 Name:
Ricardo Gonzalez
Position: Artistic Director
Biography:
Gonzalez is a
native Texan. He was born in Houston and moved to Humble
when he was 7 years old. As a child, he was always drawing.
In school, he was drawn to art and his art classes were
always his favorites.
He had natural
talent and always had an entry in the art competitions. He
remembers that as young as eighth grade, he entered a Cinco
De Mayo art competition and won. It was covered by the
newspaper and he was the pride of his family.
In high school,
Gonzalez took an auto-cad class that introduced him to
design software used by architects and designers. In his
spare time, he tinkered with the software and produced art
that caught the eye of his teacher.
The teacher, who
had a small business on the side, recognized his talent and
recruited him to help make signs and other projects that
allowed him to explore art and software outside of the
classroom.
After graduation
from Humble High School, Gonzalez enrolled at Kingwood
College to take his basics but quickly grew bored with
academics. He knew he wanted to pursue art and with his
family’s support, he interviewed at the Art Institute of
Houston. They liked his art portfolio and he was offered a
scholarship to begin studying. He graduated with an
associates degree in applied science and plans to continue
his education at the school, which offers programs through a
masters degree.
While in school, he needed a
little extra cash and saw an ad on
Monster.com
for work at a newspaper laying out the pages. He applied,
was offered the job, and has been working with Cynthia
Calvert for more than four years. When Calvert started the
Tribune, he was invited to join the staff and again he
accepted.
Gonzalez finds the
work at the newspaper creatively satisfying and he said that
he was surprised how much he enjoys the technical side. He
explained that each page is coded for stories and photos of
various sizes. He must take them like pieces of a puzzle,
assemble them around the advertisements and make them fit.
After so many repetitions, he said he can look at the raw
data and automatically know the best layout and dimensions
necessary.
Gonzalez said
another big plus of his job is to be in the company of the
newspaper staff. He calls them great people to work with.
When not on the job, Gonzales says he likes to spend his
spare time with his large Latino family.
Gonzalez has two
sisters, but lines between his nuclear family and extended
family blur. On one side of his family, he has 12 aunts and
uncles. He has 15 on the other and the cousins of the large
family grew up together like brothers and sisters
strengthening their family ties. His mother’s side of the
family meets three to four times per year and his father’s
get together even more often. Perhaps he’ll add to his
family one day, but for now, his plan is to stay single into
his 40s.
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