Alec Mendez

Alec Méndez is a journalist, creative director and Internet entrepreneur from Caracas, Venezuela. He created and was the editor in chief of Wearepicta, a news website on design and trends launched in 2011, aimed at visibilizing upcoming Latin American entrepreneurs and artists. He also established Hidrophoniq, a popular Venezuelan brand with kawaii inspiration, and Amen Black, a streetwear brand.
== Design and audiovisual work ==
In recent years, Mendez has developed digital projects based on design, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Mendez was the content creator for Hipersonica.com, an entertainment and music website created in 1998. along with his high school classmates Alex Nouel and Franklin Salcedo. 
=== C1rqa (2001) ===
In 2001 he began to work under the pseudonym ‘C1rqa’, and developed an extensive career focused on graphic design, being part of the art direction teams for alternative electronic music projects . Later that year, Mendez joined Simpl3, an audiovisual collective based in Caracas, and worked as an audiovisual producer and VJing|Vj for world-class artists such as DJ Marky|Dj Marky, DJ Craze|Dj Craze, Dj Juju, AK1200 and Gerry Weil|Gerry Weill among others.
In 2006 he was invited to feature in the book series ‘Los Logos’ by the German publishing house Gestalten .This book series specializes in the documentation of graphic design trends and styles, and features works by some of the most talented and internationally recognized graphic designers. Several designs by Alec Mendez are featured in the third volume of this series titled "Tres Logos", and in the sixth volume titled "Los Logos 6" published in 2012.
In 2007 he was invited as guest artist in “Teddy Troops Invasion”, the first custom vinyl toys show in Venezuela, in which he customized a 'Teddy Troop' vinyl figure created by German urban artist Flying Förtress and produced by adFunture. The show was widely promoted on Animax, a satellite television network owned by HBO networks.
=== Simón Díaz remixes (2005) ===
In 2005 Mendez was charged with the the Art and Concept direction of the album ‘Simón Díaz Remixes’, produced by David Rondón and Iván Loscher, featuring electronic remixes of classic songs by Simón Díaz, a Venezuelan music legend and Latin Grammy Awards|Latin Grammy winner
== Commercial brands creation ==
=== Hidrophoniq (2002) ===
In November 2002, Mendez launched The Hidrophoniq Store, Venezuela's first design related online store. In March 2006, the project evolved and became Hidrophoniq, the first Venezuelan kawaii-inspired design brand, which was widely recognized in media and featured in independent design events such as Mercado de Diseño in Caracas, Venezuela.
=== Alette (2008) ===
In December 2008 Alec Mendez launched his second brand titled Alette, with designs inspired by elegant aesthetics of the 60's.
=== Amen Black (2020) ===
in November 2020 he created Amen Black, a streetwear brand inspired by utilitarian design.
== Digital projects, collaborations & innovation ==
=== Wearepicta & Switch ===
In 2009 he created Wearepicta, an ambitious multimedia project encompassing a news website, articles in print media, and radio segments.
In 2010, Méndez joined the Planetaurbe, an interactive video platform targeted at young audiences owned by Cadena Capriles, Venezuela's largest media company. He produced the show ‘Picta SD’, featuring the best of Latin American music, trends, and design.
In 2011 he organized a series of 5 networking events called ‘Switch’ sponsored by Absolut, in which Venezuelan artists and creators had 5 minutes to promote their projects using 20-slide presentations or videos. This event was highly influential and had great reception in the local entrepreneurship scene.., featuring outstanding guest speakers such as La Vida Bohème|La Vida Bohéme, :es:Viniloversus|Viniloversus , Marialejandra Marrero|Mariale, Gabriel Torrelles, Francisco Granados and Vanessa Boulton.
=== Erikatipoweb (2012) ===
In March 2012, he was a guest writer for Erikatipoweb, a news and entertainment website by the Venezuelan host, comedian, and broadcaster Erika de la Vega. Méndez publishes weekly articles related to design and innovation, as did other prominent contributors such as :es:Ana_María_Simon_Pazmiño|Ana María Simon, George Harris and the astrologer Mia Astral.
=== Blacksmith Verbal (2013) ===
In June 2013, he founded Blacksmith Verbal,a consultancy studio dedicated to graphic design, digital content creation and strategies.
In 2015, he was part of the creative team of Mitú, a multi-disciplinary project aimed at young Latino audiences. Mendez developed the graphic conceptualization of ‘Mitú Roast’, an event featuring famous YouTubers such as Werevertumorro, Yosstop, Alex Strecci, Yayo Gutiérrez, Héctor Leal, Mexivergas, Wereverwero and Chumel.
In January 2016, he created ‘Fliq’, a Facebook series of informative capsules; one of them became viral and reached over 3,6 million views.
=== Didacta (2016) ===
In November 2016 he created Didacta, an educational platform focused on creativity and art.
=== Personal brand (2019) ===
In 2020 Mendez started his own personal brand on Instagram, sharing his experiences with the audience by using a wide array of digital formats.
== Press features ==
In December 2011, Alec Méndez was featured in the annual "Success Stories" of Tendencia magazine for his work on various creativity projects and initiatives in Venezuela.
In 2012, he was featured on the cover ] of Zipper Magazine, a print media dedicated to design and creativity.
Later that year, Mendez was featured and interviewed in "Las caras del arte" special in Todo en Domingo magazine, published weekly by El Nacional (Venezuela)|El Nacional, Venezuela's most read newspaper.
In 2015, he was featured on the campaign "Gente con Samba", sponsored by Nestlé|Nestle ,which featured prominent young Venezuelan creators.
In 2020, Mendez joined the reviewers team of TypeWknd ,a design and typography association based in New York. He represented the South American region, and was part of a diverse panel from Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Europe, Central America, North America, and the Middle East.
== Speaker work ==
Mendez has been a regular speaker on design related events since 2004, such as OFFF festival, Switch, Perspectiva gráfica Acapulco, Congreso Internacional de Diseño Gráfico SIGNOS 2009, Explosión Creativa and Grandes Ligas visuales, among others.
In April of 2012, Méndez was invited to participate as a speaker in 'Perspectiva Gráfica 2012', a graphic design workshops and conferences series held in Acapulco, Mexico, sponsored by Loyola del Pacífico University and the :es:Sistema_Universitario_Jesuita#:~:text=El%20Sistema%20Universitario%20Jesuita%20se,los%20planteles%20que%20lo%20conforman%E2%80%9D.|University System Jesuit. He shared stage with prominent Latin designers such as Seher One, Dr.Morbito, Typewear and Norberto Baruch.
In November 2013, Méndez participated as a speaker in the Venezuelan edition of OFFF, a leading global design festival. He featured along renowned international talents such as Hydro 74, Vasava and Sarah Blake
== Exhibitions ==
In 2005, Mendez was involved in 'The Crossville Project', a pop up event at the Red Dot Design Museum Singapore, sponsored by IdN Magazine. Méndez showcased his work as Hidrophoniq along with world-class designers like Eboy, Tado, Jon Burgerman, Skwak, Gaston Caba, KOA & Evil/MCA.
Later that year, he participated in 'Simpl3 Chacao', an exhibition on the history of Chacao Municipality|Chacao municipality in Caracas, held at Centro Cultural Chacao and hosted by the Mayor at the time, Leopoldo López.
In 2012, Mendez joined 'El Súper Cartel', an exhibition of Venezuelan contemporary poster design
In 2013, Mendez participated in Simpl3 Tipo Gráfica, a typography centered exhibition on design interpretations of numbers and letters.
== Radio host work ==
Since July 2020, Mendez has been a guest correspondent in 'El Update', a weekly segment in 'Lado B', a radioshow hosted by Manuel González Cárdenas and broadcasted by La Mega 107.3 FM, a subsidiary of :es:Circuito_Unión_Radio|Unión Radio.
Category:Venezuelan journalists
Category:Creative directors