From an early age, I’ve always had a love for making art but never knew what I wanted to do with it professionally, or what my plan for the future would be. In my freshman year of high school, I took a class in Adobe software, and little did I know that that would be the first step to becoming a full-fledged graphic designer one day. Eventually, I took the suggestions of those around me, and decided I would go with the “safe” career choice of graphic design. However, I didn’t know the complexities of the career I was getting myself into. I planned to major in graphic design, but I didn’t see myself as a graphic designer at this point.
It wasn’t until my sophomore year at East Carolina University that I really understood how much graphic design had to offer, and the many paths I could take just in this field alone. I also realized that I had always had a love for graphic design and the process without even knowing what it was. After applying to the concentration at the end of the Spring semester, I fully embraced the title of graphic designer and hit the ground running since then.
From my perspective, graphic design is anything but safe. To produce an effective design, you must be creative and knowledgeable in your problem-solving. I believe the role we play as designers is criminally understated outside of our community, as we could be one of the reasons why a client’s product may be more likely to succeed or fail. I see my designs as having their own distinct personalities, which is why I feel that I enjoy brand identity so much. I tend to gravitate toward more neutral colors and friendly tones in a lot of my work. I’ve also started to incorporate more of my love for analog methods in my designs too. I want to be able to show my flexibility by taking more bolder and vibrant approaches to newer projects going forward.
The kind of techniques that are significant to my work is constant experimentation and lots of different iterations. I love the iterative process, and just seeing all the different ways a design changes until the final product is incredibly satisfying. How I make decisions about a design is by seeing how far I can push it, and making it stand out amongst the other versions. Going forward in my career, while I would want to continue making very eye-catching and expressive designs, I would also want my designs to have a societal impact. I believe it's important to spread a message and play a part in social advocacy. As designers, we have the talent of being able to capture people’s attention with our work, and give those whom we’re designing a voice. I’d want to use that creative voice to help make a difference in the communities I’m a part of.
One of the biggest supporters of my creative pursuits is my dad, and being a CODA (child of a deaf adult) is something that is a very big part of my identity. Even though he went to RIT and I to ECU, we both were drawn towards graphic design. I’d want to be able to achieve success in my designs through my own personal style but also through supporting the communities that have supported me as well.
