Hi, I’m Dami.

I love capturing a moment, immortalizing a day or feeling into paper in a more profound way than just journaling or a picture could. I developed what was at first a pesky habit of taking apart magazines when I found a quote I loved or a certain art piece that looked nice. I collected them in this empty cardboard box that used to hold laminating paper.

Eventually, I wanted to do something with these random scraps. Based on how I was feeling some days, I would sometimes try to capture that with some quotes, images revolving around a color theme, and anything else to make sense of the space.

I even started repurposing some old art pieces to further tell a story. Try to find the correlation between some of the pieces here and those in the other sections :) It became incredibly therapeutic to do so. I even started scrapbooking my trips with photos, old receipts, stickers, and random memorabilia.

Physical art was the earliest form of my creative expression. Growing up, I used to second-guess my responses in class, what to wear for the day, and even something as fundamental as what I knew.

The one thing I never questioned was where exactly to place my pencil, what colors to use, and when a piece was finally complete. My creativity never felt restricted and was a way for me to understand myself and express myself to others. The beautiful thing about art is that, when nurtured, it grows, improves, and changes, just like we do every day.

“All children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.”

Pablo Picasso

I saw this quote displayed in a coffee shop in Chicago, and it made me realize that somewhere along the way, the more I developed my UX design skills and failed at balancing all art forms, the less I felt connected to my original form of artistry and my self-identity. I have now come to understand that one can influence the other, and they are both finally a harmonious part of my life.

I have always had an affinity and love for painting, the way color theory comes into play, and how the brush strokes create another layer of intention and depth. When I started going to high school, I had to sit for longer drives and didn’t have as much time after school to get out my full paint set. Around this time, I started exploring more features on my tablet.

I got Procreate in 2015, and from there, it just took off. It was fun to have the flexibility to create art wherever I was with only a screen and a stylus. This newfound skill even led to my high school drama department hiring me to create the flyer for the school musical, Sister Act. Not only was this my first job, but it was the first time I had been paid for my creativity. It felt quite empowering to be recognized for something that had primarily been a passion. I now like to mix mediums by creating on Procreate and designing collages on Photoshop Express.

While this website primarily showcases my UX capabilities, I would be remiss to not highlight this other part of myself. Physical and digital art, collages and traditional sketches, watercolor and wire art are all different facets of who I am as a creative.

It takes a different level of tact and patience to manipulate thick wire into bringing about your vision, all the while understanding when to use thinner pieces to bridge the gaps. Even working with yarn became another way to test out my level of reasoning and vision-building. These alternative methods to design sharpened my analytical skills in a way that economics couldn’t, ultimately making me a stronger designer.

When presented with the opportunity to, I love to design logos. The process is similar for each piece. I like to start with understanding a client’s goals, ascertaining whether they have certain motifs in mind or key imagery. From there, and based on their typography and color system, I start moodboarding and honing in on specific symbols and features. This becomes enough to design preliminary sketches.

This is either the phase where I will scrap a million suggestions or find the shining option to move forward with refining. I digitalize that sketch and vectorize it on Illustrator. I am still open to revisions and create a few slight alternatives with the vectors. It’s never finalized until the client is happy.