Meet Andres Felipe Alvarez Barbosa | Mobility/ Transport Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andres Felipe Alvarez Barbosa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andres Felipe, looking back, what do you think was the most difficult decision you’ve had to make?
I have always been a very friendly easy-going person, some have even called me passive, I have always believed that if you are young, you should be respectful and learn from your elders, parents, and teachers; after all they have had more life experiences than you and have committed mistakes that you can avoid. So, it was very shocking not only to my family, university friends and teachers when I openly defied them, and when threated with failing my final semester and thesis, I did not stand down and called their bluff. A decision that today I do not regret, but rather marks an important transition from listening and learning to proposing and executing.

In Colombia, my home country, getting access and finishing a professional career is a luxury very few people can do, as such being in university came with a certain mystique and responsibility. It would not be uncommon for many students to also be part of political or social movements and have quite radical ideas, in some ways this kind of behavior was encouraged, as long as it went with the values and goals of the University. I studied Industrial design, since it was the closest career in the country to transportation design, what I really wanted to study, the goal was to graduate and do a masters in transportation design later; so many of my projects revolved around cars or mobility. I always made my intentions clear whenever a class or project started that I wanted to solve and design for transport related topics, this would eventually get me noticed by many teachers that saw these endeavors as foolish or pointless, we did not design cars nor had a national brand, and my skill sets where not the greatest, for many I had very little chances and was wasting my opportunity in university. There was also an unspoken distained for wanting to study a ¨capitalist and consumerist¨ topic that was the auto and transportation industry, this was something that was done in Europe and in The United States, in Colombia social and entrepreneurship was what designers had to do.

I did not let this deter me from my goal, sure in some classes I would modify my projects to be better suited to the objectives of the course or teachers end goals; after all I was still a student and I was learning, and knew that my chance to propose my ideas would come later on, I first had to prove that I could listen and follow recommendations before I was allowed to propose. I kept my head down and worked hard through my undergrad and I finally got to my thesis years, and opportunity to showcase my ideas and a place where there were no design briefs but rather you had to create one; I was happy and enthusiastic and at the time I had a girlfriend who was my classmate, I was positive and looked forward to my thesis.

My Industrial designer thesis looked at designing a small city vehicle for the city of Bogotá, and was complemented by a proposal on why brands would be interested in the city and its inhabitants, by all accounts a very traditional automotive design project. As I started to go through the thesis terms, I started to find more and more resistance from the faculty, many of my classmates would fail the classes, due to not having a clear idea or having a disjointed project, I fortunately never did, but was warned that I was cutting it close and that the next classes would not be so forgiving. It all came to a head during my final semester, I had been constantly at odds with my thesis advisors, and they were quite annoyed at me since I would not budge and continued working on my automotive project, this also but a strain in my relationship, since my girlfriend was hearing from her friends that I was guaranteed to fail, and that I was too nice and eventually I would capitulate. My Family worried about me, asked me why I did not just let it go, and gave the University what it wanted and avoided the confrontation. I told them that I would not stand down because it was something I believed in, I had patiently and respectfully had gone through the program, this was my turn to propose, and I was not going to be scared or intimidated into changing my thesis into something that fitted the institutions mold. It was two weeks before the final presentations, the night before I had gotten into a big argument with my girlfriend that wanted me to stop fighting and just do as I was told, there were also other issues; that night something clicked in me, and I actively took a decision that I was going to stand my ground and that I was ok with the consequences. I decided to call off the relationship, there had been too much fighting and things just did not feel right. The next morning, I walked into thesis review and presented my final proposal to the advisors, there was a long silence, and it was obvious they were annoyed and mad that I had refused to change my project.

¨Mr. Alvarez-Barbosa, are you sure this is your official thesis presentation¨ said one of the instructors as he looked at the other two, a laugh and grin appeared on their faces.
¨Yes, I am sure this is my official project¨ I responded. The teachers smug face quickly vanished and with sterned faces told me

¨You are aware that there is a very high chance you will fail with this project, correct? ¨

¨The project stands by itself; I don’t believe I will fail¨ I responded with a serious voice.

The lead thesis teacher, visibly annoyed looked and said ¨You are going to fail if you do¨

¨I take full responsibility, if I fail, I fail. But I showed you what as a designer I believe in and I have proof to back up this project, If I fail here or with the jury, let it be¨ I interrupted the teacher and with a grin and laughter said ¨And if I fail, we will see each other next term, and I can hand in what the advisors believe is correct and I can graduate, by this point I just need the diploma¨

there was a long silence until they thanked me for my presentation and told me I would receive an email with the dates for my final exposition, if I passed. Later that night I got the email with the dates and time for said presentation, I passed and graduated as an Industrial designer.

Today I am finishing off a masters in Transportation and Systems design at ArtCenter College of design, my dream university, and I am looking towards an interesting internship with Volvo group in the summer. Looking back at that decision to stand my ground, face adversity and be Ok with failure and trusting your gut, was probably the hardest and sick inducing moments of my life, but one that has changed me forever.

If you truly believe in something, have put in the time and effort and you are confident in its success, don’t let anybody take that from you; trust your gut and intuition and don’t be afraid of failure or to standup up for your ideas, at the end it will most likely be the other person who will blink first.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Growing up between Houston, London, and Bogota opened my eyes to different ways of life and how transportation shapes culture and is itself shaped by culture. By deeply understanding cultural differences, appreciating what others consider crazy or unorthodox, I use these unique approaches and find strategies that resonate within a community. As a designer, I have always taken the path less traveled. I embrace disorder and thrive in it to find solutions

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
LA is a vibrant city.

Whenever friends come over, I always tell them that they have to go to Santa Monica and walk to Venice Beach. This is by far the best way to experience that unique California dreaming sensation.

In terms of food, street tacos are king, with so many flavors and variants each taco is unique.

I would also recommend they go to Disney land and Universal studios; you are never too old to have fun and it’s a great way to get in touch with your inner child.

Finally go to a sports venue be it Sofi Stadium or the crypto stadium, if the United States has something over the rest of the world is there sporting events and venues they are unique like no other, who knows you might get into the sport as well.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My Parents My Brothers
ArtCenter College of Design
My ArtCenter Friends

Website: http://www.alvarezbarbosadesigns.com

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/andres-felipe-alvarez-barbosa