Amber Navarette

Reading Time | 3 minutes

Thank you for joining us, Amber. Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born and raised in Minnesota. In 2005 I graduated from The Art Institutes International MN in the Media Arts and Animation program. I stumbled into the advertising world when I was still in college and never left.

I got my ‘in’ at Colle+McVoy and stayed for nearly 8 years. At Colle+McVoy I helped to develop their first in-house video department. It’s still living strong with multiple, talented editors. I then went to space150 and started their first in-house video department. At space150 I learned a ton about the digital world and the latest and greatest cutting-edge technology in advertising. In 2011 a door opened at Volt Studios and I moved on yet again to experience the vendor side of things. At Volt, not only have I continued to edit and create motion graphics but I’ve learned a lot about visual effects. The team has to taught me to key, rotoscope, composite, color correct, track and a gabbillion other things that I didn’t yet know. 

I continue to create video outside of my professional career. I love to work on music videos. I also shoot and edit a ton of video of my son(more than I’d like to admit). He has a YouTube channel called Eliott TV and I couldn’t be more proud. I’m a TV and movie junkie. I love to paint and draw. I also LOVE reading. 

My favorite thing about my job is working as a team with talented art directors, designers, writers, colorist, finishers and producers. I love to be a part of the process from conception to completion. I work hard and I play hard. 

Now, let’s talk about your artistic influences and creative process.

I am influenced by so much. We live in the golden age of television and movies. I watch everything I can get my hands on. Afterwards I watch behind-the-scenes video, interviews with directors, break-downs, etc. Quite frequently I’ll see an ad I love on tv and rewind and watch again. It drives my husband nuts. I keep up on Adweek, Egotist, Behance, motion graphic sites like Dribble and many others to not only get inspired, but to see what is happening locally and nationally in the advertising world. I keep a folder of videos I find inspiring that I refer to as projects come in. In my down time I go through tutorials or search out amazing plug-ins and get to know them. The minute you stop learning you get left behind.

Amber has been involved in a wide range of editing and motion graphics projects throughout her career.

What are your plans for the future?

I try to take life one day at a time. Maybe someday I’ll play more of a creative director role. I like to train people and push them to do their best work possible. But for now I really enjoy doing the work myself 🙂

Any last bits of advice?

The advertising world isn’t for every artist. Generally our job is to bring someone else’s vision to life. Therefore your own tastes or opinions need to take a back seat sometimes. I would tell anyone who is just starting out to not get discouraged. Not only is this line of work competitive but it also takes a long time to hone your skills. And if you want to make it in this field then always be creating. No matter what you do, no matter where you are, and regardless of what it is.