Computer Arts - UK (2020-04)

GAME-CHANGING MOMENTS

T

here’s no more pivotal

moment in my career

than reaching a 20-year

milestone in this industry. It all

happened so fast. Seriously. Twenty

years isn’t that long, considering

that you’ve been doing, in some

capacity, the same thing your entire

life. How everything fell into place

over the years was truly natural,

from starting out with a weird name

called “Serial Cut™” – which came

about almost by accident– to asking

for help and miraculously getting

my first intern.

I never really planned my career.

The only thing I remember is that

I wanted to have my own studio by

age 30 (and this came to fruition

well before this self-imposed

deadline). However, I always wanted

an eye-catching portfolio from day

one, and I still do. I always want to

refresh it, to push it further.

Back in 2017 I started to think

about what to do for the 20th

anniversary of the studio, which

would be in a couple of years’ time.

In these days of virtual creativity

I was keen to offer the design

community something tangible. I’m

the first one to admit that I rarely

buy design books as often as I once

did. But to experience the imagery

in another medium, away from the

screen, is an irreplaceable sensation.

We had published our first book

ExtraBold® in 2012. The thrill of

creating another book wasn’t quite

the same second time around, so

my ambition took me on the path

of making something we’ve never

done. That’s the authentic Serial

Cut™ way of celebrating 20 years -

to do something new!

We’d done some commercials

in the past, but never a film about

the studio. The process was tedious

at some points, but I can’t deny my

excitement on the days of shooting,

the feeling of creating something so

significant to celebrate 20 years.

What I knew from the moment

I started the SC99 project was that

the three releases – Book, Film

and Talk – needed to be strongly

connected. Therefore, the nine

rooms of the film reflect the nine

chapters of the book. And these

together form the 99 logotype

where all nine characters can be

seen in action, because each one has

a cover for the book. It was exciting

to create the nine rooms, and

particularly creating the characters

from scratch, from concepting

their appearance, to coming up

with their names, to writing their

profiles. They really came to life

when they had a story behind them.

Each character has some personal

elements of myself that I had fun

recalling and writing about as

I developed their narratives.

It’s been a hectic year where

my team has surpassed all my

expectations. We’ve all given our

best because we believe in the power

of our aesthetics and how it can

inspire others to create and advance

in their own dreams. It doesn’t

matter how many years it takes –

10, 15, 20 years or longer – if you

enjoy what you do then it’ll go fast,

believe me. Just go for it.

Left: A still from the film Purely Iconic - 20 Years of SerialCut™. Above: Character line-up from the film.

“I can’t deny my excitement, the feeling of creating

something so significant to celebrate 20 years”

SergiodelPuertoisthefounderandcreativedirectorofSerialCut™﹐aMadrid-basedstudiofocusedonartdirection

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serialcut﹒com

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