Luis Gonzalez

 

 

Luis was born in Minneapolis, but raised and educated in Mexico City, where he majored in Industrial Design at Universidad Iberoamericana. Industrial designers typically don’t end up in advertising, but apparently, Luis was ignorant to the fact. The industrial design firm where he first worked also provided graphic design services for clients, and Luis found that side to be more rewarding. Fast forward a few years, add a move back to the US, and before he knew it Luis was writing copy, laying out ads, art directing photoshoots and producing commercials.

 

For most of his career, he worked for general market agency Richards Carlberg and for Hispanic ad agency Lopez Negrete, helping it grow from a handful of employees to over 200. Some of his clients include Verizon, Walmart, Bank of America, Dr Pepper and Visa to name a few. He’s been on dozens of winning new business pitches and hundreds of shoots and productions across the US, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic. He’s still trying to sell that Hawaii idea.

 

Throughout his career, he has specialized in targeting the Hispanic market, but has extensive experience in the general market as well. “It’s been quite a ride. I’ve sold computers, homes, football, basketball and hockey teams, banks, newspapers, ballet, museums, theatre, tractors, insurance, lottery, sodas and beer, ice chests, grocery stores, fried chicken, sandwiches, Tex-Mex food, cable TV and mobile phones. The one thing that still sticks with me after all these years and variety is approaching every assignment as a design challenge: identifying a need, defining a user and crafting a solution.”

 

Luis is a strong advocate for dog rescue and rehabilitation, he and his wife adopted two abandoned dogs off the streets of Houston. When the need arises, he can get around: he is an expert-level mountain bike racer (he’s raced the Leadville 100 three times) and run eight full marathons.