Carlos Fernando Cabrera
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Guatemala City, Guatemala Department, Guatemala
Toptal member since September 2, 2022
Carlos, an accomplished 3D artist and graphic designer, brings a wealth of experience crafting compelling visuals for global brands and corporations. Praised for his meticulous attention to detail and top-tier brand visuals, he is recognized as a resourceful, self-motivated, and efficient leader. Carlos excels in managing demanding workloads and delivering exceptional results on time, fostering close client collaboration throughout the process.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Motion and Graphic Designer
HeatTrak LLC
- Led impactful campaigns like the Black Friday campaign, managing 200+ ads on platforms like Criteo, Google Ads, and Meta, plus a 10-day email strategy with three daily emails targeting B2B, B2C, and prospects, maximizing reach and conversions.
- Implemented a new brand system for HeatTrack, including colors and graphic elements. Developed guides for B2B and B2C audiences. This holistic approach, supported by ads on social media and Criteo over months, aligns designs with target groups.
- Developed HeatTrack’s Amazon Plus presence, creating infographics, images, and CGI visuals for products like Snow Melting Mats and their kits. This effort covered main and spin-off brands, ensuring a polished, target-focused representation.
3D Designer
Avatar Nutrition
- Modeled and sculpted five ultra-realistic male models and five ultra-realistic female models with different body fat percentages.
- Applied 3D product animation and 3D textures in 8K resolution to ten human models with different body fat percentages, taking into account the changes in striated muscles, wrinkles, muscle definition, and cellulitis.
- Designed a method for morphing between different body fat percentages without increasing the file size and delivered the files in a real-time AR-ready format.
- Modeled several ultra-realistic 3D human male and female bodies for a fitness app. Developed a system for the models to morph depending on the user's body fat percentage, enabling users to compare their bodies to the model and adjust their diet.
Graphic and Instructional Designer (via Toptal)
Dragon Soul Boardgame
- Designed tokens, meeples, 3D illustrations for board placement tiles, coins, and multiple concept art illustrations by hand using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Cinema 4D, enhancing the visual appeal and functional usability of the board game.
- Created 104 playing cards within budget constraints using AI-assisted illustration and hand-painted backgrounds, merging them with AI-assisted hero images and custom UI elements, delivering high-quality designs ahead of schedule.
- Developed the game's logo and rulebook, adapting the creator's concept to ensure clarity and accessibility for players, resulting in a user-friendly and cohesive game identity.
Visual Designer and Instructional Designer (via Toptal)
Food Truck Race Board Game
- Designed and delivered 80 cards, 6 player boards, 120 tokens, and meeple stand-ins using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for the alpha stage of a board game, enhancing player engagement through visually appealing and functional components.
- Redesigned the game manual from a 43-page document to an 8-page, user-friendly guide, streamlining content to improve readability and accessibility for players of all ages, resulting in a more intuitive understanding of game mechanics.
- Designed a central board using AI and digital illustration, integrating thematic elements and spatial design to enhance gameplay and allow post-alpha adjustments.
Brand Identity Designer
Stellary AI
- Led a comprehensive brand redesign, updating typefaces, color palettes, branded illustrations, and assets. Ensured brand consistency across all platforms and materials.
- Overhauled Stellary AI's social media presence, creating engaging and cohesive content. Implemented a new content strategy to increase brand awareness and audience growth.
- Developed a concrete marketing strategy to promote Stellary AI's offerings. Identified target audiences, created compelling messaging, and selected the most effective channels to reach and engage with potential customers.
Marketing Designer
Berkeley Life
- Directed and designed impactful social media campaigns, enhancing brand visibility and engagement. The branded content was designed using Adobe Illustrator and Xara Designer Pro.
- Spearheaded print campaigns that effectively showcased Berkeley Life's Nitric Oxide supplements, driving consumer interest and sales.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop on-store marketing strategies aligned with Berkeley Life's brand identity and business goals.
Illustrator for Board Game
End of Humanity - Tabletop Game
- Designed 3D illustrations for the board game's elements, player boards, game cards, trays, markers, and dice.
- Built the game's brand identity guide based on research, feedback from target audiences, and AI art visualization.
- Created mockups and product packaging for the tabletop game.
Lead Brand Designer
PepsiCo
- Executed a comprehensive rebranding strategy for PepsiCo Digital Commerce, including logotype, brand design, brand book design, and ancillary assets, such as digital presentations and corporate material.
- Crafted PepsiCo Carbon 8's (in-house design agency) brand identity, aligning values and unique selling propositions. Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams, implementing cohesive design solutions.
- Designed logotype and brand identity for PepsiCo Workforce Management. Created assets for HR initiatives, fostering internal communication. Contributed to a cohesive HR brand presence, conveying values through effective design strategies.
Graphic Designer
Cru
- Redesigned the brand logotype, brand image, and brand collaterals to align its look and feel with a new target audience.
- Built a complete product package, brand identity guide, booklet redesign, playing card design, and tabletop game design for the company.
- Created user stories and user personas and conducted market research to find user pain points, wants, and needs.
3D Illustrator
Soul Wanderer Inc.
- Art directed and 3D illustrated several concept art pieces, consisting of environment designs for the Soul Wanderer videogame.
- Built the brand's identity guide and designed the video game's logotype and brand guidelines document.
- Created a style guide for the art direction that the videogame's world should stay within. This will be used by video game developers to physically create the world in an art-accurate way.
3D Designer
Steel And Pipes Inc
- Modeled, textured, and rendered more than 500 3D products in a true-to-life manner. Said images are now used as product profile images for the brand's website.
- Created 3D replicas of the brand's entire product catalog to be used as sales material.
- Designed 360° animations for the brand's online product catalog.
Motion Design Lead
Sands
- Developed the game's core loops, designed critical elements of the game experience, and utilized state-of-the-art tech stacks. I also created a repeatable and scalable pipeline and presented everything to the company board.
- Created two user personas based on market research, covering competitors, client mindsets based on psychological studies, and state-of-the-art software.
- Designed storyboards and concept art to illustrate the main game mechanics.
Art Director
Self-employed
- Built a complete brand identity guide, including the logo, stationeries, publicity 3D animations, idents for TV and video, and a pitch deck. The company's image helped attract thrice the initially expected investment.
- Designed 3D product shots and animations for an international sunglasses brand. Digitally recreated their products and designed 3D environments that fit the brand's identity.
- Created the complete brand identity and launch campaign for a local library, which included logotype, stationeries, 3D character design, illustrations, and on-site and digital advertisements.
- Redesigned a local restaurant chain's brand identity, including its logo, stationeries, menu, packaging, and digital advertising campaign.
- Illustrated an EDM music artist's complete discography and brand identity. It included creating a brand guidelines document, illustrating ten EP albums, and launching a 100-variant NFT collection.
- Designed the packaging and advertising strategies for a regional alcoholic drink brand, including three different labels, each with three differently sized packages.
3D Artist and Graphic Designer
Leo Burnett
- Designed more than 15 product animations for Starbucks USA, Starbucks Panama, and Starbucks Costa Rica.
- Built a brand identity guide for three major delivery service companies in Guatemala.
- Designed a complete in-store marketing campaign for Dr Pepper Latin America, including displays, advertisements, stickers, and a social event.
Art Director
Marketing Monster
- Led a team of 2D and 3D animators to create a 5-minute-long production for a music video. It was a project that used mixed media to portray a story visually. The video included AI-generated images, 3D rendered assets, and 2D painted backgrounds.
- Built a complete brand identity guide and discography for a rock band based in the Netherlands. It included their logotype, print-ready memorabilia, and their complete discography.
- Designed several motion graphics projects for brands in the finance and healthcare industries.
Graphic Designer
LOGOS Design Group
- Designed more than ten brand identity guides for medium-sized companies. Those guidelines included stationeries, brand colors, typography, packaging, and in-store displays.
- Designed an advertising campaign, including ten visuals for billboards, five newspaper advertisements, and 20 social media posts. The campaign produced an average of 5 times a return on investment.
- Recorded and edited a one-hour-long documentary about the history and processes of a local technology business.
Education
Minor Degree in 3D Animation
University of the Isthmus (UNIS) - Fraijanes, Guatemala
Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design and 3D Animation
University of the Isthmus (UNIS) - Guatemala, Guatemala
Certifications
Certification in 3D Animation and CGI Production
University of the Isthmus
Skills
Tools
Cinema 4D, Substance Painter, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC, Illustrator CC, Photo Editors, Photoshop CC, Microsoft PowerPoint, Banner, Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop 7, Substance Designer, Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Blender, InDesign 2017, InDesign CC, Unreal Engine, Figma, Canva, Maya, Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, ZBrush, Xara Designer Pro
Languages
Visual Design Language
Industry Expertise
Retail & Wholesale, Media, Professional Services, Sales & Marketing, Sports, Entertainment & Leisure, Hospitality, Events, Food & Beverage, Consumer Products, Advertising, 3D Illustration, Pharmaceuticals, Health & Wellness, Banking & Finance
Platforms
Web, Klaviyo
Other
3D Modeling, 3D Rendering, 3D Animation, Brand Design, Advertisement Design, Illustration, Brand Logos, Product Design, Motion Graphics, CGI, Character Design, Product Rendering, Pitch Decks, Product Branding, Stationery Design, Brand Guidelines, Branding, Logo Design, Label Design, Graphic Design, Visual Design, Video Editing, Package Design, Marketing Campaign Design, Marketing Design, Design, Food Packaging, Packaging, Merchandise, Instructional Design, Email Design, Email Template Design, Animation, Storyboarding, Motion Design, 3D, 3D Design, 3D Art, Videos, Logotype, Social Media, Editorial Design, Printing Materials, Social Media Design, Advertising Design, Presentation Design, Presentations, Concept Art, 3D Product Modeling, Art Direction, Collateral Design, Digital Design, Digital Marketing Design, Rendering, Market Research, Box Packaging, Product Packaging, Digital Sculpting, Print Design, Brochure Design, Brochures, Multimedia, Image Manipulation, Typography, Pitch Presentations, Adobe Premiere, 2D, Digital Graphics, Artwork, Motion Logo Design, Brand Books, Color Concepts, Digital Product Design, Custom Logos, Document Design, PowerPoint Templates, Promotional Material Design, Template Design, Video Design, Multimedia Design, Style Guides, Stationery Packages, Color Palettes, Printing, Scenarios, Pencil Sketches, Social Media Content, 3D Motion Graphics, Banner Design, Sales Pitches, Sales Presentations, Investor Presentations, 3D Textures, 3D Mockups, Creative Direction, Brand Strategy, PowerPoint Design, Motion & Animation Design, Presentation Boards, Vector Design, Print, Naming, Book Cover Design, PDF Design, Icon Design, Image Retouching, Digital Brand Identity, Visual Identity, Vector Graphics, Wallpapers, Color Theory, 3D Lighting, Art, Ad Posters, Web Design, Writing & Editing, 2D Animation, 2D to 3D, Ads, Infographics, Game Art, B2C Marketing, Industrial Design, Mobile UI, User Experience (UX), eCommerce, 3D Character Animation, Point of Sale, 3D Character Modeling, 3D Printing, Exterior 3D Modeling, Ad Design, Posters, Web to Print, Interaction Design (IxD), Reports, Mockups, Virtual Reality (VR), Decentralization, Art Books, Iconography, B2C, Educational Videos, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Midjourney, Music Videos, Lyric Videos, Copywriting, B2B, Storybook, Christian Markets, 3D Visualization, Marketing Collateral Development, Low-poly Modeling, Low Poly, Buffer, Video Processing, Octane Rendering, White Papers, Stationery, 2D Illustrations, Product Videos, Catalog Design, Social Media Kits, Mood Board Design, Music Album Ilustration, Album Artwork, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), Brand Identity, Digital Branding, PDF Branding, Audio Editing, Tabletop Games, Visual Effects (VFX), Blueprint, Cost Analysis, User Interface (UI), UI Design, Sound Design, Booth Design, Board Games, Print Marketing, Print Marketing Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Consulting, User Journeys, 3D Product Animation, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), AI Art Visualization, Fintech, Vector Tracing, Texture Art, Metaverse, Unity, Clipping Paths, 3D Landscape Design, Digital Drawing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Experience
- 3D Rendering - 5 years
- Brand Design - 5 years
- Advertisement Design - 5 years
- Brand Logos - 5 years
- Motion Graphics - 5 years
- Product Branding - 5 years
- 3D Animation - 4 years
- Product Rendering - 3 years
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