Alumni
Grad is Sr. Art Director at Lady Gaga's Haus Laboratories
With energy, drive, talent, and hard work, there is no end to what you can achieve — and grad Angelica Villegas is living proof. The former FIDM Fashion Club Member won FIDM's National Scholarship Competition and earned her degree in Graphic Design with an emphasis in Branding. She graduated from FIDM in 2013 at the top of her class as the Valedictorian. She has since held design positions at Guthy-Renker, Anastasia Beverly Hills, True Religion Brand Jeans, and BCBG Max Azria Group, and she is now the Sr. Art Director for Haus Laboratories, Lady Gaga's vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics brand based in Los Angeles, where she art directs campaigns from concept to execution on set. We caught up with the talented grad to learn more.
Image Courtesy of Haus | Art Directed by FIDM Grad Angelica Villegas
Tell us about your role and responsibilities at Haus: Concept, direct, and design compelling and successful campaigns for new product launches and continuing promotions. Lead internal and external teams of designers and collaborate with internal cross-functional partners to tell stories and craft stunning assets that drive engagement, capture clicks, and ultimately convert. In a typical launch flow, I’m responsible for building creative concepts for each product launch in partnership with our Editorial Director, fleshing them out to get approvals from Haus of Gaga and Lady Gaga, then executing against it in production. In conjunction with the Head of Creative and Haus of Gaga, I am responsible for model casting and selecting photographers, DPs, stylists, MUAs and other talent, as well as being on set to creatively direct the shoots in order to bring the approved vision to life. After the shoots are done, we go into post-production, where I work closely with retouchers, editors, colorists, etc to ensure impeccable industry standard image/video assets to be used in our designs. In addition to and tandem with post-production, I work closely with my team of designers and creatives to build out design direction and approve all channel assets within the campaign for consistency, accuracy and quality.
Tell me a little about your industry experience prior to joining Haus: After graduating FIDM, I started my career as a Visual Graphic Designer at BCBG Max Azria, where I designed window artwork for BCBG, BCBGeneration and Hervé Léger retail and outlet stores globally. I actually got the opportunity from the FIDM Career Fair and didn’t have to apply; a FIDM graduate who worked at BCBG happened to see my portfolio, picked up my business card and resume, and reached out to me for the position.
From there, I worked at True Religion as a Sr. Graphic Designer, then moved into the beauty industry as Sr. Graphic Designer at Anastasia Beverly Hills, where I worked closely with Anastasia and the team to concept and design digital launch and promo campaigns. After that, I became an Art Director at Guthy-Renker, a direct-response beauty company focused on incubating celebrity beauty brands, where I led omnichannel creative for 7 of their 14 beauty brands (including Cindy Crawford’s Meaningful Beauty skincare line).
Image Courtesy of Haus | Art Directed by FIDM Grad Angelica Villegas
How did you find out about the position at Haus and what was the interview process like? The VP/Head of Creative at Guthy-Renker left to become the VP/Head of Creative at Haus Labs, where he specifically recruited me as the lead art director. Because of our successful work partnership and efficacious track record at Guthy-Renker, the interview process was less of a formal interview, and more of a meeting with the CMO of Haus and Nicola Formichetti (Lady Gaga’s Fashion Director) to get a feel for culture fit.
What made you stand out against the others interviewed? While it was less of a formal interview process, I believe that my work ethic, leadership, hard skills, and positive attitude at Guthy-Renker (as well as being a Lady Gaga superfan!) made me a good fit for the role at Haus Laboratories.
How are you staying inspired during the pandemic? While it was always an immeasurably vast, nebulous entity, it feels like the Internet explosively expanded in the last year in order to accommodate and hold space for people and connections that couldn’t happen physically. I’m inspired by all the ways that people all around the world have forged to continue to seek connection and express themselves: remote photo and film shoots, streamed concerts, virtual clubs, people creating their own content in their intimate spaces with the limited resources they had at home vs big studio budgets, etc – the democratization of creativity and resilience of the human spirit during these trying times really inspires me to dig deep for internal inspiration instead of being able to seek it externally.
Why did you choose FIDM? As a fresh high school graduate at the time, who knew exactly what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go, I knew that a traditional college experience wasn’t for me. I chose FIDM because it values and nurtures the entrepreneurial spirit.
How do you feel FIDM prepared you for what you are doing now? Instead of having to learn theory and wait years in order to connect to my chosen career path at a traditional college, FIDM immediately threw me into real-world industry situations and timelines. I was taking 15 units while working 2 internships at the same time (and still managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA so that I could qualify as Valedictorian); the rigor, time management and work ethic that I developed at FIDM was undoubtedly instrumental in preparing me for how fast-paced and demanding the industry is. I would say that I experienced far less lifestyle shock when I joined the industry, compared to my other peers who graduated from traditional colleges.
Any advice for those considering going to FIDM? The destabilization of traditional schooling due to the pandemic proves that colleges that are quick to adapt to real world events are ultimately more worthwhile – especially for those who know what they want to do. FIDM has always been agile and optimized the way it teaches in response to the ever-changing needs of the industry; I believe it’s best poised to provide the relevant education that one needs in order to break into the fashion, beauty, entertainment industries (and beyond).
What is your biggest goal right now? Stay positive and test negative! I don’t think there’s enough encouragement out there to just stay happy and do what you can to not feel too overwhelmed. So I would say that my biggest goal right now is to maintain/improve my overall well-being in tandem with showing up as best as I can in my professional life.
Anything else you’d like to share? For current FIDM students: network network network – especially across majors. A FIDM alumna connected me to my first job. I’ve worked with many FIDM alums during each job at BCBG, True Religion, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Guthy Renker, and Haus. Never underestimate the power of “hello” and finding small ways to help fellow alumni. You never know what those connections can lead to! Also, work hard, but don’t forget to care of your mental, emotional, and physical needs first. You are your most important employee.
My favorite Haus products:
Head Rush Blush & Highlighter Duo in Pleaser/Tease
Stupid Love Eyeshadow Palette
Liquid Eye-Lie-Ner in Punk (bestselling product)
Eye-Dentify Gel Pencil Liner in Denim Rebel and Dazzled (super creamy, budge-proof, longwear)
Keep up with Angelica Villegas on Instagram @helloangelica.
Categories: Graphic Design Alumni
