Rakiya George – Contributor

The creative industry is the secret weapon brands and businesses use to make their visions come to life. Without a creative, there is no end result, there is no product, there is no story. As we roll out content for Black History Month, we thought it would be a grand idea to have a conversation with one of the very creatives that got Ad+d Culture, an affiliate of Raxo, started. Long time creative, Emmy Winner and Co-Founder/Creative Director of Raxo, Oscar Rivera.

It is imperative that we give creatives their flowers for their amazing accolades and contributions to fellow creatives of color. He’s had an eye for design since the age of 11 and has been in the design and broadcast industry for years. I had the pleasure of speaking with him to pick his brain and talk about the importance of why the Black and Brown perspective is important in regards to any business, brand, or publication.

Rakiya George: You’ve always had an eye for design, what attracted you to this field?

Oscar Rivera: I’ve been in the design field since I was a little kid. Growing up, I was always drawing and painting, and I was enrolled in an art school in the 7th grade. So I’ve basically been in that field my whole life. It was something that fulfilled me; I was always curious, I was always trying to build or create stuff. So since the beginning, it’s always been in my DNA.

RG: Photography and graphic design are intricate fields, what inspires you when shooting or creating? What is your process?

OR: It’s funny because, with photography, I’ve only been taking photos for the last 3 years. It’s pretty much new for me. Everything [I do] starts as a hobby for me; I remember when I jumped onto Instagram and it was new and no one knew about it that much, that was kind of like a high for me because I was just taking pictures. Then eventually, I was just like “let me get a camera” and try this out and be more legit and that’s when I bought myself a camera, I started to take pictures in the street. [In Miami, where Oscar was raised.] Then I moved here to New York. I visited NY before, but when I moved and I started living in it, I felt like NY was this huge world and it was so interesting for me. Again, it was a curiosity for me. I would be on the subway, and see people always on their phones, and realized people don’t talk here. Everyone’s in their own world; so I started to take pictures of people and stuff like that, so I guess that was my inspiration. The new beginning and urge of finding out where I was and trying to understand the new place I was living in. Now with COVID, I’ve stopped and haven’t been able to take more photos but I’m trying to push myself to get another muse from my family or another type of source.

RG: How were your experiences growing up while pursuing design? (Not the most traditional trade in households.) Was there a lot of pressure from your family?

OR: No, actually my mom pushed me. I was the only son for my mom, and had brothers on my dad’s side; I’m a “Mama’s Boy” in a way. She was always trying to push me and went with whatever I told her; she has always been very complacent to me. I think she was my number one cheerleader in that sense. My dad went with the flow. He was like, “Alright, you want to do that? Okay, let’s see how that goes.” At the beginning [Of Oscar’s career], it was really like “okay let me just see”. Once he saw the potential, he was very proud of me and that’s the reason I say that both of them, from the beginning, were very open-minded about the fact that I liked art and since I was always drawing, they saw something in me. So they saw how to capitalize from that. I was fortunate because of that. My dad used to work at the post office, and my mom at the hospital, and those are pretty “normal” jobs. Of course [as a parent] you want your son to thrive and become a doctor, or whatever, but at the same time, they understood me and had faith in me.

RG: 9 Emmy’s is very impressive, how did you get there?

“I knew about the Emmys, but I wasn’t trying to get an Emmy. It just fell into place in that sense”

OR: That’s actually funny. When I graduated from college, I was trying to find myself because I graduated with Computer Animations and I wanted to do movies. I got my bachelor’s [degree] in Miami, and Miami is a small city, obviously, the movie industry is not big there. The only option I had was to go to California/Los Angeles to try and get into that world. So because of money and I was just coming out of college, I was trying to see how I could use the knowledge that I had from college and try to find a good job in Miami. I ended up doing broadcasting and working at a tv station. Luckily for me, that tv station was basically new, and there were a lot of creative people working in it. This was for SBS, a Spanish network and that’s when I learned about motion graphics and learned about all these creative people in the industry. I was able to work with a lot of them, and we won multiple Emmys throughout the years. I knew about the Emmys, but I wasn’t trying to get an Emmy. It just fell into place in that sense. I guess I was just lucky to work with a good creative team.

RG: As a creative of color, what do you think creative industries need more of?

OR: That’s a good question. The industry per se is too oriented to the white or “superior” mentality. We [Black and Brown beings] come from the bottom and it obviously depends on each person, but I guess the industry needs to let us speak more and be more inclusive. Have a seat at the table and actually give our perspective some sort of a chance. That way, we will be talking to the right people and not guess or misinterpret anything they try to produce. They just need to give us the opportunity more often and I think it’s happening. Somehow, there’s a seed that has been planted; obviously, with the last year 2020, Black Lives Matter, and previous years, there has been a lot of movement in terms of the society that ripples into our industry. Since our industry is like our voice, the first thing that everybody sees and we are so connected to the Internet, we need visual graphics, narratives, and video. The Internet is actually uniting a lot of us. Now that we are so connected and are able to be inside of these rooms, we can talk and I can say “this”. The people that have the opportunities or are in a good position, should let us speak and be a part of the conversation.

“The industry needs to let us speak more and be more inclusive. Have a seat at the table and actually give our perspective some sort of a chance”

RG: What was the deciding factor for founding Raxo? What did you wish to accomplish and have you done so yet?

OR: Raxo was just me trying to say “okay, now I want to do me.” Now I don’t want to work for someone else, I want to work for me. I was lucky enough to have my wife who is also in the field and she is an amazing woman. We sat down, talked about it, and encouraged each other, and were like “we should do this, we should try this” and we went for it. We took the adventure, and now I can see the fruits of everything we’ve been building, little by little. We aren’t done yet, but I don’t regret it at all. [In regards to what he wants to accomplish] It’s giving people the opportunity to definitely be themselves, you can let your imagination run wild and somehow get paid or gain something from it. If I was trying to give you something complex, I’d be lying, the sincerity is that I’m not looking for something big to come back to me. I just want to do what I like to do.

RG: As a creative, can you emphasize how much representation matters for Black and Brown communities?

OR: We used to look up to what the white man or person in charge was doing and we’d be like “oh one day, I’d like to be like such and such” and from us enslaving our own mentality, we sometimes think “oh we can’t do that” or “that [goal, job, etc] looks too far” [is unattainable]. No. If you actually change your mindset, and you actually think you can do this, you can definitely accomplish this. I think the Black and Brown communities need to embrace it; embrace who they are, and not be afraid to speak up and try to do, you.

RG: Do you think progress is being made with all that is going on in the ad industry?

OR: The seed has definitely been planted. We were used to certain stuff, the cliches, and it’s like any other industry and I bet the same things happen in journalism. It’s all about breaking those doors and those barriers of changing mentality and educating people. Making it known that we are here too and that we are a part of this conglomerate. I feel positive about all of this; initiatives such as that of Ad+d Culture or other initiatives [platforms] that have been blowing up nowadays is a good way to start shifting that mentality. Shifting the perspective that we as a community have a right to be represented in this field or any other field. Let our voices and mind be heard.

RG: Any final thoughts for creatives? Words of wisdom.

OR: My advice would be to believe in yourself; break that barrier of thinking you are not worth it or you don’t have the right tools. The best part of creativity is that you can do anything with whatever, you just have to put your mind into it; your mentality. The most beautiful things that we have been able to see, have come from nothing, from people that didn’t have anything. So having that mindset of “you know what, I can do this”, going through the struggle, believing in yourself, you will definitely accomplish it.

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