Designs on St. Louis

Tell us about your journey as a designer.

I decided I would be an artist one day at the end of fifth grade. I had wanted to be an author for a very long time, and then one day, I thought, ‘I could probably do the drawing part, too.’ And then I just did it and never looked back. Some people are born with it, but I didn’t have an innate talent; I had to study from that point on to be the artist that I am. My dad bought me a couple books on drawing and the rest is history. 

Today, I am a graphic designer and illustrator, so I do a lot of print work. Print design is my favorite because it’s tangible — I like seeing my work in real life. I’ve done a lot of postcards, ads, and magazine work. For illustration, I’ve worked with Otto Studio for a wallpaper collection, I’ve worked with Target on their Heyday electronics, and I’ve worked with Lany Space on a rug collaboration.

How would you describe your style?

My style is thematically similar, so I tend to incorporate Blackness, typography, and fairy tales into the larger projects that I do. Sometimes it’s really subtle, sometimes it’s very apparent, and that’s the fun that I have with it. I try to make sure those elements are incorporated in some shape or form, but in terms of medium and how it looks visually, it changes every time. I always design or draw in the way that I think best matches the project at hand, which can be a lot of different things.

Tell us how you incorporate those three tenets you mentioned above into your work.

My collaboration with Target was based on designs of Black hair. The lines that I used to create the pattern were the lines of cornrows and braids and different patterns within the braid. For my work with Otto Studio, it was a combination of Blackness and fairy tales. I had all these sneakers that are based on sneaker culture, and then I had them filled with buttons and charms that were based around Little Red Riding Hood. It was fun to incorporate that into the work.

Why are those themes so important to you?

I really want to get into children’s books, and my favorite thing is fairy tales. I love collecting and reading fairy tales — specifically Grimms’ Fairy Tales. I like how the idea changes over time, and there are different iterations and different ways of telling the same story. That’s why I love fairy tales so much, because there’s so many versions of the same story from different perspectives and different cultures. 

As far as Blackness, I love learning about Black history. I’m a Black woman myself, so I like to learn what I’ve missed or how Blackness changes from city to city. I’m originally from Brooklyn, New York, and then I moved to Chicago, and now I’m in St. Louis. The different types of Black folks that I’ve met along the way shaped the cities that I’ve been in, and I like learning about what Blackness means where I am — what Blackness means as a New Yorker, or what Blackness means as a Chicagoan. I learned a lot about redlining when I was in Chicago, and that came up in my personal work at times. 

Now that I’m living in St. Louis, I’m learning a lot about Mill Creek Valley, and that’s going to show up in some personal work.

What have been some other big artistic milestones in your career?

I try to make it a point to make a mark on every city I live in, and the 314 Day design feels like a pretty big mark, so I’m happy about that. I’ve also been doing a lot of teaching and workshops, which has been a fun part of my practice. I’ve been teaching a lot of printmaking classes with the Foundry Art Centre and St. Louis Public Library. That’s another reason why I love St. Louis — I get to do all this for the city and for my neighborhood.

What inspired your 314 Day design?

My design is based on my perfect 314 Day. It’s loosely based on fairy tales and on a board game. I thought it would be amazing to try to play my way through St. Louis and all of the things that I love here on a game board. I immediately knew Forest Park and the Saint Louis Art Museum would be on there; those are my mainstays. Then I wanted to get into niche areas, so I added Flamingo Bowl and my favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Meskerem. It was super fun being able to build this world that you can also visit in real life.

What do you hope people take away from the design?

I hope that they continue to welcome people with open arms. I am still a transplant, but I have never felt more at home than being here in St. Louis. The people have been so nice and everything is so close to each other. The things that I love most are free and available to me. I wish more cities did that. 

What do you feel like you’ve learned about St. Louis in your time here?

That it is both a very tight-knit place and also a very welcoming place. Pretty much everyone, at least if you’re within the same industry, knows the same person, or knows someone that knows you. That’s been great, because connecting with people is literally one “hello” away, more or less.

You said that you’ve never felt more at home than you do in St. Louis. How so?

A lot of my happiest milestones happened here in St. Louis. I got my first dog here and my first loft apartment. I’m always at the exhibitions at the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the fact that it’s free makes it even more amazing. 

Being able to find the things that I missed about home has been special. I had this amazing Ethiopian restaurant that I would always go to every time I visited New York, and then I found an Ethiopian restaurant here that is pretty much on the same bar. I have everything I need now. 

And the people here are so nice and that’s refreshing. I’ve been in the Midwest for a good bit, but that Midwest niceness is still nice. I love that St. Louis gives me the space to grow and be a part of something bigger while still feeling like I’m doing something for the little guy.

What does it mean to you to do this work in St. Louis?

It’s exciting, and it’s also really rewarding, because I feel like this solidifies that this is my home. The fact that I got picked to do this for a city that I love and — as far as I’m concerned, also loves me back — is amazing. I’m so excited for all the merch and designs to come out and having the design (projected ​​on the exterior of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium) at the Science Center. I did work at the Science Center, too, which just goes to show how everything is interconnected here.