Graphic Design &
The Hustle
My love affair with graphic design began when I was 16. My mentor, Terri Edelman was the founder of the Edelman Group. After school, I would head over to her office across from the Chrysler building, watch her cold calling potential clients from Crain’s and tag along with her to meetings. Observing how she handled the process of understanding each project’s needs, at the same time working within her client’s set of budgets and constraints, inspired me to start my career. It was like a work of art!
When I first graduated from Pratt, I also opened my own graphic consulting studio at 80 Wall St. I rented a desk, sharing space with a room full of forex traders (I will save the interesting story for another time). The adrenaline rush of making cold calls, meeting clients, nailing contracts and executing projects were exhilarating for a 22-year-old to say the least.
I learned how to learn. I learned to be flexible, to say “Yes!” to all projects coming my way and spent the following days and nights figuring out how to get it all done- AND done well. The cost of customer acquisition was high, and I must pull through.
I listened, I asked the right questions, I made sure that I brought value to each project.
Hustle is my super power!
UX is a prominent and intuitive part of my graphic design process
I’m currently working at The Walt Disney Company, the more I learned about the company, its history, the more I see how user experience is a large part of Disney’s success! It’s mind blowing to grasp the vast infrastructure constructed to offer this seamless immersive experience. The thoughts behind it, the research, the decision making…
As a graphic designer working in Hyperion department, my design decision contribute to this gargantuan vessel in it’s own small, yet significant way. Not only do the stories need to be engaging, but also the details of book design that compliment the readers’ experience. From formatting the copy, to coordinating the endpaper colors, typeface, the flap colors to the casing and even down to selecting the headband were all part of this magical experience!
As a marketing designer for Penguin Random House, I designed marketing materials and activity posters for children. I researched the activities that appealed to the target age group and at the same time promoted the theme of the book.
As a marketing designer for Newmark Knight Frank, I would think about who my audience is and how I might align the design in a way that is eye-catching and resonates with clients.
As a print & pattern designer for bedding products, I learned to consider space and scale as well as color theory- patterns and colors that worked well on a smaller scale may not work well on a bed.
