At Designity, our Creative Directors are the creative backbone of every campaign, bringing their own story and their own vision to the table to connect with clients and deliver extraordinary results.
They do such a great job that, sometimes, it can be hard to imagine them doing anything else! But for Creative Directors like J.D., finding his true calling in graphic design and art direction was a journey filled with unexpected turns and a realization that design had been his passion all along!
So, if you’re ready to learn how J.D. went from broadcast television to Designity rising star, then we’re ready to show you!
Consider today’s blog as your backstage pass to an exclusive sit-down with J.D. so you can hear his story, see some of his incredible work, and see firsthand how following your passion can lead to amazing things in life.
Pull up a chair, because it’s time to meet J.D.!
How did you get into graphic design? What’s your origin story?
I wanted to go into news broadcasting, and I took a couple of classes and thought, “Wow, this isn’t very creative.”
And it wasn’t at the time when I was in school at Virginia Commonwealth University. I kept on making things like graphics and was really liking that and someone said to me, “You know what, you should be going into graphic design or advertising.” And I thought, “That is a great idea, let me explore it more.”
So, the decision time came to switch my major and I did that. My very first class, we used X-ACTO knives, we used computers, it was hands-on and hands on the keyboard. It was the best of both worlds, and I said “This is it. This is really cool!”
So, I actually started working for the university and interned at 64 Magazine. And all the mistakes I made in the beginning. Wow. I didn’t know what low-resolution meant until it came out in print. But I thank my mentors and the people I worked for for their patience and guidance because I was self-taught, and I had the job and was learning at the same time in my classrooms. It came about really quickly in college.
So, you had never taken an art class before in school?
You know, I kind of stayed away from the art classes and went for the journalism classes.
I’ve always loved art. I felt like in high school I already knew enough that if I wanted to pursue it again one day, that would be something I could look into. Man, was I wrong!
It’s incredible how much art foundations give you that background in graphic design and even advertising. Creative Directors nowadays have to do everything, but back then it was more about the art; the photography, the illustration, it was very basic.
And then just looking at my time working on the high school newspaper, I loved covering stories and everything, but it was really the layout and how you put a story together and the graphic design that really stood out to me. I didn’t know you could make a career out of it. I thought I had to learn all these programs, which you do, but I thought it would just be totally out of my reach.
What drew you to Designity?
I was at a CBS affiliate called WUSA9 here in Washington D.C., as a creative director, which meant managing the talent in terms of social media, their image, and how they interacted with the public, plus all the outreach, on-air promotions, and events. They’re a fun group but television isn’t for everyone!
I would come home just depleted of energy. The company was going through some weird times too, and being the number 4 station, either you innovate or you panic. And I felt like we were panicking.
So, I decided to go freelance for a while to just kind of do my own thing. I saw it as a great mental health opportunity as well. And right as I was getting ready to say, “Alright, something’s got to change,” I got called into the office and told I was being laid off.
Talk about my plans coming to fruition overnight! It was unexpected, but it was probably a blessing in disguise. Television is tough. I love my former workplace, I support them every day and still talk to the people I worked with and everything is good. I just needed a change; I needed to work from home more. I had been doing an hour commute each way, from Maryland to D.C.; here in this area, it takes you forever to get from one place to another. It just wears you down. You put so much energy into your commute, and I wanted to work from home.
And I came across Designity and thought, “This might be an opportunity. I’ve never thought of something like this before, I’ve heard of Upwork, I’ve heard of Superside. But let me see what happens.”
And that Creative Director challenge, I thought for sure I was eliminated. But every so often I’d get another message saying I’d advanced. And I thought this was kind of a cool company; you get to work with all these clients, you get to work with a network of creatives, who have all been phenomenal since I have started.
Oh my gosh, each one of them has their own quirks and I love it. Their skill sets are amazing. I’ve worked in agencies for brands for a long time and this was just something that was very different for me.
What has been your Designity experience so far?
It’s been challenging, I will say.
It’s been non-stop. Just when you think you’re done with your to-do list, there’s always something else waiting. Sometimes, I’ve had to jump in there and get us across the finish line — which is great, that’s what all CDs should do — but it’s been a challenge!
How would you say Designity has been different from your other roles?
I would say it’s a lot more creative. I feel like there’s a lot more decision-making on my end.
Whereas, when I worked in television, you had to have everything approved by your boss and their boss and then their boss. And even then, it was like, “Is this project gonna go forward?”
I was writing a lot of creative briefs — which are simplified here into project request forms that really put it in the client’s hands. And then they give it to us and we really take that and try to make magic out of it. I will say that’s very different.
Every creative company thinks they have a good creative briefing system, and that’s not always true, but Designity does it the right way where action is at the forefront rather than waiting on it to see if it’s approved.
What is your favorite thing about working at Designity?
I think it’s working with all the different Creatives. I love interacting with them on a daily basis; giving them updates, kudos on their projects, telling them all the wacky things clients have said, just really being a mentor for them is something I really crave a lot.
When I did fulfill that role in previous positions, I had people coming to me from 15 years ago saying, “Thank you so much for teaching me this.” And they’re even higher positions than I will ever be, they’re running these agencies, they’re global creative directors. And I’d like to think I had some inspiration for some of that!
That and working with the Creative Directors here. I had about two weeks off — a pre-planned vacation before I even joined Designity — and I thought, “How am I gonna do this? Two weeks away? What’s going to happen to my clients?”
But I had Matthew and Molly fill in for me and they are rockstar superstars! They just really took the reins and just ran with it and when I came back, it felt like I hadn’t even gone, it was great.
What is your favorite kind of project to take on?
I would say illustration.
Illustration for me is like going back to that art that I never learned in high school and challenges me to think about “how do I portray an idea, a concept, in an illustrative fashion?”
One of those things that I did at WUSA9 (the CBS affiliate in Washington DC.) was revitalize their weather program outreach to children.
So, I put together the Weather Classroom Program and actually illustrated an activity book featuring all of the on-camera meteorologists at the station.
I just tried to illustrate their likeness and make activities for children like weather bingo; watch the cast and if you hear the word flurry or thunderstorm, you check it off and we send you something in the mail.
So, just really creating a program from the very beginning all the way through the different things you create, like collateral. That was a fun project, and I really loved it because I could make it as big as I want or as small as I want.
*illustrations from this project featured above!
What would you say is your most challenging type of project?
Anything that has to do with a lot of technology.
It’s one of those things where, again, clients are asking Creative Directors to really take on web design and email marketing, segmentation, automation, and CRM, and things where you really need an expert. And they’re like, “Well, why can’t you do it?”
And I can’t do it, so it’s managing expectations I think from the client side and making sure that it’s not just a Creative Director that does everything because sometimes we’re seen as a catch-all.
Also, anything that has to do with AI is really interesting, but again, we’re still kind of learning. Even just this afternoon I had to sit down and take a look at how I can make a banner into 500 different versions and see if it actually works the way it should.
Because I had a client ask me how we utilize AI going forward and it’s like, we treat it as a co-pilot, we don’t let it fly the plane.
But anything that’s technology-oriented that doesn’t have creativity attached to it. Like making a page on their website to update new employees or something like that, that sort of thing.
How do you keep yourself up to date with new tech trends?
The kids across the street from where I live are very tech-savvy, so I’m always asking them, “What platform are you on? What are you looking at? What’s hot right now? Tell me about Minecraft.”
And they know. They absolutely know.
They’re in middle school and elementary school, and the middle schooler knows his stuff, but the elementary schooler isn’t far behind. She’s already talking about coding already, she’s talking about AI, and I have to look into things sometimes, like “I didn’t hear about that, let me go research that on my end.”
So, really, just taking what other people are saying and mentioning and just really thinking about how it’s going to reshape the future.
Is there any insight you can give about current trends you’re noticing?
There’s a lot with generative fill. It’s completely made things so much easier.
I will say Version and ChatGPT have been great. It’s improved not only my writing but also thinking about things a little bit differently. I say to use it as a co-pilot, don’t take it word for word and run with it.
You have to kind of, “Okay, that’s a good cue right there, I’m going to use that,” and just make it your own.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I love to be around my two rescue dogs. They are Treeing Walker Coon Hounds, so think of a traditional hunting dog, like when you think of fox hunting, those are the hounds that I have.
My husband and I are mid-century modern fanatics, so we’re always looking for really cool pieces to add to our house. We have way too much art on the wall. We’ve run out of wall space, so when we go on trips, we try so hard not to buy posters and artwork, but we absolutely love it.
Anything else about you that we should know?
I am also a Motown music expert. Not just Motown but soul music.
I even have my own blog that I’m still writing called, “Divided, We Danced.” What was really cool about that was I was able to interview a lot of soul artists from the 1960s, like Darlene Love, Mary Wilson of the Supremes; just a ton of different artists. I illustrate them, and they even posted the illustrations on their social media. Amazing history there.
<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-2"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/63695243d096983691046ac3_Potential-Creative.png" loading="lazy" alt="" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right cc-dark"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold"><strong>Like to work as a freelancer with consistent income?</strong></div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Designity's collaborative model is designed to give you all of the perks of being a freelancer without the income instability.<br></div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="http://designity.com/creatives" target="_blank" class="c-button w-button"><strong>Join Our Creative Community</strong></a></div></div></div>
Do you have any words of inspiration for aspiring creatives?
Intentionality is always important.
Approach everything you do with intentionality because it gives you discipline and more of a choice.
I also love this quote:
"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings"
— Lao Tzu
I have this quote near my desk as a reminder to accept change and to let go of things that don't serve your greater good.
