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Designity is the innovative platform it is due in part to the diverse and talented characters that make up its creative community.
Our Creatives represent the best of the best, and each has their own unique story to tell. And while some Creatives have been designing, writing, and animating their entire adult lives, some Creatives come to us from other backgrounds that, while very different from design, are no less creative!
Take Heather S. for example; after spending 20 years in the restaurant industry, Heather made the bold choice to change her career and pursue her passion for design!
And now, as a top-notch web designer, she’s serving up engaging and user-friendly websites that make a difference for her clients. If you're curious about how one goes from managing restaurants to creating eye-catching web design, well… we were too!
Which is why we sat down for a 1:1 with Heather to learn more about her journey, see some amazing samples of her work, and get to know her a little bit better!
Get ready, because it’s time to meet Heather!
How did you get into web design? What’s your origin story?
In high school, I always took art classes because I loved art.
I started out in design when I took a 3D class as an elective just to get more credits so I could graduate 6 months early from high school. Before this class I did not know very much about what was possible with 3D design but I thought “Well, that’s interesting, I’ve never heard of that before.” So, I took the class, and it was so much fun. I learned how to animate, and I made a little bag of flour walk like Disney does and created a Loch Ness monster in 3D, and I just fell in love with it, and I knew this is what I wanted to do. This is what led me to go to the Illinois Institute of Art for Media Arts and Animation.
Once I graduated from college with my bachelor’s degree, I moved out to California because that was the place to be for animation. But I didn’t realize how hard it was to break into the industry if you didn’t actually go to school in California, because they expected you to have internships and wouldn’t accept you if you weren’t currently in school and I had already graduated!
Unfortunately, I was not able to land a job in the industry, but I had worked for Applebee's for 6 years, so I ended up accepting a job as a restaurant manager at TGI Friday’s to be able to pay off my student loans. I worked hard and moved up quickly — I was the hostess, to-go, cook, bartender, everything — all the way up to assistant general manager and scored the highest score setting a new record in the assessment to become general manager out of anyone who has taken the test out of over 307 stores nationwide.
I worked for Friday’s for 6 years, then ended up going over to California Pizza Kitchen as kitchen manager for a while.
I was doing well in the restaurant industry, but I was still holding on to the dream to have a creative job that makes me excited to work every day. I decided to find that dream job so I stepped down as a manager to become a server and bartender so I would have time to study and teach myself so I could find my dream job.
This is what led me to web development, and I really enjoyed seeing websites come to life and learning how to code and logical thinking and problem solving. I was taking courses online and teaching myself while working full-time. When I was ready to create my own portfolio to find a job, I wanted to create my own web design projects to develop to help my portfolio stand out more. I started to take web design courses and took the Google UX Design certificate course, and I found that I love web design and was able to use so much of what I learned in college about visual design. This is how I found the job that I love as a web designer, and I am so excited to see what the future holds in this amazing career.
Did you ever do any design work for the restaurants you worked in?
For TGI Friday’s, I did a couple of Valentine’s Day flyers to bring people in — like, “Come back and you’ll get a free dessert!” But they were very small ones. The whole company didn’t do them, just my location.
What was your first creative-related job after being in the restaurant industry for so long?
My first creative job that I landed was a UX designer at a very small SEO company that was looking for a freelance designer to help create and redesign websites for their clients that need help with SEO.
Sometimes their website just wasn’t up to standard, or they needed a total redesign, so they came to me, and I’d help them do that. I would join the client meeting, find out what they’re looking for, what their goals are, and then I would create mockups and hand them off to a developer and they would create it.
Working this job, I realized that this is the dream career I was looking for and that I really enjoy working with lots of different clients and seeing how my work helps them grow and succeed as a business. I really enjoy being a part of something that really helps others in life and business.
How did you find Designity?
A Google search, actually.
I was looking for creative agencies or design agencies because I really wanted to work in a place where I could work with a bunch of different clients and grow as a designer.
When I researched Designity and saw how they are all about helping designers grow as a designer and their career I was intrigued. I loved the willingness for designers to grow their skills, and also loved that they had a work model where Creative Directors were there to help and guide the designers on the projects.
It’s really hard to break into the industry; even for junior designers, they want you to have 3–5 years’ experience. So, I thought this was an amazing opportunity to reach my next step as a designer from a junior designer to a seasoned designer.
What did you think of Designity’s application process?
I actually loved it because I was able to make videos and showcase who I was, not only as a designer but as a person; my work ethic and everything.
You can’t really do that on a resume. All they see is, “Oh, she doesn’t have any experience,” and they skip over it. So, I really loved that aspect.
And the same thing with the design challenge. I was able to explain my reasoning and then also answer questions to show even more who I am and why I’d be a great fit. I really liked that interactive-ness of it.
How has your Designity experience been so far?
I love it.
Every Creative Director I’ve worked with has been very supportive and very easy to talk to and learn from. And working with a whole bunch of different clients, I feel like — even though it’s only been a month and a half — I’ve already stepped up as a designer and developer to a new level. I’m already learning a lot more skills, so I can just imagine how it’s going to keep progressing and that excites me!
What is your favorite kind of project to take on?
My favorite kind of project is any project where I can design or develop a product that is going to help the business grow and thrive as a company. I love helping people and being able to do that every day with my designs is very rewarding!
What has been your most challenging project and how did you overcome those challenges?
One of the most challenging projects that I have worked on so far was one of my portfolio projects that I created while learning web design. The project was a multi-page responsive website for an animal shelter. It had a user journey to create where they could look up animals that were available to adopt and pick a date to meet that animal. I also had other pages with information about the shelter, volunteer opportunities, and how the adoption process works.
I created this project from concept to final design and I learned so much about how to take a large project and break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. I learned so much about the process of creating a cohesive design and to think about the user and everything that they would need to make sure they had the best user experience possible. This project really set me up for the client work that I am working on today. I had so much fun and learned a lot on this project.
What is your favorite thing about working at Designity?
I would say my favorite thing is the variety of clients and being able to see my work truly impact their progression and them growing as a company. It’s really cool to see my work in the live world.
Also working with the Creative Directors. I love constantly learning and they’re totally open to that and answering my questions so that’s been great.
Designity also allows me to collaborate with a diverse range of clients, helping their businesses grow and thrive. I also get to continuously evolve as a designer, thanks to the invaluable guidance and mentorship from the creative directors.
How do you keep yourself up to date with web design trends?
I enjoy watching tutorials of new skills or watching how other people design or code websites.
I have learned many new workflows and different ways of achieving the same result in so many different ways by doing this. I enjoy constantly learning from other designers to continuously develop my workflow to be faster and more efficient.
I also ask Creative Directors and other Creatives in the Designity Community how they designed or developed their projects to constantly be learning from others. I enjoy staying active in other design communities online as well, like Creative Crew to learn from others and stay up to date with design trends.
Is there any insight you can give about current design trends?
I would say that it is so important to know the fundamentals of design and stay up to date with design trends and styles more than the tools.
The tools are amazing to know but once you know how to design and make a beautiful website or design you can create that with any tool out there. The tools will always be changing and evolving but the fundamentals of design will always be the foundation to go back to.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
When I am not designing, I love being outdoors hiking and driving to new places I have not seen before.
It feels so good to breathe the fresh air and get away from the everyday and listen to the birds singing. I also love learning anything and everything I can from books and researching how things work.
<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>
Any words of inspiration for aspiring creatives?
The best thing you can do as a designer is step out of your comfort zone and go for the projects that you have never done before or think that might be more advanced than you are currently.
Doing this is the only way you are going to grow as a designer.
I know from personal experience how scary it can be but go for it and you will surprise yourself when you successfully finish the project and have new skills now!
