Vivian Amaro: A Journey Shaped by the Power of Collaboration

We spoke to Vivian Amaro , designer and animator at Perception, about her time at SCAD and how it has influenced her career in the field of visual effects.  

"I’m from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I ended up at SCAD because it’s one of the few colleges that teach visual effects and has a women's tennis team. SCAD gave me the opportunity to do both."   

I have always liked to be creative and, although it took me some time to find out about visual effects and motion graphics, I knew I was going to do something in the arts. SCAD seemed like the perfect place to explore that.    

Reflecting on my time at SCAD, the relationships I formed and the collaborative projects I was part of stand out the most. The friendships I made weren't just social; they were deeply rooted in our shared passion for creativity. These relationships provided a support system that encouraged risk-taking and innovation, pushing me to explore beyond my comfort zone.  

The collaborative opportunities at SCAD were particularly transformative. By working on diverse teams, I learned to blend different perspectives and skill sets to create cohesive and innovative designs. This hands-on experience taught me the nuances of effective communication and the importance of every team member's contribution to achieving a common goal.

It's not just about what I can do as an individual, but what we can achieve together that leads to truly groundbreaking work.  

I participated in the SCADpro x Derwent project. It was a great time to insert myself in a challenging situation and push the boundaries of what I was capable of. In school, even though we have to follow assignment prompts, most of the time we end up making something that we want to make. I wanted to see how it is to work for a client and have to meet their rigid expectations and, at the same time, deal with real world time constraints, collaboration, and competition. That’s why I think SCADpro is an amazing opportunity for students.       

In my last semester, I applied to a portfolio review through SCAD’s job portal with Perception, a visual effects and motion graphics studio that specializes in futuristic design thinking for global brands and film. I happened to get an interview with them and was offered a position as a junior designer and animator.        

Almost three years later, now as a designer and animator at Perception, I have had the opportunity to work on countless projects. We spend a lot of our time working on title sequences for movies and TV shows. To name a few, I got to work on the title sequence of Marvel’s Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, Thor Love and Thunder, and the end credits of the Spider-Man 2 PS5 game. Moving forward, my goal is to keep improving and learning with my peers and eventually get to a position of leadership.    

If you are a student, start thinking about marketing yourself as an artist as soon as possible. Try to figure out what areas of your major you want to pursue and focus on that. Only add work to your portfolio/demo reel that reflects the type of work you are interested in and what the companies you want to be hired by would like to see. For every assignment you have at SCAD, try to incorporate a style and or skill you would like to learn or explore and that would fit into your demo reel. And, lastly, if there is something you are interested in that isn’t covered in depth in your classroom, make an extra effort to research it on your own. This will set you apart from others."

Written by Julia Gralki , B.F.A. Writing (2023) and M.A. Service Design | SCADpro Ambassador