Julian Alicea Speaks on Being a Graphic Designer and Freelancer

To start off the month of November, BOLD had the pleasure of welcoming Julian Alicea as their guest speaker on November 1st, 2022. Alicea is a fellow FIU and BOLD alumni who currently works as a Graphic Designer for SWARM Event Agency, and is also a Freelance Creative Director. Unlike most of BOLD’s guest speaker meetings, this one was structured differently. Julian Alicea held a Q&A session with BOLD’s Director of Culture, Martin Ponce, as the facilitator. 

Julian Alicea briefly went over his educational background and experiences. Alicea graduated from FIU with a Bachelors in Advertising and a Minor in Marketing in 2019. During his time, he joined BOLD and was the Art Director in 2019. The organization is what allowed him to discover his passion with graphic design. Through this, he had an idea of creating an ad agency for music and Alicea began to make his own flyers based on artists that he liked. Within BOLD, he made the members business cards which led to him acquiring his first internship in New York.

Through the internship Alicea did, he was able to move to New York and learn who he is as a creative person. As of now, he works at SWARM, an agency based in Wynwood. SWARM is known for owning the Wynwood Marketplace as well as working on other local projects. As a graphic designer for them, Julian is mainly in charge of creating things for events. The company itself has a division called Event Concessions which deals more with food and bar stands. This year, SWARM utilized it for a music festival called III Points which took place a few weeks ago. Alicea and the rest of the team were brainstorming on what kind of food to put on the menu. In the end, they settled it and called the stand ‘Kid’s Menu’. During this point of the Q&A, Alicea emphasized the importance of changing what you are doing when you realize it isn’t what you want. Ultimately, this is what will help maintain a level of playfulness and professionalism, which he finds important in the creative field.

Moving into his freelance work, he mentioned that he once made a comic book when he was very young. Alicea continues by explaining that his background was not in designing but rather in acting. Over time and within BOLD, Julian gained an appreciation and a passion for photography. His freelance work includes creating album art for others and he has managed to make this a career for himself. One of BOLD’s members asked Alicea what tips he had for practicing and getting better at graphic design when not having a background. He suggested the following:

  • Watching Youtube
  • Attending workshops
  • Using Canva
  • Watching Tik Toks 

Another key question was ‘How to deal when a vision is not executed as one imagined’. Julian explained how it is crucial to not become so attached to one design or vision you may have, and to become comfortable with starting from scratch if the idea is not coming to fruition. Moving on, Alicea showcased his creative portfolio which included various designs, journal entries he created whilst on a trip to London last year, merchandise designs, and music videos created for Pouya, a rap artist he toured with.

He closed off his presentation and Q&A session by explaining his next passion project. About a year or two ago, he had started to create a calendar which would be called Time Flies. Within the calendar, he wants to explain the meaning behind each month’s name and be creative with it. BOLD was given the opportunity to learn a lot about graphic design and freelancing, something many members are interested in and are excited to begin exploring after Julian’s advice.

To connect with Julian, follow him on Instagram @thebrainwave!

BOLD is a student-run strategic communications agency at Florida International University. Click here to learn more. 

Written by: Jefrany D’catry, Director of Public Relations