As a graphic designer, I have found that my design style is light and playful. My designs involve lively colors, sometimes integrating patterns and icons while still providing enough negative space to make a clean and contemporary design. I use graphic design to communicate to others through not only words but through color and imagery. I design for what I feel a product should communicate. I keep a modern and fun approach while creating concepts, but I like to design like I am speaking for the subject I'm designing for. If it feels fun and playful then that’s the direction I will go in. If it is more professional and modern, then I will alter my design style to align with that project. I enjoy creating a persona for a product or brand.
During my design process, I don’t take inspiration from any single source. I usually start with my own idea and develop ideas about what I think the design should look and feel like. I then look at similar designs for the subject I’m designing for and then think about; how does my design look similar or different from that design? I ask, how can my design be different? Why should my design be similar? Readability, relatability? Should my design be similar or different to others because of the product or target audience? My goal as a graphic designer is always to design something new and distinct, however, I design to attract. My goal is to create work that draws people in and gets them excited about what I’ve made. I have to keep in mind the current cultural trends and what my target audience is drawn to while I’m designing.
I have found that I really enjoy designing for print. Learning to build brands through trademark design, packaging design, advertising design, etc. has been very interesting. I like to design all the assets for a brand so that it all feels like one cohesive family of designs. These cohesive designs need to communicate what the brand is about to consumers and the general public. This is why I prefer to design like I am curating a persona for a brand's products or services. To create a persona, a designer can't just do a logo and be done. Every element assigned to that brand needs to look like they belong together. A person should be able to take a glance at an advertising piece or the side of packaging and know what brand it belongs to. This to me, means that I have successfully created a brand persona.
I love designing things that not only I can look at and appreciate, but that others can see and appreciate also. Like I said before, I design to attract people whether it’s just people admiring my work or if it's work created to attract new customers or clients. My goal as a graphic designer is to use my designs to draw people in and get them excited about what I’ve designed for.