Over the years, people have often asked me how I got started doing design work. Did I teach myself? Was it something I went to college for? What is it exactly, anyway? Well, it all began with a teenage hobby that turned into a lifelong passion.

As a kid, I was always into art, always doodling, crafting and making all sorts of creative things. You know the kind of kid. And as a teenager, I loves creating collages. Well, before social media, it was my way of capturing memories and expressing my creativity. I loved putting together these little masterpieces, mixing photos of friends and family with cool headlines that I got from magazines. I would stick my collages on my school binders and create new ones every month.

I was encouraged by my friends who often gathered around my little creations and how much they loved to be featured in my latest designs. I love the process of putting everything together piece by piece. One fateful night, my parents had friends over for dinner and they observed me in my room cutting up my photos and magazines at my desk.

My mind was blown after a very short conversation that went something like this. My parents friend said, “You know, you can get paid for doing this kind of thing.” Teenage me said, “Wait, what?” They continued, “Yes, combining text and images to make a design. It’s called graphic design.” I replied, “No way. I never heard of that. Can this be true?”

After that little encounter, I did some research. “Whoa. This is really a thing.” And I eventually decided to pursue graphic design in college. I ended up at the Pratt Institute of Art and Design in Brooklyn, New York, where I learned the ins and outs of communications design. After four years of honing my art and design skills, I discovered the power of communications design. Design that communicates a message.

Essentially, the work of graphic designers is all around us from book jackets, menus, advertisements, shopping bags, posters, magazines, newspapers, t-shirts and websites. Making choices such as selecting or creating graphics to represent a brand’s image paired with whatever text goes along with it, are purposefully put together or designed to communicate a particular message. It involves a knowledge of light, color, design, photography, sometimes videography, certainly some art history, creativity, and an overall visual sense of how to put things together in a pleasing, functional and intentional way. In a kind of COLLAGE.

After graduating from Pratt, armed with my new education, I began embracing the digital age and my graphic design path morphed into digital collages, or what we might call websites. A decade and change later, armed with my education and a wealth of knowledge and experience, along with my natural, creative and artistic sense and passion, I craft websites that not only reflect brands but also serve as virtual hubs for engagement and excitement.

From collages to websites, my journey embodies a natural evolution of passion into a profession.