Designer, Illustrator, and Mexican ambassador, Ivan Cruz has a fascination with design that started in elementary school, when he used to run an underground illustration-peddling business - rather like those guys on Robson street, only seven years old and living on the central west coast of Mexico.

Despite his significant experience with Legos and Playmobil as a child, it wasn’t until high school that Ivan became fully immersed in design. At first he went trigger-happy with Photoshop and Flash, then he realized there was something missing from his efforts: a message. It was at this point that Ivan started to understand what design was all about. It wasn’t just about graphics: graphics were merely the medium. Rather, design was about solving problems and communicating ideas. This was the reason the label “graphic design” had never grabbed onto him before. It was a revelation. From that moment on, whenever somebody asked him what he wanted to do with his life, Ivan would say, without hesitation: Design. Period.

After high school, Ivan started to look for a place to fulfill his passion for design. He surveyed dozens of curriculums offered by different schools across Mexico, but none of them really grabbed him. And then he stumbled across Vancouver Film School, and the match was made. Ivan is currently waiting for his work visa to start his new job.