How I can help you
I am a documentary filmmaker and brand strategy designer who teaches branding and visual storytelling. My expertise is defining problems and visually communicating solutions to audiences. I am passionate about helping to project the authentic voices of my clients, students and film subjects. I strive to create common ground in all that I do.
I bring to my practice, 30 years of experience and a lifelong education, including a Master's degree in Visual Anthropology from USC, a Bachelor's degree in Art from CSUN and over 50 courses studied at UCLA Extension.
Contact me for new projects and collaborations:
shirin.raban@icloud.com
shirin.raban@icloud.com
USC Graduation MVA Visual Anthropology Cohort
Shirin Raban with Students at the Broad
Shirin Raban with Paula Scher at AIGA Conference
Shirin Raban at Saban Theatre
40th Anniversary Commercial for Sadaf Foods
AMERICAN GRAPHIC DESIGN AWARD 2008 Branding & Package Design for Sadaf Foods Halva
Branding and signage design for The Daily Shake healthy drinks
Transmedia Branding
In creating commercials and integrated branding for projects, I bring together skills in filmmaking, design and ethnography. For Sadaf Mediterranean Foods, I directed the 40th Anniversary commercial and designed packaging that won the American Graphic Design Award. At Mattel, I worked with marketing teams to design packaging for Winx Italian Dolls, Games and Puzzles, Limited Edition Hot Wheels and Barbie Accessories. I collaborated on the design of new branding for Korbel Champagne including the Presidential and Inaugural labels. My designs for Okami Japanese Seafood were published in the Big Book of Packaging.
Creative Workshops
I lead Portfolio Building and Creative Expression Workshops and Coaching Sessions that help strengthen one's creative visual voice. Topics include:
Creative Portfolio Mentorship
How do you land your dream job? What do you need to be prepared? Design a memorable portfolio piece that speaks to your dream job.
Personal Brand Story
Have you ever struggled to quickly explain what you do to someone you just met? Did you ever wonder how people come up with short and effective descriptions about their creative careers or activities? Discover your own brand story to create a clear and memorable sentence that communicates your value and professional strengths to your career of choice.
Have you ever struggled to quickly explain what you do to someone you just met? Did you ever wonder how people come up with short and effective descriptions about their creative careers or activities? Discover your own brand story to create a clear and memorable sentence that communicates your value and professional strengths to your career of choice.
Experimental Short Film
Are you a visual person? Do you enjoy the outdoors? Do you like to be part of a larger narrative? Use a smart phone camera to express your personal creative voice through exploring a cultural scene in town.
Are you a visual person? Do you enjoy the outdoors? Do you like to be part of a larger narrative? Use a smart phone camera to express your personal creative voice through exploring a cultural scene in town.
Doll making
Do you love crafts? Are you longing for a creative outlet? This fun workshop is a powerful way to bring your ideas to life and create new friendships.
Do you love crafts? Are you longing for a creative outlet? This fun workshop is a powerful way to bring your ideas to life and create new friendships.
Mentorship: Interview with Orlando business owners and design of newsletter by Jennifer Slogar
Wishdoll Workshop
Experimental Film workshop in Little Tokyo - Morgan Dackerman
with UCLA Extension students at LACMA
Michael Dooley + Shirin Raban
Dr. Paula DiMarco + Shirin Raban
at CSUN with Design Communication Faculty
Holding a design CSUN career workshop at Toolbox LA in Chatsworth
University Instruction
As instructor at UCLA Extension and lecturer at CSUN and CSULA, I teach design communication including Design Thinking, History of Graphic Design, Packaging, Branding, Typography and Illustration. Since 2007, my teaching has contributed to the personal, academic and professional growth of over 1500 students from across the globe. I am the recipient of the 2010 and 2017 Outstanding Instructor Award from the UCLA Extension Design Communication Arts Certificate Program, where I serve as an Advisory Board.
Documentary Filmmaking
I make documentaries about the Iranian-American-Jewish experience. At the USC Center for Visual Anthropology, for my Masters Thesis film, I created the documentary, “The Fifth Question: Why is this Passover different?” The film created a conversation between generations and communities about the shifting cultural identity of Iranian Jewish families in LA and had screenings at the USC Cinema School, USC Casden Institute and UCLA Near Eastern Studies. It won the Feature Documentary Award at the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Festival and was selected as Semi-Finalist at San Francisco Iranian Film Festival. My film, “Between the Shells”, about the life and art of Jalil Harooni Iranian-American-Jewish master shell artist, broadcast on Jewish Life Television and was recognized as official selection at the Lift Off, Film Girl, YoFifest and CineTornado Film Festivals. Both films are distributed by Film Media Group and IndiePix.
My latest work in progress documentary is called, My Lost Iran.
Client Testimonials
“I was lucky enough to work with Shirin at Mattel and found her to be a top-notch creative with great design, branding and packaging knowledge. She's filled with innovative ideas and is always willing to go that extra mile on projects and for people. She's a true professional and is a joy to work with. After she left Mattel we continued to work together on various projects and I always look forward to collaborating with her.”
Shirin is a pleasure to work with! She’s not only talented and extremely creative, she’s energetic, insightful and always professional. We worked together on a billboard project and I found her to be a truly inspiring colleague. I hope I get the chance to work with her in the future.
–Julee Shapiro (Copywriter, Mattel Toys)
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Shirin's graphic designs for the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra have created a new level of excitement and respect for our organization. How rare that a graphic designer excels in so many formats! Shirin's logos, invitations, posters, and brochures all inspire a "wow" effect from everyone that sees them. I am struck by her flair to intuit the heart of the message we are after, and then to create striking visuals that bring that message to such life.
–Russell Steinberg (Artistic Director, L.A. Youth Orchestra)
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Shirin is a solid designer and her "can do" attitude is a big plus. She is devoted to her craft and finds unique solutions to a variety of assignments. She is a pleasure to work with and would be an asset to any organization fortunate enough to work with her.
–Andrea Bell (Supervisor: Art Director, Radical Communication)
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Working with Shirin to develop a flyer for my Boot Camp was a pleasure. She is creative, professional quick, and enjoys her work. Shirin listened to my ideas, understood my needs and came up with a design that targeted my audience perfectly. I know that the success of my camp this summer was helped by her work.
–Mitch Newman (Client: Founder, Hilltop Boot Camp, LA Phil 1st violinist)
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Upon our decision to improve our company's branding and expanding our product line to gain a competitive edge, there were several qualities we identified that were most critical to us. Understanding our industry, creatively incorporating our views and ideas, and working closely with us toward a timely fulfillment. Shirin surpassed our expectations on all accounts. We've received countless compliments from consumers and distributors and I look very forward to continue working with her on all our designing needs.
–Jason and Mark Rofeh (Client: Serengeti Tea Company)
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Shirin was my mentor for a quarter while I was studying at UCLA Extension. She helped guide me through the completion of my first full case study of a logo redesign. I really enjoyed working with her because she really knows the branding field and posed great questions for me to answer during the whole process, which helped me learn a lot. I was extremely happy with how the project turned out thanks to her guidance.” August 9, 2011
–Ryan Lyse (Mentorship Student, Branding Case Study, UCLA Extension)
Shirin is a pleasure to work with! She’s not only talented and extremely creative, she’s energetic, insightful and always professional. We worked together on a billboard project and I found her to be a truly inspiring colleague. I hope I get the chance to work with her in the future.
–Julee Shapiro (Copywriter, Mattel Toys)
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Shirin's graphic designs for the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra have created a new level of excitement and respect for our organization. How rare that a graphic designer excels in so many formats! Shirin's logos, invitations, posters, and brochures all inspire a "wow" effect from everyone that sees them. I am struck by her flair to intuit the heart of the message we are after, and then to create striking visuals that bring that message to such life.
–Russell Steinberg (Artistic Director, L.A. Youth Orchestra)
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Shirin is a solid designer and her "can do" attitude is a big plus. She is devoted to her craft and finds unique solutions to a variety of assignments. She is a pleasure to work with and would be an asset to any organization fortunate enough to work with her.
–Andrea Bell (Supervisor: Art Director, Radical Communication)
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Working with Shirin to develop a flyer for my Boot Camp was a pleasure. She is creative, professional quick, and enjoys her work. Shirin listened to my ideas, understood my needs and came up with a design that targeted my audience perfectly. I know that the success of my camp this summer was helped by her work.
–Mitch Newman (Client: Founder, Hilltop Boot Camp, LA Phil 1st violinist)
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Upon our decision to improve our company's branding and expanding our product line to gain a competitive edge, there were several qualities we identified that were most critical to us. Understanding our industry, creatively incorporating our views and ideas, and working closely with us toward a timely fulfillment. Shirin surpassed our expectations on all accounts. We've received countless compliments from consumers and distributors and I look very forward to continue working with her on all our designing needs.
–Jason and Mark Rofeh (Client: Serengeti Tea Company)
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Shirin was my mentor for a quarter while I was studying at UCLA Extension. She helped guide me through the completion of my first full case study of a logo redesign. I really enjoyed working with her because she really knows the branding field and posed great questions for me to answer during the whole process, which helped me learn a lot. I was extremely happy with how the project turned out thanks to her guidance.” August 9, 2011
–Ryan Lyse (Mentorship Student, Branding Case Study, UCLA Extension)
Student Testimonials
Thank you for a great quarter! I really enjoyed your class and your style of teaching. I have found it much different from the other classes that I have taken at UCLA Extension and I learned an incredible amount from your insight and experience. I wish I was able to attend the zoom classes but I’ve been in Virginia since the class began and it ran too late for my schedule. I look forward to having more classes with you in the future and hope to be able to join the zoom group discussions next time.
Thank you again!
Natalie Bell
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You are a wonderful professor and mentor. Thank you. I will continue to improve, I will never forget your teachings. I have truly learned a lot. Some students like myself just need confidence, and thank you for showing the way. Product design wasn't my major when I came to CSUN, after taking your class and talking to you it helped me a lot to make that decision. Hope you will continue to teach and I wish you all the best.
Thank you again!
Natalie Bell
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You are a wonderful professor and mentor. Thank you. I will continue to improve, I will never forget your teachings. I have truly learned a lot. Some students like myself just need confidence, and thank you for showing the way. Product design wasn't my major when I came to CSUN, after taking your class and talking to you it helped me a lot to make that decision. Hope you will continue to teach and I wish you all the best.
–Mark Miranda (Packaging student CSUN)
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I really liked your encouraging style of teaching. I know design is about solving problems, but it's still filled with very sensitive creative types, so encouragement and gentle criticism is very helpful. I think everyone can agree that when a teacher gets excited about and appreciates an aspect of a student's work it feels really great -- and it makes a student want to work even harder.
–Dylan Stewart (Online Logo Design student, UCLA Extension)
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I feel like I'm already learning a lot in this class! I previously thought designing logos was extremely difficult because they were created based on name and image alone. But here, I've learned to ask questions about the core values of the company, know what the client wants to convey in the logo, who is the audience/customer, etc... And although designing logos is not an easy task, it's much easier after having to consider the answers to these questions, and more ideas can come to mind while drafting potential designs for a logo.
– Stephie Sajor (Logo design class UCLA Extension)
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I loved learning about packaging. It has opened a whole new world for me noticing packages EVERYWHERE! Everything was well organized and the progression of projects is very logical. Each step builds on itself to a final piece without being overwhelming. I had a fun experience in this class. Hopefully, I will be able to create some packages at work. Thank you Shirin!
– Carolann Jerome
(Online Package Design student, UCLA Extension)
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This was one of the better online classes for a computer program I took so far. I thought the video lessons were very well done and the assignments were challenging but I learned so much from it. I had never used Indesign before and I'm feeling very confident with it now. Thank you so much for showing me how to use InDesign .
– Linda Booth (Design student, UCLA Extension)
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Your class was so helpful for me this past semester. I really benefited from the lectures on interviewing and resumes, and all the group work. I applied for Anthropologie and am now a part-time employee there! (I did what you said, I created a vintage inspired resume and folder (handmade). You were right about going out and "Just doing it" once you know what you love. I also created an artistic resume and spread sheet of some of my make-up designand have an interview with Clinique.
Thanks again, your class was such a great experience for me. I've really learned how to sell myself by going the extra mile with the resume and overall presentation.
–Jackie Burch (Illustration student, Senior Project, CSUN)
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All the assignments you have given us have been so relevant and helpful for my career. I know it was hard for you to figure out how to accommodate such a wide variety of fields of study. Somehow, you really pulled through and managed to organize the class in a way that was beneficial and relevant to each one of us. I hope you teach this class again in the future. I was fortunate to have been enrolled in your section. Not all professors genuinely care about the student's needs as you do. Thank you!
–Jessica Pride (Fine Arts student, Senior Project, CSUN)
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I really liked your encouraging style of teaching. I know design is about solving problems, but it's still filled with very sensitive creative types, so encouragement and gentle criticism is very helpful. I think everyone can agree that when a teacher gets excited about and appreciates an aspect of a student's work it feels really great -- and it makes a student want to work even harder.
–Dylan Stewart (Online Logo Design student, UCLA Extension)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I feel like I'm already learning a lot in this class! I previously thought designing logos was extremely difficult because they were created based on name and image alone. But here, I've learned to ask questions about the core values of the company, know what the client wants to convey in the logo, who is the audience/customer, etc... And although designing logos is not an easy task, it's much easier after having to consider the answers to these questions, and more ideas can come to mind while drafting potential designs for a logo.
– Stephie Sajor (Logo design class UCLA Extension)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I loved learning about packaging. It has opened a whole new world for me noticing packages EVERYWHERE! Everything was well organized and the progression of projects is very logical. Each step builds on itself to a final piece without being overwhelming. I had a fun experience in this class. Hopefully, I will be able to create some packages at work. Thank you Shirin!
– Carolann Jerome
(Online Package Design student, UCLA Extension)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This was one of the better online classes for a computer program I took so far. I thought the video lessons were very well done and the assignments were challenging but I learned so much from it. I had never used Indesign before and I'm feeling very confident with it now. Thank you so much for showing me how to use InDesign .
– Linda Booth (Design student, UCLA Extension)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Your class was so helpful for me this past semester. I really benefited from the lectures on interviewing and resumes, and all the group work. I applied for Anthropologie and am now a part-time employee there! (I did what you said, I created a vintage inspired resume and folder (handmade). You were right about going out and "Just doing it" once you know what you love. I also created an artistic resume and spread sheet of some of my make-up designand have an interview with Clinique.
Thanks again, your class was such a great experience for me. I've really learned how to sell myself by going the extra mile with the resume and overall presentation.
–Jackie Burch (Illustration student, Senior Project, CSUN)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
All the assignments you have given us have been so relevant and helpful for my career. I know it was hard for you to figure out how to accommodate such a wide variety of fields of study. Somehow, you really pulled through and managed to organize the class in a way that was beneficial and relevant to each one of us. I hope you teach this class again in the future. I was fortunate to have been enrolled in your section. Not all professors genuinely care about the student's needs as you do. Thank you!
–Jessica Pride (Fine Arts student, Senior Project, CSUN)