Nico Sendra is a rising senior at St. Edward’s University majoring in Graphic Design. He is from Dallas, Texas, and grew up traveling with his family around the United States. He’s been around the West Coast, to Seattle, to California, to Florida, and to the Grand Canyon. Some of his favorite memories are from his trips to the Grand Canyon. He’s also traveled abroad to Saltillo, Mexico, where his grandma is from, to Ireland, to Spain, and now France. Nico is a self-described open book and, in this discussion, we dive into those pages by talking about his major and some of his favorite memories about growing up.
Q: Why did you choose graphic design as a major?
A: My whole life I’ve been creative. It kind of runs in the family. My grandpa was a graphic designer, my dad was a creative director, my mom is an interior designer. My whole life they’ve pushed me to do whatever I really wanted. I always liked videos, drawing, and editing. I liked the creative process more than anything. Going into college, I decided to learn business because I thought that I needed to make money if I wanted to survive. I did business management and after the first semester I was miserable- it sucked. I was like “do I want to keep doing this, should I keep doing this?” Once Covid hit, my second semester, I had a little break and was able to reevaluate and out of all the majors at St. Edward’s graphic design was the once most tailored to what I wanted to do. I don’t know if I want to become graphic designer but learning about what it takes to be a graphic designer will help me understand the business side of creative work.
Q: What is the process of working on a project like for you?
A: Creative process comes from the art I’m taking into my life. When it comes to working on something, thinking up the idea comes quickly to me. I also execute quickly. But now, there’s an emphasis on drafts and mood boards and an analysis about why I’m doing a certain design. That’s something I’ve never really practiced but doing that helps with making a good design and good work.
Q: What is your favorite project? What is your least favorite?
A: I think all my stuff is terrible. But in high school I learned how to screen print and me and my friend would print these designs and sell them. We made about four hundred percent profit with some t-shirts we sold. It was cool. I don’t think I have a least favorite. I’m not a professional graphic designer with a professional portfolio so anything in my portfolio is something I’m proud of.
Q: Do you find yourself noticing art wherever you travel?
A: All the time, I see it in architecture, human interaction, street art, fashion, and of that. Especially when I travel. It’s really fun for me to analyze and see how different it is from the U.S.
Q: Let’s go back to your childhood, what is your favorite memory growing up?
A: My favorite memory would have to be when my family went to the Grand Canyon. My dad told us to sit down and just look at the vastness of the Grand Canyon and the family was quiet and observing. I remember it so vividly and remember how pure that moment was for me and my family.
Q: You mentioned that you’ve traveled a lot, what has been your favorite trip?
A: I’ve traveled so much with my family, but my favorite trip is probably one that I took last year during spring break. It was spontaneous, me and two friends wanted to go to the Grand Canyon, and we packed our bags and went. I asked a friend from back home if he wanted to go as well and he drove up the next day. There were so many moments from that trip that gave me so much joy. We went to New Mexico, we went to Marfa, TX. We met up with his friends at the Grand Canyon who are very talented musicians. One of them plays the saxophone and the other one the guitar. This is another one of my favorite memories… we went out to the cliffs at the Grand Canyon past the guard rail and our two friends (the musicians) started to play and the sound resonated around us and the entirety of the canyon. They kept playing and I was sitting there with my friend just listening. I turned around and I remember seeing about fifty to sixty people at the guard rail just watching them play the instruments. We started that. They finished their serenade and everyone started clapping. My friend and I sat front row for that. It was so cool.
Q: What has been your favorite thing that you’ve done in Paris so far?
A: Probably that bike ride that I did at six am. It was my first full day here and I woke up early so I decided to go on a bike ride. It was nice seeing the entire city empty and being able to go around without worrying about traffic laws. I planned to do the bike ride because I woke up and saw the sun rising and wanted to go see the Eiffel Tower.
Q: What is the biggest challenge you’ve had in life up to date?
A: Learning how to be social. My whole life up until high school I was a complete shut-in and I didn’t know human interaction. I was very bad at it. The few friends I made, I kept, so I never really branched out. But in high school, I knew I needed to learn how to interact and made the effort to put myself out there. I’m very proud of what I went through from high school until now.
Q: Since you’ve called yourself an open book, what would surprise me about you?
A: It’s out of the blue. I’m an adrenaline junkie but I’m afraid of heights. Instead of drinking or smoking in high school, I would climb buildings and I climbed a crane once. I’m extremely afraid of heights. We walked to the top of a watch tower in Spain when I was 8 or 9 and I remember feeling so claustrophobic and scared that I couldn’t walk. I was crying and holding on to the walls and we were only about six stories up.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
A: Hopefully in Paris because it’s really cool. I want to travel a lot. I love art. I love design. I love meeting people. I really want to go to Africa, and I want to spend my 20s exploring. I think is better not to know and not to strive towards something. The possibilities are endless and it’s okay to be surprised.
Kessly Salinas is a rising senior at St. Edward’s University. She is majoring in Global Studies and minoring in Journalism and Digital Media.
