Eyes fixated on the big stage, the average concertgoer might have an overwhelming feeling of excitement and wonder how their favorite artist will use their visuals in addition to the music.
From the artist preparing the set list and outfit changes to makeup looks and stage design, we live in a post-Eras tour and post-Renaissance tour reality where expectations are extremely high.
This is where Andrea Garcia enters the chat.
She is a technical drafter/designer who is helping bring these sets on the stage to life.
For those who don’t know, a technical drafter and designer is a person who creates all sorts of designs, illustrations, charts, and graphs using a software program.
Every artist comes up with a unique idea of how they want their stage to look. And they can’t do without technical drafters and designers to design these extravagant sets.
And Garcia is there to help start the creative process.
Garcia is a Cerritos College alumni who obtained her associate’s degree back in 2018. She then eventually transferred to Cal State Pomona soon after and graduated with her bachelor’s in mechanical engineering.
“During my last semester [at Cal State Pomona] I started applying to various places through the university’s job portal and one of them was a technical drafting position in my hometown, so I applied and was hired the next week after,” Garcia said.
Garcia has had the opportunity to be a part of the most popular tours these past two years.
She is a hard working designer who’s gotten the opportunity to work for big artists like Beyoncé, SZA, Tyler the Creator, and Bad Bunny.
In 2022, Andrea got the amazing opportunity to work on her very first major project in the industry for Bad Bunny’s tour El Último Tour del Mundo 2022 right after her graduation.
“It was one of the most stressful projects since the time frame was one of the shortest we’ve had to work with and it was one of my first major projects. I was the only drafter on it so it really was a test of both my skill and work ethic” Garcia states.
Garcia begins her designs after having a meeting with everyone on her team to see where she should even start. She first maps out what everyone is going to build by fabricating the drawings on her computer.
“In all of my design and engineering projects, I made myself responsible and available for the drafting and design portion of the required work since I had a lot of experience with it in the past,” states Garcia
Using measurement, math, and her drawing skills she is able to design drawings for welders, carpenters, machinists, and builders to bring the paper to reality.
“Drafting something to be 20 feet tall is one thing, actually seeing it on our shop floor is another thing,” Garcia mentions.
Garcia has been doing this since she was in high school and her teacher was the one to encourage her to continue studying.
Garcia shared what a typical day as a drafter looks like. Her work day starts off with a morning meeting once a week. Where her team of about 30 people come together to communicate any questions or concerns or even errors that someone might notice during the building process.
“Drafting is a majority of the say and communicating with project and shop managers to optimize the design and approve it for fabrication,” says Garcia. They have to pay attention to the smallest of details so what they design comes out exactly.
Incredible artists like these and many more know the importance of having a reliable team to help bring their tours come to life. For the designers, there is a whole different process before even beginning the designing process.
So the next time you go to a concert, take time to appreciate the sets right in front of you if you already don’t!
