Rodrigo Suárez Araiza

Rodrigo Suárez Araiza is the founder and Creative Director of Cocoa. With a design degree from Brigham Young University, Rodrigo brings multicultural sensibility to his studio’s practice. Through his very distinctive creative direction approach, he has created all sorts of high-profile projects for clients such as Nike, Johnson & Johnson, the Republican Party, Marvel and many others.

In 2005 he was hired by Nike to collaborate with three of its divisions: Timing, Vision and Tech Lab (which later became Nike+). As part of that team, he traveled to China for the design curation previous to the 2008 Olympics. As a result, he became the mastermind behind the creation of the US Basketball Olympic Team identity, better known as United We Rise, which, anecdotally, was created when he was already back in Mexico, becoming Cocoa’s very first project as a firm.

Rodrigo’s creative brilliance sets the firm apart, driving their reputation as top-notch industry trendsetters. Along his 20+ year-long career, Rodrigo has been the recipient of many design awards around the world such as the American Institute of Graphic Arts’ Copper Ingot Award (AIGA), the San Francisco World Spirits Competition Double Gold Medal, the HOW Magazine’s Design Merit Award, the First Place at Nike’s WHQ Joga Bonito Design Contest, among many others. His work has also been featured in HOW, Coupe, Victionary, GG and The Dieline.