Bob Serrano
My life has taken more twists and turns than an M Night Shyamalan movie. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that nothing you experience in life ever gets wasted. It's all good.
Born in Manila, I was really fond of music and sketching. In high school, it was photography, biology and chemistry. And just when I was so sure I was going to become a doctor, after turning 20, I got to travel around the world in the baritone section of a university choir—and everything changed. I started an 8-man acapella group then bailed on medical school after only a year. The group went pro, which is how I met my wife who was a roady for the outfit that managed us. That led to writing/recording vocals and soundtracks for radio and TV jingles (remember those?). Segue to working in advertising, which led to video editing and graphic design, which I parlayed into my own full-service production company—The Arrangement. 3D animation and motion graphics came after that, which led to getting involved in even more beautifully complex and interesting projects. Oh, and working with crazy advertising folks and art directing a high-end lifestyle magazine helped me learn how to write my own stuff and proofread really well.
Sidebar: There's one guy in particular I have to mention—the genius who mentored me early on in graphic design. He quit his job as creative director at BBDO to set up his own shop at the time, and we were business partners in the first-ever, all-digital design outfit in Manila—Sushi Graphics. His name is Jojo Isorena. He trains dogs these days but he was responsible for giving this dog his design wings and pushing me off the cliff. Thanks buddy : )
I fell in love with computers since touching my first Commodore VIC-20, studied BASIC on a C64, then PASCAL, RPG and COBOL on a DEC PDP-11 then C+ on a first-generation IBM PC running CPM—twists and turns, right?. But it wasn't until I held my very first Mac in 1984 while teaching programming that I found my true digital soulmate.
I've owned exactly ten Macs since 1989, the first being an 8MHz SE with 256K of RAM, 2 floppy drives and no hard disc. It was still running when I tearfully gave it up before moving to Calgary, Alberta in 2004 where I work and choose to raise my two kids.
Some might call me a jack of all trades but I prefer really well-rounded individual. Using everything I've learned doing photography, illustration, music, video and animation (with some biology and chemistry somewhere in the mix), I help my clients tell better stories. Because at the end of the day, everything—from magazine layouts, powerpoint presentations, jingles & soundtracks, proposal writing and even logo and packaging design—is all storytelling. The better you tell the story, the better the results.