Art Director / Multidisciplinary Creative

Santiago Arboleda is a Colombian Art Director and multidisciplinary creative working across visual communication, film, music, and emerging technologies. With a background in Graphic Design, Documentary Filmmaking, and Audio Production, he combines conceptual thinking, visual storytelling, and a hands-on approach to developing ideas from initial research to final execution.

Over the past eight years, he has worked across creative strategy, copywriting, art direction, illustration, and film, developing campaigns and creative projects for brands, cultural institutions, educational organisations, nonprofits, and the arts. His practice is shaped by curiosity, experimentation, and a constant search for distinctive visual languages. He enjoys working across disciplines and collaborating with artists, musicians, dancers, designers, and filmmakers to create work that connects ideas, images, and people.

Alongside his commercial work, Santiago develops an independent film and art practice exploring the intersections of cinema, music, memory, landscape, and the human body. His documentary La Mirada Desnuda (2020), funded by the Colombian government, premiered at FICCI (Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival) and won Best Documentary Short Film at the Jardín Film Festival. He has also created and directed two transmedia exhibitions, Trayectos Invisibles and Synthetic Anatomies, and directed the films Zoe (2024) and Blue Buttercream (2026).

Currently working as a Creative Director at Eagle London Agency, Santiago has directed three television commercials for the NHS and is developing new short films exploring migration, including The Return of the Osprey (2027) and There Is Life in All Things (2027). In parallel, he releases music under his solo project, Enla Arboleda.

Academic Studies

• BA in Graphic Design — Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia – Distinction
• MA in Documentary Filmmaking — Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia – Distinction
• MA in Audio Production — University of Westminster, London, UK – Distinction

Additional Training

• 2019 — Creative Strategies for Designers, Colegiatura Colombiana (Advanced Accreditation).
• 2018 — Communication and Creative Methodologies for Teaching, Colegiatura Colombiana (Advanced Accreditation).
• 2017 — Cinematography, Universidad de Antioquia (Advanced Accreditation).

Grants & Awards

• 2019 — Colombian Ministry of Culture, Post-Production Grant for a Short Film.
• 2020 — Colombian Ministry of Culture, Visual Arts Promotion Grant for the transmedia experience Trayectos Invisibles – Enla Arboleda.
• 2020 — Colombian Ministry of Culture, Short Film Promotion Grant for La Mirada Desnuda.
• 2020 — Best Documentary Award, Jardín Film Festival, for La Mirada Desnuda.

Selected Programmes, Exhibitions & Publications

• 2019 — Selected Participant, FICCI Documentary Film Workshop.
• 2020 — Selected for Buscando Tréboles Film Showcase.
• 2020 — La Mirada Desnuda, a government-funded short film, premiered at the Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival (FICCI).
• 2020 — Official Selection, Caleidoscopio National Short Film Competition.
• 2020 — Official Selection, Popayán Short Film Festival.
• 2020 — Official Selection, Cali International Film Festival.
• 2020 — Selected for the Independent and Free Film Showcase.
• 2020 — Official Selection, Bogotá Short Film Festival (BOGOSHORTS).
• 2021 — Official Selection, Colombia International Film Festival, Buenos Aires.
• 2021 — Official Selection, Villa de Leyva International Independent Film Festival.
• 2021 — Screening, Medellín Cinematheque.
• 2021 — Screening, FICCI Interruptus.
• 2021 — Exhibition of Trayectos Invisibles.
• 2021 — Self-published the illustrated book Simultáneo.
• 2022 — Exhibition of Synthetic Anatomies, London Gallery West.
• 2024 — Selected for the Help Musicians Co-Pilot Programme.
• 2024 — Official Selection, Beeston Film Festival.
• 2025 — Selected for Abbey Road Amplify.
• 2025–2026 — Selected for the LatinoLife Incubators Programme, London.
• 2025 — Selected to participate in the Chris Difford Songwriting Retreat.
• 2026 — Selected to perform at SXSW.
• 2026 — Best Drama Short Film, Jane Austen International Film Festival.
• 2026 — Honorable Mention, Awareness Film Festival.
• 2026 — Official Selection, Festival Internacional de Cine de León.