Nexus: What type of artist are you?
Paige: I am a graphic designer who specialises in logo and brand design, but I also dabble in many other art forms. I love to create digital illustrations, focusing mainly on fine-line art and female portraits. I do quite a lot of product photography which is fun, and have recently brought a Cricut machine which has me getting a bit crafty!
Nexus: As a recent graduate, where are you heading as a brand?
Paige: In the next month or so I am looking to go full-time with my business and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest of the year!
Nexus: What’s your greatest achievement to date?
Paige: My greatest achievement as a graphic designer so far would be the very recent rebranding job I completed for Sweet Pea Parties. It was a huge job, in which I designed the new logo, the new look for the website, email templates, and signage. I also held a photoshoot and we used the photos as signage in the shop windows. It is such a scary yet amazing feeling to know that hundreds of people are seeing my work on display everyday.
Nexus: What do you use as a motivator?
Paige: Post COVID, I found it really difficult to get a job in the industry as a graphic designer. I’ve always been really scared of letting my degree go to waste while I just fill in time working a retail job, and ultimately this was a huge motivator to really get some work done and start something for myself. It has been hard, and so far not very profitable, but I find motivation to keep going in knowing that I will really enjoy being self-employed!
Nexus: How do you get around artist block? What’s your process?
Paige: I’ve been pretty lucky so far in regards to not having a lot of artist block. With the majority of the logos I’ve designed, I’ve really enjoyed the style so the ideas keep flowing. With my prints, I really only create them when I’m feeling inspired to do so. I find my best ideas come to me when I’m working on something else, or scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram. After sitting at a computer all day, it is hard to feel inspired to work on an art piece for a print – sometimes a good night’s rest is the best cure for a creative block.
Nexus: What are your least favourite pieces and why?
Paige: In high school, I took painting and did most of my final portfolio in black and white and I loved how it turned out! Recently, I tried doing a digital portrait piece in black and white and it was terrible. I absolutely hate not using colour in my work now!
In terms of graphic design, I don’t enjoy working on things I don’t really relate to. I recently designed a range of posters for a lawyers office and I found it so boring. They looked nice and my client loved them, but I felt so uncreative when designing them. I definitely create my best work when I can get excited talking to a client about what I can design to bring their brand to life.
