About Me:

Learning Design
My goal at the moment is to take in all I can as a graphic design junior at KCAI. Before KCAI, I was mostly self-taught, and I’m slowly realizing that I taught myself some bad habits. Every class I take gives me a bit more power as a designer. I feel like I’ve finally got some of the “insider exclusives” of design in my toolbox now. It’s not just putting cool-looking stuff on a page anymore. It’s cool-looking stuff with purpose and meaning.

Working Design
I work at MyARTS, Metropolitan Youth Arts & Technology for Students. It’s an after-school program for artistic and creative high school students. In 2006, I started out as part of the first group of unpaid apprentices, and over the years, I’ve moved up the ladder and now make a living from it. I’m an Assistant Lead Artist, who runs the whole studio with the Head Lead Artist. I mentor/teach high school students everything I know (sometimes at the same time that I’m learning it myself), and it’s been a blast so far. If you want to know more about my time at MyARTS, I’ve finally started a section of my blog for it.

Living Design
My life is 24/7 design. From the time I wake up to the time I go to bed, and even in my dreams, I am designing. Like any designer, I have likes and dislikes, I fall in love with certain typefaces (Bodoni, anyone?), and I have a deep hatred for Comic Sans and rainbow gradients. To legitimize my designer-ness, I belong to AIGA and the Freelancers’ Union. I hope to make some connections and partnerships with other designers in Kansas City, and help make this city more beautiful, one design at a time.

About My Work:

School Work
My work at school is my strongest. I get lots of feedback from my classmates before a project is finished. Most of the work I do right now is from school. It’s my top priority until I graduate.

MyARTS Work
Almost everything I do at MyARTS is client-driven. Whether that means client-influenced or client-controlled, I do what they want. That used to mean that my work was verbatim what they told me they wanted. I was just a means of getting there. Now, I inject my design knowledge into every client-based project. If they try to control it too much, I remind them what my job is. I’m there to DESIGN. I’m there to make decisions about the best fate for a project. I’m no longer afraid to brag about my abilities and take control of a project.

Freelance and Personal Work
My freelance and personal work is where I have the most freedom. I’m my own boss, and I can do whatever feels right. I don’t have to answer to anyone but a client. And the ones who choose freelancers are usually laid back enough to accept and trust my creative decisions.

My work overall doesn’t really have a particular style. It really is determined by the content and the purpose. It can range from quiet and reserved to elaborate and textured, to powerful and dramatic. My portfolio is currently undergoing an overhaul, where I purge my old work and showcase my new work.

I used to feel that these three worlds should remain separate, but as I grow as a designer and as a person, these categories are starting to absorb each other. My new knowledge is spilling over into every area of my work.