Designity just wouldn’t be Designity without the talented people that make up our creative community.
And today, we’re excited to shine a spotlight on one of those amazing people!
This Minnesota native’s journey to graphic design started with a simple career quiz in high school and ever since then, she’s been passionately pursuing her dream and becoming a Designity superstar in the process.
So, if you’re ready to hear Abigail’s story, then today’s your lucky day! Today’s blog is a 1:1 interview with graphic designer Abigail D, so you can get to know her better, see her amazing work, and find out why she’s such a valued member of our team!
It’s time to meet Abigail!
How did you get into design? What’s your origin story?
I had a counselor in 10th grade who gave me a career quiz because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and that quiz gave me “graphic designer” as the answer. I took a graphic design elective that year, applied to colleges for PSEO right after, and started working towards web & graphic design degrees at Minneapolis College’s School of Design and the Arts.
So, I’ve been on the design path since then.
That’s lucky! How do you think the quiz gave you that result?
Well, I liked to draw and create, and I liked working with computers.
I hadn’t even thought of graphic design as a career before, but the test was like, “art plus computers = graphic designer,” and it just clicked.
What was your first creative-related job?
This one!
Aside from some minor volunteer projects, I went straight from Minneapolis College to Designity, and I’ve been here for two years.
During my last year of PSEO in high school and the following year of college (mostly COVID-era online courses), I learned my life balance significantly improved when I was left with making my own schedule and absorbing information through videos and instruction I could revisit. Also in my final semester, I became pretty sure I was looking for agency work over in-house or freelance, so Designity seemed to be a great fit for all of the above.
Perk of the time I graduated; work-from-home positions weren’t hard to come by. The con was that I lost out on both a high school and college graduation ceremony.
In the scheme of things though, the timing was lucky for me and I’m also grateful Designity could look past my lack of relevant job experience to see my education and portfolio.
What is your favorite thing about working at Designity?
Probably the variety of projects and opportunities to try new skills. I don’t have previous creative job experience, so it’s hard to compare, but working at Designity allows me to try working with different directors, industries, project types, etc.
What is your favorite kind of project to take on?
I like a presentation or whitepaper or social media project.
Something that doesn’t have a set idea yet, that just has a hint of an idea so I can really influence the direction. That’s the most fun to me.
Bonus points if it’s also making a template for future projects that I get to keep using and expanding.
What’s your favorite way to create?
I like experimenting in Photoshop for sure.
I also love Illustrator and using vector shapes and tools. I don’t do a lot of hand drawing, but that is fun when I try it. My favorite is probably a project that lets me use both.
How do you keep yourself up to date with new tools or trends?
Mostly social media, honestly; TikTok and Twitter.
Occasionally, I’ll just Google something like, “what’s trending in design?”
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Video games. Probably 95% of my time outside of work and household tasks is video games.
Right now, my favorite games are Genshin Impact and Fortnite on the PlayStation, and Magic: The Gathering on my computer. I like trading card games in general but prefer it on the computer because you don’t have to deal with counters and remembering phases and such.
Plus keeping up with meta or even making functional decks in physical cards is a very expensive hobby!
Do you have any other skills besides design you’d like to share?
I like dog grooming and training. It’s kind of a side hobby.
I worked with dog rescues and had dogs growing up, and currently have a poodle/chihuahua mix of my own. She’s really smart, and I’ve taught her loads of tricks and to ring a bell to go outside.
Click the paw print in my portfolio’s “about” section to see her!
<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 and artists?
I have a quote on my computer that says, “Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.”
That’s my favorite reminder while working because when I’m ideating for example, I’ll make a draft and think, “something’s just not right,” and just keep tweaking it for an hour before I realize, “it’s just not it, I need to let it go and start over.”
It applies to a lot of things at work, and in life in general. It’s the sunk-cost fallacy. Just because you invested time into it doesn’t mean you have to keep investing time into it.
