Meet Juan Casal

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Juan Casal. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Juan below.

Juan, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

It’s very simple, I know I’m an impostor! Every day I start working and ask myself: How did I get here doing what I do?!
I always try to do the best work possible, but it’s hard to fight against myself. The worst part is coming up with a better idea for a project that’s already finished. It’s like feeling that what you did could have been better, but it’s already out there.
The good thing is that I forget about it soon enough (when I see the next thing I’m working on!).

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m Juan Casal, 41 years old (an old gentleman) and live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’m a graphic designer, and for the last two decades I’ve been doing motion graphics for TV channels, brands, and companies all over the world.
My design is very much focused on illustration and character design.
I don’t know if I’m the funniest person in the world, but I try to make my work as colorful (full of colors), cheerful (but not silly), ironic (how knows if I manage that), and full of details as possible. I have no idea if what I do is good or bad, but so far, clients keep calling me.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

When I was 20 years old, I was studying graphic design, working at a TV channel, doing freelance projects for my own clients at night, publishing fanzines, and had a social life. Sleep wasn’t part of the plan.
You have to make the most of that energy you have in your youth years. Later, you get old, feel sleepy at 10 pm, your back hurts, or you just don’t want to do it.
Youth: where strength beats experience, but in the end, catches it up.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

The clients I work with also work with many other studios and designers besides me. Over time, you start to fall further down on their mental list of providers.
So, you have to find a way to get noticed, but social media exposure feels strange to me, and I get cringed seeing people overexpose themselves. I don’t want to do that. But I also don’t want to be forgotten.
I think that’s a difficult balance to strike: to be present, but not seem desperate.

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