The Digital Design Academy, formerly known as Drafting and Design, allows students to digitally explore their creative side under the leadership of department head, Mr. Cruz.
Cruz graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and began his career as a graphic designer and teacher at Congress Middle School, where he taught for ten years before coming to West Boca 14 years ago. He has been in the industry for years, starting as a graphic designer and owning an embroidery shop, while working for multiple companies before landing his job as a teacher. Here at West Boca, Mr. Cruz creates the advertisement and marketing for the school and has designed most of school’s our logos. Fun fact, Mr. Cruz is the one who designed the Logger’s Run middle school logo!
As a teacher, he has taught and adapted the program by guiding his students into finding their desired field in digital art. He teaches students how to use programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Cruz says his goal is to “[teach his students] how to manipulate this software and how to make money out of it.” He is also a freelance graphic designer, that has created local advertisements and logos for local businesses.
The Digital Design academy offers students certification tests where they can become an Adobe Certified Professional in Visual Design. Now, the academy is also offering a new certification in Marketing Design. Cruz teaches and guides his students with the skills they need not only to pass these tests, but to excel in life as well. Cruz emphasizes that, “These skills [of visual design] can carry into college and life, adding to the students’ toolbox as growing graphic artists and human beings. They learn to appreciate the small stuff, the process, the beauty all around us, that is often underappreciated, and the art of personalization.”
He aims to show students the building blocks and foundations that go into creating an advertisement, and how to convey a certain emotion to a specific audience. Students learn the foundational skills required to create a design and how to conceptualize their ideas from brain to paper to digital. They focus on a project’s aesthetics, emotional connection, and visual appeal of a project. One of his favorite projects he’s done with students is the cereal box design project, where students learned measurements, designed their own cereal brands, and used Illustrator to understand layouts and folds. He was even mentioned in the news for that project during his years teaching middle school.
Cruz comes from Miami, where he was raised with Cuban origins, and shows that liveliness every day in class. He is a proud family man who adores his wife, son, and daughter. Mr. Cruz is energetic, funny, and a great teacher. As a student of his for almost four years, it’s safe to say that his class is always full of art and music every day, especially songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His good personality always lights up the mood, especially when he is breakdancing as a side hobby!
The Digital Design Academy offers students a range of skills, especially under the mentorship of Mr. Cruz. If you’re applying to West Boca or thinking of what art class to take, the answer is digital design; you won’t regret it!
Become a Cruzlandian today!
