Sometimes design goes beyond just making things look good.
Sometimes design has the power to help people, to improve lives, and to bring communities together.
Nobody knows this more than California-born Creative Director, Rose R., whose career exemplifies the true “power of design.”
We recently had the privilege of sitting down with Rose for a 1:1 interview to hear her story and learn what led her to become the leader and designer that she is. From her early days as a conceptual designer for nonprofits to a rising Designity star, we were treated to an inspiring story, one that turns passion into purpose!
And, today, you get the opportunity to learn more about her too.
Get ready to meet Rose!
How did you get into design? What’s your origin story?
In the early 2000s, my father came home from his university job asking if I had any interest in a program package that was no longer needed.
I was young and had learned to code as a hobby outside of school. The programs were Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0, and the rest is history.
I didn’t even know graphic design was a profession until I started applying to colleges. Then I thought to myself… Wait, I can do this as a CAREER?
It felt like it was fated to happen.
What was your first design gig?
During my time as a student at the University of the Pacific, I had my first official design job, for a non-profit called Singing Hands, that was led by one of my professors. That was kind of my route for my first three internships, they were all non-profit.
Singing Hands was a really neat thing because they were coming up with conceptual designs to help the women in China reproduce artisan-made goods that tourists could come and purchase.
Previously, these women had been giving up heirlooms because they didn’t have any money, so they’d have to sell them, so our designs gave them a way to create wealth in the community, preserve their cultural history, and prevent it becoming a ghost town.
What kind of work did you do for Singing Hands?
We would learn how the artisans create their traditional craft. A lot of it had to do with all-natural dyeing of fabric and they’d sew and make things out of them, so we learned how to use things like sunflower seeds to make certain color dyes and we’d figure out what it would logistically take to make something.
Then we’d come up with a product that they could make and replicate easily to sell at their local heritage museums.
It was really fulfilling, I liked it a lot.
Did you go right into design work after you graduated from college?
Yes. My first job was at a PR agency local to my hometown.
The agency was known for specializing in community festivals and events, non-profits, restaurants, retail, wineries, etc.
It was so much fun getting to watch your designs come to life from a local perspective and being able to give back to the community.
Then, I moved to San Diego, and I got a gig at an engineering firm where I was switching between office administration and design, because they didn’t have an in-house designer position.
Later, they pushed for it, so I became the first in-house designer and a lot of it was marketing-based and proposal-based and helping them build RFP presentations and promotional materials (requests for proposals).
So, I got a head start into the marketing side of things where I had to understand how to position the company for certain projects. One day, I had an inquiry on my website to ask me if I was interested in extra work, locally, and I ended up accepting part-time at both jobs.
After 6 months, they offered me a brand manager position — which, I will say, I was not qualified for at that time! Looking back, they really trusted me!
There, I was the only designer, the only website designer for an e-commerce and retail brand. They gave me a budget and I grew a small but mighty marketing team and then from there, I decided I wanted to try freelancing a little bit instead.
How long were you a freelancer?
So, I freelanced for about a year and a half and then wound up at an advertising agency.
They were just playing around with the idea of content design and making things for social media. We’d set up areas to shoot podcasts and product photography. It was really fun.
But one common thing that I kept seeing with all the clients was that they didn’t have the foundation to be successful, because their design didn’t look great, their brand wasn’t meeting industry standards, their copy was all over the place.
My goal was working with the clients to help build that foundation. So, with that came the branding department!
How did your career take you from your ad agency job to Designity?
After building the brand department at a growing agency, I was feeling pretty burnt out in general. I wanted to travel and regain my passion for design that didn’t feel as though I was a cog in a machine and the freedom to choose how much I wanted to take on.
There are ebbs and flows in life, seasons for everything, and some seasons you want to do that 120% capacity and work your all and save and then there are times you get really burnt out and you need to take a step back and relearn how to love your trade.
I left agency life knowing that I wanted flexibility in my next path, which allowed me to have a work-life balance.
I went back to freelancing, back to what I love, which is non-profit, working for communities and being able to see tangible change. And that was really great, but then there’s the consistency, right?
Enter Designity.
A place where you have consistency, the freedom to travel, create your own schedule, build with your clients, and grow.
You seem to have a passion for using design as a way to help people. Would you say that is your specialty?
I think my specialty is getting on the phone with clients, understanding their needs, getting them comfortable and hearing their background and goals and helping them come up with a plan to “get them there,” to build actionable items that make sense.
For example, if they need a marketing campaign, how can we utilize your assets and cross-post amongst different platforms so we’re using them in different areas? How do we build consistency in all of it, how can we also build backlinks through blogs while we’re running this campaign so we can bring them in from different angles?
If you need other sources of revenue, how do we come up with different products? I’m more on the omni-channel marketing side of things and I pull it all together.
What is your favorite kind of project to take on?
I am interested in anything related to omnichannel marketing, startups, branding, and asset creation.
Knowing the “WHY” is so important when communicating effectively with customers. Don’t know what your WHY is? Let’s develop it strategically and align your values with your goals.
What is your favorite thing about working at Designity?
My favorite part about Designity is honestly the internal team that keeps the show running.
They took the time to fully understand how to hack remote working with your client as a Creative Director and a Creative. The tools they’ve utilized to create a collaborative space for feedback are unique to this company.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
It may sound cliche, but I LOVE creating.
If I could do anything, it would be to sit in a studio and have all the tools at my fingertips to create whatever idea of the week has inspired me. Right now, it is a form of printmaking called cyanotype prints (prints made by chemical reactions when exposed to direct sunlight/UV).
<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 Creatives?
The most powerful designs I’ve seen are the ones with thoughtful intent. Marketing is all about intent and how you communicate that to your audience. Building an emotional connection to a brand instills the long-term loyalty and trust you want with your audience.
If you can figure out what that means to your brand, you can create a powerful story.
