Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Perez.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Andrea. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Hello, my name is Andrea. I’m a Houston based Graphic designer, photographer and illustrator from Venezuela, who love simplicity and charm.
I was born in a small city called Punto Fijo in Venezuela. I started my career when I was 17 years old and graduated from university 4 years later. I’ve always loved Art in all its forms of expression, however, when I was in high school I still didn’t know my artistic skills. One day one friend of mine told me – You should study Graphic design, You’re so creative! and that’s what I did.
I began my freelancing journey in 2009. I started working on personal design projects and works for clients after graduating from university. In less than one year I’ve created a brand, by the time, I called it OOPS!
OOPS was 20 years old’s dream made come true. I managed to do many things that came to my mind which included even a clothes collection. I didn’t study Fashion Design but I loved everything that represented launching a collection of clothes from zero (sketches, fabrics, name, identity, casting, photoshoot, marketing) all created by me. IT WAS AMAZING! Even though I liked it a lot, it was just a hobby.
OOPS was my full-time job. Aside from design, I’ve taken photos and done videos since then for a variety of target audiences and I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it. I don’t have any preference in terms of photography. I can take from weddings, fashion photos, corporate, newborn, families and enjoy doing them equally.
In 2010 and 2013 I lived in London for a while, the second time with my boyfriend, now husband, Carlos De Lima.
Having lived in London helped us expand our mind, we met people from all over the world, traveled a lot, learned so much from the city, its culture and the people who lives there. If you ask me about my favorite city I will always say LONDON and I know Carlos would say the same.
In 2015 we got married, moved to HOUSTON and decided to start a business together named KOKO. (OOPS trained me for that) Many people ask us Why KOKO? We thought that was the perfect name because KOKO is a Japanese word that means at this moment, here. It represented what we were living, our reality, have left our country, and being here, in our new home HOUSTON, a new chapter, a new beginning. And also it was one of our favorite places in Camden, London. We used to go there almost every Friday night, beautiful memories haha.
In KOKO we create things. We adopt concepts that evoke emotion. In other words, we create highly conceptual and visual contents that attract and convert customers. Our customers come to us to improve satisfaction and loyalty, Through interaction with the product or service. We develop Branding, photography, video, music, web, content and passion.
Now we are here, we love Houston too. This city has been very generous with us. We have had the opportunity to work with amazing people, including Brittani Washington (Beyonce keyboardist) Emmanuel De La Cruz a recognized surgeon from the Philippines, Baseball players and many recognized musicians, also musicians from our country we hadn’t had the pleasure to have worked with before.
I’m also working on my personal brand LOVE, AK. I use my Instagram account @withloveak as a powerful weapon, creating daily content for my small but beautiful audience. Content like photography and beauty tips, illustrations, videos, lifestyle posts and many more. Thanks to this I have achieved the recognition of powerful brands like HONEST and Jessica Alba which posted an illustration I had made during Hurricane Harvey called STAY STRONG HOUSTON, and makeup/beauty brands like arctic fox hair color, overtone, sally beauty, crown and others.
I really love what I do and I think I’ve learned so many things in 10 years that make me so proud of the accomplishments and the person I’ve become. I’ve been always very passionate about work, I love traveling, art, music, fashion, food, cultures and last but not least I love my FAMILY, my husband and my little boy for being my inspiration and support day after day, for being the dream of when I wake up every morning, for giving me a life of intentionally simple and beautiful moments. Everything I do, I do it for you.
Has it been a smooth road?
I had to work nonstopping to achieve everything I have achieved. Many times I want to give up but later I think that persistence will pay off an that’s true!
Even though Houston has been good to us, emigrating is never easy for anyone. Not only talking about work but for you. If you are not well nothing will turn out well. then we have to be stronger.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the KOKO ART STUDIO story. Tell us more about the business.
In KOKO we create things. We adopt concepts that evoke emotion. In other words, we create highly conceptual and visual contents that attract and convert customers. Our customers come to us to improve satisfaction and loyalty, Through interaction with the product or service. We develop Branding, photography, video, music, web, content and passion.
I use to take the photos and do the branding and Carlos the video and he is the musician of the team, but we both can do everything, well I’m not really good at music but we can sing together sometimes haha. We have always thought that we are the Dynamic Duo, the best team ever. If we’re together we can do MAGIC.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2040 Greenhouse Rd. Houston, Texas 77084
- Website: www.kokoartstudio.com / www.love-ak.com
- Phone: 8324332927
- Email: tonsofloveak@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/withloveak
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/With-Love-AK-122204781766676/
- Other: www.instagram.com/kokoartstudio
Image Credit:
@withlveak
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