User Preferences: Tech Q&A With Sergio Calderón

Each week we chat about the tools of the trade with one outstanding creative to find out exactly how they do what they do. The questions are always the same, the answers, not so much. This week: Sergio Calderón.

The Creators Project: Who are you and what do you do?
Sergio Calderón I am Sergio Calderón, art director, filmmaker, and visual artist based in London. In the early 2000s I was working in Barcelona in both graphic and interactive design, then moved to London in 2007 to join the design consultancy Hi-ReS! as Art Director/Creative.

2012 has been a busy year, since February I run my own practice in which I am creating works for print, screen, and installation. My latest activities includes the Art Direction and 3D for the UK MVA-nominated music video for Dels, visuals for an Attila Csihar and Stephen O’Malley performance at the Pompidou Centre last March, a commissioned artwork featured in the next issue of Under The Influence magazine, and upcoming projects for Nike and Metallica.

What kind of hardware to you use?
Right now I am on a MacBook Pro, but I need to upgrade my gear (looking to being surprised by Apple next June).

What kind of software do you use?
Cinema 4D, Final Cut, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator.

Commissioned artwork featured in Under The Influence magazine.

What piece of equipment can you simply not live without?
My headphones, I guess that includes the iPhone. Obviously without a computer or a camera I would be out of job too. The Secure Key from HSBC, which is something like a tiny pocket calculator, if you lose it then you don’t have access to the bank account anymore. And my bike!

If money were no object, how would you change your current set up?
That’s a broad question, if money were no object it would be easy to get ambitious and not only think about a better machine or a better camera and instead dream about how to decorate a three-story office, choosing the right designer to create the uniform for your employees, and opening branches in idyllic places such as the Amazon, Madagascar or Tibet… I could go on, but at some point I have to get back to reality and deal with my Ikea desk.

Is there any piece of technology that inspired you to take the path you did?
The first iMac and discovering Photoshop came to me at the same time, I guess that’s when I made a choice about my profession. Also there are other milestones like being able to work on video with After Effects and later Cinema 4D, also the Canon 550D. Those tools enabled me to do things that were just too expensive to do before. It’s magic.

What is your favorite piece of technology from your childhood?
Hard to say, but I remember loving my bike and also my Walkman.

Screenshot from You Will Never Get There.

What fantasy piece of technology would you like to see invented?
Flying cars, but then again I don’t have a drivers license.

See more of Sergio’s work on the Gallery.

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