In the early-morning hours of New Year’s Day, a man with a blue Macaw parrot riding on his shoulder will be tucked amid the lush flora and fauna of the “Friends of the Rain Forest” float in this year’s Tournament of Roses Parade.
That man, artist Raul R. Rodriguez, is widely considered L.A.’s premier float designer.
He has designed 19 of the 55 floats that will appear in the upcoming Rose Parade. Over his three decades of experience, he has designed hundreds of floats, the vast majority of which have won parade awards for excellence. His roster of clients range from Edison International and Atlantic Richfield Co. to the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the city of Monrovia.
Born in East Los Angeles as a third-generation Mexican American, Rodriguez emerged early as an artistic wunderkind. He discovered his flare for designing floats while still a teenager, and was hired by Hilton Hotels Corp. to design its shocking pink and orange light facade for the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas while he was still too young to gamble. He went on to design portions of several other casinos, including the Tropicana and Reno’s Circus Circus. He is currently designing the City of Commerce’s casino.
Rodriguez studied classic drawing and painting at the Art Center School of Design and at Cal State Long Beach. He worked as a designer at Walt Disney Co.’s Imagineering division before moving to a company where he designed electrical signage.
Rodriguez founded his own company, Hancock Park-based RRR Design, 10 years ago. In addition to his perennial float design work, Rodriguez also is a respected designer of theme-based amusement parks and retail centers around the world.
The native Angeleno has long been active in the Latin Business Association and recently created his own scholarship fund for L.A. design students.
Question: With your formal education focusing on classic drawing and painting, what first drew you to a career in float design?
Answer: I actually designed my first float when I was 15, so it wasn’t a conscious career choice. To some extent it was fate, since if I had lived one block to the south, I would have gone to a different high school. My high school, Santa Fe Springs High School, participated in a contest held every year by the city of Whittier for a Rose Parade float design. I got caught up in the excitement of possibly being involved in the parade, which I had always loved. I won the contest that year, and brought home the award every year for the rest of the high school. My parents loved it.
Q: Were your parents concerned that you weren’t exactly pursuing a stable career path?
A: Not at all. My mother’s side of the family is filled with artists, so it is in my blood. I think I fell out of the womb intending to be an artist. My father, who was a sheet-metal mechanic, and my mother, who was in charge of crystal and china at The Broadway in Downey, encouraged me my entire life to pursue my talent. They were really tremendous.
Q: So how did you go from being a teen-aged float phenom to building a business?
A: I knocked door to door, introducing myself. Just kidding. The head of Fiesta Floats, Vinton Anderson, had heard about me when I was in high school and we hooked up after I got out of college. We started with about six clients in the beginning. Then, that first year, we won the sweepstakes banner in the Rose Parade. All of a sudden, people took notice, and our reputation just mushroomed after that. Now that I have done floats for so many clients, some for over 20 years, the reputation has just grown.
I started my own design firm about 10 years ago, but I absolutely depend on the float builders I work with, including Fiesta Floats, Festival Artists and Charisma Floats. My hat also is off to the thousands of volunteers that contribute countless hours. The talent in this industry amazes me.
Q: Most people have no idea that a single man designs such a large number of floats in the Rose Parade. What sparks your diverse design ideas?
A: I dream in color, frequently seeing the entire vivid design in my sleep. I keep a pen and pencil by my bedside, which means that the next morning I have to try and decipher my scribbling. I do know how lucky I am that my hands can capture what my imagination can envision. The process of seeing the float created is like seeing my dream come to life. Actually, the final result outdoes my original expectations. My pen dabbling can’t capture what nature can do with flowers and leaves.
Q: With animatronics, today’s floats are bigger and more fantastic than ever. Are you a purist or do you embrace the technology?
A: The floats are getting more elaborate and larger, but that means the budgets get bigger. That lets me create more detailed and sophisticated works. Of course, kids today are so much smarter than I think I was when I was their age, which also lets me create a more detailed, patterned tapestry. However, a float is a moving stage set. If the pageantry of the float obscures its message, then the float loses its chance to tell its story.
Q: You mentioned that the budgets have grown bigger over the years. What is the typical budget for a float?
A: It’s not as expensive as most people assume. I don’t have a float in this year’s parade that costs more than $300,000. My design fee is a percentage of that. It’s really one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising available, when you consider it. This event goes to something like 97 countries and millions of viewers. It’s a pretty good way for a company to get their message out.
Q: What role do you believe the Rose Parade serves for both the audience and for the corporate participants?
A: When I first got involved, I thought of the parade as a parochial event. It has grown progressively global. There is nowhere else on the planet that you can present something so magnificent to such a diverse culture from such a diverse culture. It’s a good statement about Los Angeles that gets shown around the world. This is also a unique form of entertainment that starts the year on a positive note. I think my corporate clients realize both of these things, and understand that it’s important to participate.
Q: What does your annual schedule look like for this business? Does your year start on Jan. 2?
A: Believe it or not, I’m already working on the millennium parade. I usually finish my designs by the latter part of September and start working on the next crop of floats in November. This year I didn’t finish until last week, later than normal, because AT & T; came on as a client later than normal. Between now and New Year’s, the rest of the work goes over to the float builders, the floral designers and the volunteers.
Q: Is it difficult to know that you’ve put a year of work into a creation that only exists for a few days?
A: Everything is perishable. Life is a series of moments of beauty. The parade is one of them. How different is that from a diva at Milan’s La Scala delivering her finest aria for those few moments to that particular audience? Actually, the parade is more permanent. We are caught on tape and replayed across the world. So no, it doesn’t bother me.
Q: Do you ever see yourself getting tired of this?
A: No, I’ve never really thought about stopping. I love it too much. Every parade is unique, with a new theme, new clients, and a constant barrage of new personalities involved. I find that very exciting. I can look at floats I designed 10 or 15 years ago, and the pictures bring back memories of people I knew at that point. It’s a rich archive to have.
Q: You recently established your own scholarship foundation for design students. What prompted you to do that?
A: We’re just launching the Raul Rodriguez Scholarship Foundation, which is for Angelenos who want to study design. I sat on the jury of the L.A. School of Music and Art to award 90 scholarships to promising children, and I’m on the board of directors for the Vicky Carr Foundation, which gives scholarships to Latinos. I wanted to do something similar. Whoever believes that kids today are bad apples is really wrong. There is so much promise, so much talent out there, that I want to do everything I can to help advance it.
Q: You’re also a member of the Latin Business Association. Do you feel that the environment is improving for Latino-owned businesses?
A: Absolutely. Our community has so much to offer, with so many talented people in it, that it’s only going to continue to improve. People are getting very involved, and what particularly impresses me is the unity. I get to work hand in hand with the Cuban and Argentine groups. I think the problem originally was communication, but as more of us become bilingual, we have moved forward. I’m very proud to be an Angeleno and of Latin descent, and I’m proud of the progress that has been made.
Company: RRR Design
Title: President
Born: East Los Angeles
Education: A.A. in art from Cerritos College, B.A. in art from Cal State Long Beach; Art Center School of Design
Most Admired Person: “Everyone says Michelangelo, but he honestly is one. There are really too many people to list.”
Turning Point in Career: “After both my parents died, I had to consciously decide to dedicate myself to art, to dig deeper and continue. My mother and father were both so supportive of my career, it was a very hard point for me.”
Hobbies: Skiing, travel
Personal: Single
