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Gusto MARULANDA
Director of Innovation | MEDIACOM
Gusto is the Creative Director of Mediacom, where he develops and forges first to market opportunities in the content, technology and experiential space for clients such as Anheuser-Busch, Whole Foods and Uniqlo. Prior to working at Mediacom, Gusto worked for MTV Networks where he helped launch their first tentpole event livestream platform, allowing people to have an exclusive second screen experience like never before. Gusto, a New York native, grew up as a graffiti artist and transitioned to engineering during university. He managed to fuse both those passions and is his love for content to get him where he is today, his work has been featured in TIME, NBC, PBS and multiple other media outlets, and he’s a multiple time Webby Award winner/honoree.
questionnaire
What was your very first job?
I worked at small design and print shop in Queens, NY. It was the first time dealing with design clients, crazy deadlines and printing presses.
Please describe, in your own words, what your job is and what work it entails.
Creative Director at Mediacom. I develop innovative content and experiences for our clients.
How did you discover that the creative world was right for you? Was there a time in your life that you credit to this discovery? What was there train of events that brought you to where you are today?
Growing up in New York I was exposed to art (graffiti) everyday of my life, I eventually started doing it and dedicated most of my life to it… the big ‘a ha’ moment for me was when I was able to get paid for doing it legally. Graffiti eventually got me into the doors of MTV where my corporate creative/design career took off.
In your constantly growing and expanding industry, how do you find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant?
Countless hours on blogs/sites that focus on different disciplines, from tech, to fashion, photography and fun/viral content.
If you had to pick one piece of work or project that you are most proud of, more for the creative work and innovation it required, rather than its recognition or industry “success,” what would it be?
My personal favorite is still ‘Histagrams’, very simple premise of combining historic moments with pop-culture references through the lens of an Instagram post. It was simple and fun to do, but the cultural impact it had was huge and even became a teaching tool in many schools.
