfect future. I like Moss Green myself.

ONE THING I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IS the almighty air conditioner

FAVORITE MOVIES

Seven
The Fifth Element
2001: A Space Odyssey

FAVORITE BOOKS

The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing by James Elkins
The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher
Pantone swatchbooks

FAVORITE SONGS

"Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead
"Cinema Paradiso" by Ennio Morricone
"In Space" by Royksopp

FAVORITE FINE ARTISTS

Tadao Ando
Muji
Mies van der Rohe

FAVORITE TV SHOWS

Seinfeld
30 Rock
Rome

BOOKMARKED WEBSITES

maps.google.com
apple.com