HOLA, MUCHO GUSTO
me llamo Cecilia
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Studied Communications Design in
Syracuse University in upstate New York.

Moved to an artsy warehouse in Brooklyn and
worked at a top NYC branding agency (CBX). 

Started freelancing full-time, quit the NYC
agency job and went backpacking.

Moved back to San Juan, Puerto Rico and
continue to happily balance freelance design work with
time spent practicing yoga, hiking in the rainforest,
or surfing on the beach.
( HERE'S THE LONGER VERSION OF THE STORY )
I arrived to this world on March 8, 1991 as "Baby 1" with my identical twin sister following just a minute later. Eventually, I was named after the patron saint of music (and/or the mischevous gal in that Simon & Garfunkel song), Cecilia. Most of my friends know me as "Ceci" (pronounced seh-see, not see-see - don't even get me started on my surname!).
I was lucky enough to grow up a 10 minute walk away from the beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico where I was raised by Cuban parents and Spanish grandparents. Food and conversations were never lacking where I grew up. My family stayed living in that little island paradise, while I moved around quite a bit.
I lived in Syracuse, NY while achieving my BFA in Communications Design at Syracuse University. During that time I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad and live 5 months in London. I also worked in the ad agencies Draftfcb and Y&R in Summer internships.
In 2011, I had the opportunity to go to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity as the student representative of Puerto Rico in the Roger Hatchuel Academy where I met amazing people, saw crazy amounts of inspiring work, and my team's work was selected by DraftFCB to be featured in the 'Lions Daily News'.
Then, I moved to Brooklyn and worked in the amazing creative branding agency CBX in New York City. I loved my job and loved the city, but I decided to quit in order to transform my part-time job as a freelancer into a full time job.
With my newfound flexibility and independence, I went backpacking for 6 months through 15 countries with my twin sister and business partner. I continued to work as a freelance designer with my sister as part of our design team called HIYO DESIGN and landed back in the beautiful shores of Puerto Rico where I reside to this day. I still travel between San Juan and other major cities (NYC, Miami, L.A.) in the US fairly often to meet with clients and keep close relationships. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to talk about working together!
WORK EXPERIENCE
HIYO DESIGN - Co-Founder & Branding Specialist
2012 - Present
CBX - Designer
2013 - 2015
CANNES LIONS RHA - Puerto Rico Representative
2011
Y&R - Creative Intern
2011
DRAFT FCB - Creative Intern
2010