YTA-Design History

My designer journey started early.

I was gifted in drawing capabilities and with a good comprehension of mechanics.

This could have been easy with a good guidance, but my parents, who had had studious

and successful schooling in respectively Music and Hard-science, just couldn't understand

my handcraft-orientation, my interest for "dirty mechanics stuff" of cars and planes, and

my special way of thinking.

After laborious schooling, sanctioned by my high-school graduation (Math and Science)

I entered a Private Design school in Paris (ESDI).

Maybe not the best available one, but at that time with my little knowledge

of the subject, it was basically the only option I had.

That was good enough for a start.

Within a few months it became obvious to me that I was missing key knowledge

that the school program was not feeding : Fine Art culture and  helpful tips and

tricks to enter the "designer" professional world.

The "baby designer" I was... was very impatient. It was difficult to stay motivated and

focus on projects that needed learning on technical old school drawings and a lot of

meticulous work, before getting a single feedback on your ideas.
 

Trying to manage my workflow for a better efficiency, I've made a big discovery : as I can imagine a 3D volume in my head and support my design thinking with key sketches, I can use a computer to express myself and help me making concepts more feasible and looking real much faster that with the classic technical static sketches and the time-consuming scale models. In 1990, it was just the beginning of CAD, mostly used by engineers, or for entertainment purpose, therefore it was not accepted as a medium by the school. But this discovery was a key event in my learning path.

At this stage, I have to be thankful to life, because one of mother's friend connected me to the academic staff of an innovative university in Paris with transversal schooling subjects, combining Mathematics and Arts... and one was about "Arts and Computer Technology". Custom made for my needs.

With a little help on the administrative side (I was late on schedule to apply), I started Fine Art classes and I succeed through the selection process to enter the "ATI" department. I surprised myself with the amount of work I was able to do during this 4 years+ formation. It was much worth it : It opened me a wide field of professional opportunities, but moreover it gave me the needed fine arts culture to structure and open my mind, plus the technical understanding and practice of the computer science & technology behind the creative "tools" I would used for my professional and personal future.

 

And, after my army period, and 2 great internship experiences at PSA Group, my journey in the real world of Computer Graphics and Design finally began...