Ray S. Rivera

(he/him)

With seven years of design experience in themed attractions and entertainment, Ray combines art with technology to create not only immersive, award-winning attractions but also their expressive brand identities and marketing campaigns responsible for record-breaking guest attendance.

Since he decided to become an Imagineer for some of the world’s leaders in themed attractions at 10 years old, his workflow cycle of curiosity, exploration, collaboration, and discovery has driven how he develops imaginative, meaningful ways of storytelling.

Ray has always had a voracious appetite for learning. With an educational background in photography and theater, his career expanded into videography, video editing, graphic design, and motion graphics. Since dropping out of school to run a creative business for seven years, he finally graduated college in 2021 with a 4.0 GPA and High Honors.

Résumé

business owner

Ray S Rivera

May 2021 – Current | Chicago, IL

  • Operates a one-man videography and photography business that has partnered with award-winning design studios to produce content for brands like Mars Candy, Gilette, Arm & Hammer, and McDonald’s.

  • Partnered with several nonprofit organizations to use the mediums of photography and videography to document the stories of Chicago’s community leaders, laborers, storytellers, artists, performers, and families, with a focus on queer and/or Asian American identities.

Creative Director

Legendary Escape games

Sep 2016 – May 2021 | Plainfield, IL

 

  • Devised cohesive storytelling themes and production design that guided Legendary’s team of 5 lead creators for 12+ escape room experiences, including Best In Show 2018 for Legendary Camp Lokankee Double Feature: Stabbin Cabin + The Witching Hour at Transworld’s Escape Room City national conference.

  • Lead brainstorming sessions to develop 100+ dynamic, modular puzzles with an emphasis on team building for 12+ escape room experiences.

  • Shot footage, edited, and animated 100+ videos for diegetic special effects, marketing, interviews, and tutorials for 12+ full experiences using Adobe Premiere Pro/After Effects.

  • Authored/designed layout of 100+ pages of storytelling documents using Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.

  • Produced promotional content for marketing as a B2B company such as video, brochures, presentations, and merchandise, resulting in the contracts of 50+ clients around the world, including the top 5 largest deals in the Legendary’s history.

  • Presented the training sessions for 50+ clients on the company’s products.

  • Revamped the brand identity, design guidelines, and marketing campaigns of Legendary's 2 flagship locations, including enhanced branding, social content, layout, mockups, presentations, print material, and signage.

Basement of the Dead Haunted Attraction

Art Director

Sep 2013 – Mar 2021 | Aurora, IL

 

  • Conceptualized trendsetting promotional content and designed 500+ assets for digital, print, and social media channels, resulting in increased web traffic for online ticket sales by 125% annually.

  • Devised 12+ marketing campaigns that led to increased guest attendance by 120% annually.

  • Presented actor training sessions with a focus on branding for the cast of 90+ actors/performers. Under my direction, the cast was awarded Top 13 Cast/Crews in the Halloween themed attractions industry.

  • Developed the brand identity that solidified Basement of the Dead's global presence as America’s Scariest Haunted House as well as recognition from Buzzfeed as #1 Scariest Haunted House in the world.

Disturbia Haunted Attraction

Art Director

Aug 2020 – Apr 2021 | Downers Grove, IL

  • Created the marketing campaigns and style guidelines for 2 seasonal events.

  • Designed 50+ assets/content for digital, print, and social media channels.

  • Spearheaded production of all photo/video content from pre-production to post-production, including conceptualization, principal photography, image manipulation, color correction, editing, sound, and motion graphics.

Education

College of DuPage

Associate in Art

Jun 2020 - May 2021 | Glen Ellyn, Illinois

GPA 4.0 & Academic High Honors

Elgin Community College

Photography + Theater

Sep 2012 - May 2015 | Elgin, Illinois

ECC Art Show: First Place in Photography - “Your Mom”

Gallery: ECC Big Print Show

Loyola University Chicago

Computer Science

Sep 2011 - May 2012 | Chicago, Illinois