As someone struggling to find my place in the design community, I knew I just needed to get myself out there and find my creative itch but to find a community of other well-minded individuals who would help and push me. Being in school one would think, “Well that is your community there. Your teachers and peers, that’s your community there”. But I did not find that to be the case for me. Yes, getting feedback and the push from teachers and students as well helped, but I knew I needed something more. I am unsure if it had to do something with my age, mindset, or just the place that I was at in my life but I knew I needed more and not just from individuals who were taking a class cause they needed it to graduate.
After having a break period off from school, I decided to take what my Fiance said to heart (hate when he is right at times lol) but to hone in on my skills. Update my resume, and portfolio website and get others and network and apply to internships that will help me take the next step in my design career. It was time to start taking myself and my craft more seriously. But after a while of getting rejection emails saying, “Unfortunately we have decided to move on with other candidates’ ‘ or whatever the case may have been, it makes me start to feel defeated. I knew I had to keep moving and pushing and eventually, someone would give me a shot to show them the magic I could do. Finally, I came across a job posting on LinkedIn that AAMBC was looking for a Graphic Design Intern. I thought well the worst that could happen was they decline me and tell me I wasn’t someone they were looking at or my designs suck lol. But boy was I wrong, Tamika saw the potential and took me aboard as her intern, and then I knew it was my time to show what I could do.
As an intern, I did not just craft my skills as a graphic designer but also understood how things work behind the scenes in dealing with projects from beginning to end. Working with clients and just understanding the business aspect of things. Getting feedback to not just help me as a designer but to grow as an individual as well. Coming aboard with Tamika gave me the sense of the community that I was looking for. I just wasn’t working with someone who just needed a few extra hands on a project.
Fast forward to today and I am a part-time designer for AAMBC and have worked on multiple projects and created designs not just for social media, but also print materials as backdrops, postcards, signage, etc for events such as Black Writers Weekend, the AAMBC Awards, Lit Diaries. One of my biggest projects to date that I have had a blast working on is the collections of workbooks Tamika will be releasing that are part of her brand.
As someone who tends to doubt my abilities from time to time and deal with imposter syndrome every once in a while, I have realized that in a world full of other creatives, what I create/produce matters as well. That I am just as good as well. I am forever grateful to AAMBC and Tamika for seeing something in me and allowing me to grow and unlock my creativity. And I am looking forward to what is to come on this journey.
Learn more about aambc at aambc.org