What Gabriela Can Do & Has Been Up To Pt. 3-ish

The title really explains it all, doesn't it?

There is so much to update you all on! I don't want to overwhelm you (aka bore you) with lines and lines of text about the recent goings on in my life. So I will highlight the key points (or at least attempt to- I make no promises).

I got a job! Three weeks ago I was hired for a graphic design position and now I'm happily working there. Still acclimating and integrating my own design methods and work flow into an already well-oiled design system. It's been interesting for me to experience a new atmosphere in a field I have been a part of for 6 years. Happy to be a part of it! And I look forward to working on my own projects from start to finish in the upcoming months. Seriously. It's going to be exciting.

In other news, aside from working at my new job (which is a good 22 miles away from my house) I have been making some changes in my life. I'm still bummed out I haven't been photographing as much but I have been making more of an effort to draw and sketch out some ideas that are popping up in my noggin. 

I recently finished these flowers I first drew out late last year. I was too nervous to finish it. Partially because I didn't have the confidence that I could follow through with detailing flowers by various kinds of shading done by stippling. But I did it. It was such a therapeutic process and I'm sad it's finished. There's always that time of lull in between projects. The questions of "What do I want to do?" and "What can I do?" enter the mind often. I feel like I have done it all, or the same things over and over, but when I look through the few pages of my sketchbook I realize I really haven't done that much. It just feels like that because I take quite a bit of time to finish a drawing.

I'm working on something now. I'm combining lines, and shapes, and swirls, and dotting all into a weird abstract piece that's actually another level of therapy for me. It reminds me of how twisted the creative mind can be and how we're constantly moving and changing, never being identified as one state of being/thinking. Our minds are constantly moving and clashing and dissolving into quiet and noise. There's something beautiful about that. I like it that we're never still and never really in one frame of mind for too long. Forever changing, forever trying to storm into another way of thinking.

You've got to love how freeing art can be.

I suppose to post is touching more about what I have been up to rather than showcasing what I can do. But this is what I can do. I can create art and feel so bad. But still! I'm sure you want to know what else I can do as a creative individual.

I can create logos! I have had a few opportunities in the past, and even this year, to create logo mockups and even assisted in creating logos for a company brand or a campaign. But I recently had the opportunity to create a logo for my brother and our friend Austin for their upcoming lifestyle/food photo blog featuring great places to eat out in Detroit and its surrounding areas. I believe the idea for the blog was being discussed in early March when a stranger mistook my brother and Austin for food bloggers at a restaurant. And it was over drinks one cold night a few weeks after that when I joined the conversation about the concept and possible look about their food blog. It was a few weeks where my brother and Austin asked me to create a logo for them after we had sat down and shared ideas of how the logo could look and how they want it to represent what they're all about. Eat Em Up Detroit is its name and I designed their logo. They wanted something minimal, clean, and that said Detroit likes food. Creating a logo like this has been a great learning experience. And since I am always learning, I learned how to better use certain design techniques form my recent job under a coworkers tutelage that I was able to apply to the design process of the logo. I'm really excited for what's in store for them and how I can be a part of it.

So anyway. That's my big news. I'm a graphic designer for a Michigan company. I provided my graphic design skills and social media insight to Eat Em Up Detroit. And I have been drawing crazy doodles that best describe my mind when words fail me. What a time to be alive! Seriously! I am so thankful for what has been coming my way, creatively. It makes for a happy heart and a happy face.

Don't forgot to like Eat Em Up Detroit on Facebook and follow their food journey and how you can be out there with some delicious food!